“Today we are present here in the Tahya Misr School in the new Asmarat district inaugurated by President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi four months ago. We will start by distributing our educational colouring books,” said Amr Hassan, founder of the “You Are More Important Campaign” designed to raise awareness about health among Egypt's underprivileged schoolchildren. The first book is called Ali Fights Smoking and is about a child named Ali who sees his friends smoking. Ali then enters a time machine and sees his friends in 40 years' time, all of them ill because of smoking. They say they tried to stop, but it was too late. Ali then starts an anti-smoking campaign in his school. “We have another colouring book called Laila wa Ezamha Al-Hayla (Laila and her Strong Bones) which is on the importance of drinking milk,” Hassan said. “In this book, the school doctor asks why children's bones are shrinking. Laila enters a machine that lets her see bones from the inside and finds that the bones of children in Egypt are sometimes deficient in calcium and Vitamin D. When Laila asks the doctor why, he tells her that the children do not drink enough milk and drink soft drinks instead. So, Laila decides to start campaigning at her school to raise awareness among her friends.” Ambassador of the Campaign actress Yasmin Sabri took part in the event at the Tahya Misr School and helped distribute the colouring books. She held a singing and acting competition while a medical team told parents and children about local medical services. The event was organised by the Ministry of Health in collaboration with Plan Egypt, an NGO. “There is medical screening for diabetes and hypertension, high cholesterol levels and anaemia. We give patients free medication and provide free clinics for gynaecology, bone problems, and paediatrics,” Hassan added. He said the reason colouring books had been chosen for the health-awareness programme was because they appealed to all children. “Our kids are the future. If we work now on our kids and give them educational materials, in 20 years they will neither need doctors nor educational tips from others,” Hassan said. “Sabri is making a video for them and will post it on her Instagram account. This is something inspirational, such that one day these children can also become famous or important people in the community. We want to raise health awareness, implanting preventive medicine in young minds.” One piece of advice he constantly gives women in particular is that they should know important numbers like blood pressure, glucose, weight, and cholesterol level like they know their mobile number. Knowing these numbers can help prevent many diseases, as hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol levels are the gateway to heart disease, the number one killer of women in Egypt. “We have organised seminars and colouring sessions for children before, but what is different today is that we are in Asmarat with less well-off people who need advice, free medicine samples and free medical examinations,” Hassan said. 400 primary students of the Tahya Misr School were attending the session, each seven to nine years old. “The younger you start with health awareness the better and the more these ideas will be implemented in their minds,” he added. The area was chosen because of its population profile and the fact that many families are now experiencing better living conditions, education services, and health services. “We found that we needed to fill some gaps, however,” Hassan commented. “The medical team is providing contraceptive, reproductive health and child care services to the community as a whole,” added director of the Central Authority for Contraceptive Services at the Ministry of Health Sahar Al-Sonbati, adding that a bone disease and eye disease clinic was also visiting in collaboration with initiatives such as the “You Are More Important Campaign”. “Our slogan is Masreya Afeya — the healthy Egyptian woman, which doesn't only mean the woman, of course, but also the whole family. The campaign as a whole is divided into two parts — the medical side and the entertainment side in which we discover young people's talents in drawing, writing, acting and singing. There are about 800 families present today. People started coming from 8.30 am onwards, and the numbers have been good for both men and women,” Al-Sonbati said. Manager of Cairo Cultural Palaces at the Ministry of Culture Amal Ezzat said of the campaign's cultural programme that it was working with the ministry's cultural, health and educational activities in the Asmarat district. “We like to be with people, and we have organised the ‘Culture without Walls' initiative, an idea of the Head of the Cairo Cultural Palaces Howeida Abdel-Rahman. This makes culture reach people in the streets of towns and villages across Egypt and includes festivals held during the Adha Feast and for the Alwan Festival,” she said. “We have organised a drawing workshop with the children and face painting. At this age, the primary stage, children are particularly happy about such events. We deliver these cultural events to their schools so they don't have to travel for them. We also distribute free magazines issued by the Ministry of Culture like the Qatr Al-Nada magazine. We plan to organise a similar campaign in the Shorafaa area of the Al-Marg district of Cairo soon.” Asked what they had learned, the children answered enthusiastically. “I learnt that dirt is bad and that cleanliness is the most important thing. A person must love to be clean for himself. I learnt to wash my hands and brush my teeth after eating. I liked the painting session the most,” said 8-year-old Shams, in primary 2. “I learnt to draw and how to be clean. I learnt a lot. The best part was the drawing, as I liked it very much,” said Salsabeel Hedaya, aged 12, in year 6. “I learnt something without doing homework, and that is what I liked the best. I learnt to draw nice things like flowers and people,” said Rahma, eight. “I liked how the colouring books looked. I learnt how to draw different things like cars, kites and flowers. I learnt that you should not throw rubbish on the ground, but in a bin,” said Rahma, nine. “I liked the whole session. I learnt to draw wonderful things. I always wash my hands anyway,” said Basmala, 11, who had recently joined the Tahya Misr School. “When I came here I was amazed by the area. I learnt that there is a school here named Tahya Misr. When these children grow up, they could be future TV presenters, actors or engineers, and make contributions to the whole society. If we care for these children, we will be heading to a better future,” Sabri said of her visit, adding that the “You Are More Important Campaign” included medical, cultural, and moral advice aiming to give children a chance to realise their dreams and believe in themselves for a better tomorrow. “I believe that a person must try to understand the things that are present in his country. The more successful and famous he is, the more influence he has. He should employ himself in the right direction for the benefit of his country,” Sabri said. “This campaign is about raising the awareness of Egyptian women and children about health. A woman who is 40, for example, and is uneducated may feel like a woman in her 70s because of her ignorance of health matters. One of the roles of the campaign is to raise this woman's awareness of healthcare so that she can take care of herself and her family and society as a whole benefits.” For Al-Sonbati, the aim has been to serve all members of the families present, focusing particularly on women and children. “This is the first time we have provided contraceptive services with entertainment for children. However, we do have a permanent clinic here to serve the residents as a whole, even as there will be more such campaigns in the future.” “Many children here lived in slums before. If they had not moved to the Tahya Misr Complex where they can benefit from awareness sessions they would have gone on like their parents with neither health awareness nor education,” Hassan commented. “We have many ideas for the future and plan to go out of Cairo and reach governorates such as Luxor and Aswan. We will go to other places in which people are in need,” he added. “Children from underprivileged backgrounds are very motivated as they feel that tomorrow will be better and they do not wish to be left out. There needs to be something for them because they are the future of the country. If it was in my hands, I would change the lives of these people by 180 degrees. They have been moved to a better place for a better life, so there is now the prospect of a better future for them,” Sabri concluded.
