National Orphan's Day was launched on 2 April. The controversial implications were not lost on Amira El-Noshokaty who attended the event After months of planning, Egypt's first "Orphan's Day" was inaugurated in Dream Park, Sixth of October City, on 2 April. The intense publicity campaign -- which included over 3,000 advertisements on television -- clearly paid off as more than 7,000 orphaned children attended a fun-filled day of games, live music and celebrity appearances culminating in a wedding ceremony for 12 young couples. Though the idea, which originated in the Al- Orman orphanage, might have noble intentions, it has attracted immediate criticism. "It's like giving a child a present but telling him he's only getting it because he's an orphan," says Moufida Abdallah, director-general of Family and Child Administration at the Ministry of Social Affairs. Though she supports the event and acknowledges the good intentions behind it, she says that the name ought to be changed so as not to highlight the fact that these youngsters are orphaned. While old movies (both Arabic and foreign) employing the "orphan" theme traditionally end happily with children reunited with their long lost parents, the reality couldn't be more different. Indeed, such happiness is rare and the majority of children without parents are either put into foster families or continue to live in shelters until they reach the ages of 18 for boys, and 21 or marriage for girls. Being an orphan in Egyptian society, to put it mildly, is tough. It is a label that by default invokes instinctive pity and disdain, reactions borne of ignorance. Officially, the term "orphan" defines any child who has lost one or both parents through death; imprisonment; financial inability to sustain child care; divorce cases where both parents abandon the child; or simply having "unknown" parents. Such children are usually left under the authority and care of the Ministry of Social Affairs and placed in shelters, residential nurseries and foster families. According to Abdallah the number of legitimate orphanages -- those governed or founded by NGOs and monitored by the Ministry of Social Affairs -- stands at 232, in addition to 62 residential nurseries that cater for children up to the age of six. The total number of orphans in Egypt currently stands at 7,837, with those in boarding nurseries totalling 1,423. One such orphanages is Save Our Souls (SOS). Spread out over 17 acres of land and housing 33 villas amid the vast gardens and playgrounds that host the children's village, SOS is an international association for orphan care. It has three branches in Egypt and 400 worldwide. The village was established in 1975, and was ready to receive orphans by 1977. "The village accepts children from newborn up to the age of four," Moussa Maan, director of the association Maan told Al-Ahram Weekly. "That's the suitable age to start raising a child in a foster family inside the village," she says. Each villa accommodates eight children of both sexes and different age groups, and each has a foster mother. There are separate rooms for girls and boys and three bathrooms. At the age of 13, the boys are grouped into groups of six, and have two supervisors for their studies. At the age of 21 the girls move to youth buildings on the village premises and remain there until they get married. There they continue their studies and the director of the village serves as a "father figure" to them. Mother Eisha was one of the first alternative mothers to work at the village. As we enter one of the villas, cheerfully painted with yellow windows, there is a chorus of greetings. "Many happy returns" the children giggle, clamouring to introduce themselves. Hiam is three and Gamal is four, we are informed. They wave their drawing books and crayons as they race through the corridor that leads to their neat, bright bedrooms. "I have been working here for the past 25 years," says mother Eisha, leading us through the house, "and have raised 24 children," she adds proudly. For her, being a foster mother is not just a job. She takes it personally. And even on the rare occasions when she has time off she takes her children with her. They are inseparable. Inevitably, taking care of orphans is one thing and promising them a secure future is a totally different matter. "An Apartment for Every Orphan" is one project which tackles just that. Endorsed by the Housing and Development Bank in 1992, the bank opened a "Housing Saving Account" for each orphan, entitling him or her to an apartment at the age of 21, provided they met the downpayment through donations. Donations come through organisations such as Volunteers in Action (VIA), a community service club under the supervision of the American University in Cairo's (AUC) student union. In three years VIA alone had collected sufficient donations for 42 apartments. They are not the only ones. Abdel-Moneim Al- Demeri, director-general of Al-Madina Al- Monawara Association, notes the importance of such social work. "The concept of social work should be highlighted, for the role of the non- governmental organisations relieves the government of much of the burden," he said. He recognises that without care the children would be at risk of turning to the streets and increasing crime rates. "We... do not acknowledge the bliss of being born into a family," he says. However, in some orphanages it is precisely this aspect which is being stressed. Hope Village is one such place. "Come," says one young boy as we enter Hope Village, taking my hand. "I want to show you how I can read." For Mohamed and his friends, the supervisors have become his family. Visitors, too, fall into that category. Hope Village is a non-profit organisation formed in 1988 to aid "children in difficult circumstances". Such a term embraces homeless children, children of unknown parentage, orphans, and those whose families are crippled financially. In the short-term shelter, children get to stay within the association from six months to one year at a time. If, within that period, they do not run away, they are admitted to the long-term shelter in 10th of Ramadan City, where they receive education and care. Currently there are an estimated 200 children in such care. Hope Village tries to ameliorate the situation with the families of abandoned children, and to help those suffering from financial constraints by providing them with micro-credit loans. It also ensures that the children who have dropped out are re-registered in school and helps them to find jobs. On the walls of Hope Village, hang photographs of the young adults. In the general manager's office, a wedding photograph