The Second National Orphans' Day was less about its subjects than it should have been, reports Salonaz Sami Last year the Dar Al-Orman orphanage launched National Orphans' Day, a widely criticised move. This year the celebration was an occasion for even more criticism since it came as a shock to the press. Organised by APEC, an electronics company, in Dream Park (a 150 acre theme park, one of the largest recreational facilities in the Middle East) -- and sponsored by over 10 major organisations -- the event proved chaotic. Yet the criticism centred, once again, on its title: since its inception National Orphans' Day has been thought to overemphasise a fact already well known to the children: that they are without parents. At the celebration, to make matters worse, all the attention seemed to go to the setting and the high-profile figures who graced it with their presence rather than to the children. "We've been here since 9am but the children have only been able to play one game," Nagat Kamel, a social worker from the Laylat Al-Qadr orphanage, said. And notwithstanding the large number of volunteers dressed in white t-shirts that bore the slogan "On orphans' Day, let's make them happy", people seemed to be doing everything but that. "We've been doing all we can since 8am. But the number of children is more than we can handle," Maha, a volunteer, testified. "Each of us supervised a game, making sure the smaller kids got to join in too, but the numbers were so enormous that things got out of hand." Yet the crowds were due in part to the fact that the event was open to the public -- a less than wise decision. A related criticism concerns the nature of the event itself. On a day that is supposed to centre on the orphans, some argue, organisations placed themselves in the forefront, thus adding to the orphans' sense of abandonment. "Why throw a party for the children in a park or a theatre -- orphans need a sense of belonging, and you emphasise this by celebrating in the place they consider home," argued Esmat El-Merghani, a lawyer who works in the Arab League and the founder of the four orphanages of Bent Masr, "you choose a place where they can be the host, for a change." While not entirely convincing, the argument points to an important feature of the plight of orphans. Of the 7,837 orphans in Egypt, 1,423 of whom are in boarding nurseries according to last year's statistics, many suffer psychological problems requiring a sensitive approach from the wardens who are, in effect, surrogate parents. "They know this is not their real home," El-Merghani continued, "and that one day they will leave." "We wanted the orphans to feel the whole population was celebrating their day," said Heba, another volunteer on National Orphans' Day, explaining the decision to open up the park. "We didn't want them to feel lonely." Yet the decision to open the park up to the public proved object-defeating: it served only to prevent the orphans from feeling special since they were not the focus of the event. Yet, criticism notwithstanding, the celebration was better organised than last year's. "At least we were able to get in easily," Hanan Gomaa, supervisor at Al-Wehda Al- Wataniya School for disabled orphans, told Al-Ahram Weekly. "The children got their meals, even if they were late -- last year many of them got nothing at all to eat." The event was supposed to last until 10pm but some orphanages decided to leave early. "It was very crowded," said Gomaa, "especially the theatre area, where the shows took place. That's why we didn't stay, because we were afraid the children might be lost." While most of the orphanages were there to allow the children to enjoy the games on offer, some were interested simply in new faces and fresh air. "We came because the children rarely have a chance to go out," Gomaa added, "so it was an opportunity for them to have some outdoor fun, though they didn't take part in the games because of their disabilities." National Orphans' Day provides the children with a rare opportunity to enjoy dancing, singing, gifts, even a puppet show. On this occasion, supervising their 25 children, the Masr Al-Gadida Bent Masr orphanage wardens had a particularly busy day. "People had called in continuously with gifts of food, money, toys and clothes," Mona, one warden, explained. Contained as it was, the Bent Masr celebration provided more happiness to its children than that of the park. Every girl felt special as the wardens, together with other volunteers, dedicated the day for that purpose. In common with most of her colleagues Mona was trained at either the Centre for Adult and Continuing Education affiliated to the American University in Cairo or the Ministry of Social Affairs before she started working at the orphanage -- standard procedure intended to ensure an adequate level of attention to children who require more care than most. The criticism surrounding the day notwithstanding, orphanages suffer a variety of problems, not least funding. "We rely on donations," El-Merghani explained, "and the only way to let people know about us is advertising -- something for which we are criticised by, among other parties, the Ministry of Social Affairs, which seeing the advertisements assumes we are squandering funds. Yet for every pound spent on advertising we receive at least LE5." In fact the failure of the ministry to cooperate constitutes arguably the greatest problem. "Four days ago," El-Merghani recounts, "we received a phone call at 2am from Al- Nozha Police Station informing us that an 18- month-old girl had been found on the doorstep of a mosque, so we agreed to take her in immediately. The next day it was the ministry who contacted us, demanding that we return the girl to the police because she had not arrived through them." While some orphanages may view the children as a commodity, others strive to see them smile -- and they should receive all the help the ministry can provide. "One day devoted to the orphans is not enough," El-Merghani protests. "Here we try to throw parties for them all through the year -- to bring happiness into their hearts as much as we can. And we celebrate all their birthdays," she added.