of a beaming young man and his bride is framed. "He's one of Hope Village's sons," says a smiling Abla El-Badry, the general manager. "He finished college and is working in the tourism business." But not all orphanages boast such success stories. For Dar Malaekat Al-Orman -- Orman Angels Home -- it is harder to help orphans enter the public sphere. Established in 1996, Al-Orman caters to children with special needs and hosts 31 disabled children, all of whom live full-time and in-house in a four-storey villa in Mohandesin. While it started out as a conventional orphanage, over the years it has come to occupy a certain niche. Maisa Elwan, former manager of Al-Orman, told the Weekly that "we started out with 40 children. Among those kids there was Hisham Adel, a boy who did not respond to any attempt to attract his attention." After examination, it was found that he suffered from brain damage and that he could not move. From there stemmed the idea to establish a house for disabled orphans. Dealing with disabled children requires, needless to say, a special form of care. Foster mothers undergo a three-month training course before they work. "They all completed higher education. They work for 25 days successively and take a vacation of five days," explains Elwan. "Each foster mother is responsible for one child." But while the foster mothers provide orphans with the care and individualised attention that every child deserves, and despite the monitoring work by the Ministry of Social Affairs of mismanagement complaints, hygiene, mistreatment and lack of supervision -- all of which have made newspaper headlines over the years -- there are some obstacles that even the best of shelters have not overcome. Society's prejudices constitute by far the greatest hurdle. "My eldest daughter was married after finishing her nursing diploma," said SOS's mother Eisha, introducing her eldest child, Sarah, who happened to be visiting her mother and was accompanied by her children. "Our society's condemnation is far stronger than any trial," Sarah told the Weekly. "It's just like that Ramadan series," she explained, referring to the TV series recounting the tale of an orphaned wealthy man. Despite his donations to society and charitable acts, his image and that of his family remained tarnished because of the fact that he was orphaned. "Our community condemns us for being parentless children. My brothers and neighbours who wished to join the army or the police were denied acceptance" because they were children of the SOS shelter. Amidst the Dream Park festivities for Orphan's Day, talk about the issue is rife. Maha Farouk, a housewife, agreed with Sarah: "Our society views orphans or parentless children with a different slant," she told the Weekly. "But to tell you the truth I never understood how it must have felt to be a parentless child until I watched that television series, it really showed how such a person suffers through no fault of his own." The debate on the issue of orphaned children, however, is nothing new in Egyptian society. On the one hand, such an act of care and fostering is seen as one of goodwill. But religion dictates that adoption of orphans of unknown parents is a sin, as a person should not pass on his name and inheritance to non-family members. For this reason, adoption laws remain unwritten and the country is still unable to overcome the religious barrier prohibiting the act. Chapter 12 of the unified child's law of 1996, however, does codify a procedure for fostering. It covers all aspects of child welfare and in Article 87 specifies 12 conditions that any potential foster family must fulfil. If a couple fulfils the criteria, then the next step is to apply for fostering rights at the local branch of the Ministry of Social Affairs. All those who have passed the rigorous documentation screening -- there are currently 4,394 foster families in Egypt -- are advised by the Ministry of Social Affairs to tell their foster children that they are the children of extended family members or friends who passed away and left them in their care. "This is in the best interest of the child," Abdallah of the Ministry of Social Affairs said. "Otherwise, the child would be seen as illegitimate, which is by default a social crime." The moral conflict, or perhaps contradiction, within society is clear. While affluent families are keen to donate money to the budding orphanages around the country, adoption constitutes one step too far and the stigma carried by foster parents is still too great a burden. This is an issue deep-rooted in the nation's heritage. "Arab societies emphasise the great importance of the nasab kinship and the line of descent," renowned sociologist Madiha El-Safty told the Weekly. "And the fact that the child has unknown parents means that it is an illegitimate child, and so a person can support a child from a distance but he cannot refer to the child as one of his own. Despite the religious connotations that comes with orphans' fostering and the heavenly prizes that are awarded to whoever fosters or helps an orphan, the fact remains that cultural heritage still has the upper hand," she continues. "The issue is of the line of descent: an illegitimate child by default inherits the sin, which is embedded in his personality despite the fact that the orphan is the victim. I believe that our social concept of orphans will change in a long time -- not in the near future -- but only when we start to view the child as a person other than [focus on] his family name." At the Orphan's Day inaugural event, the mood was mixed. Taxi driver Riad Diab spoke of how he would feel if one of his four children wanted to marry an orphan. "It's all up to the child," he said, adding that the term "orphan" should not be used as a stereotype or stigma. "If a child proves that he or she is a good person and was well brought-up, they will have the entire country as their family." The stereotype of "poor rascal", Diab added, in this case would collapse. Further, it would possibly end if we learned to look at life through a lens unfiltered by the critical social eye and look objectively instead, he said. Five-year-old Soheila offered precisely that untainted view. Whilst enjoying the day's festivities, she told her mother she wanted to buy presents for the orphans. And maybe, she whispered, they could get one of the orphaned children to come home with them. That way, she smiled, she would have a playmate -- a sister. "Orphan," she said, means one thing. "It means a child." The hope is that Orphan's Day will one day break down the stigma which society has cast upon those whose families have been taken from them.
