Thousands attended a marathon in Cairo this week to help raise funds for children with cancer. Dena Rashed was among them Click to view caption Venue: Cairo Stadium. Date: 1 November. Guests: anyone and everyone. Goal: raising funds for the first children with cancer hospital in the developing world. The second charity event organised by The Association of Friends of the National Cancer Institute, AFNCI to help fund the hospital was held under the slogan: run, have fun, and give life to others. Last year's event attracted more than 15,000 people from all ages. This year, more than 60,000 showed up for the all-day festivities that featured singers, dancers, acrobats, and yes, runners. Hassanein Ismail travelled 132km from his home in Mansoura governorate to take part in the event. "I came last year for the festival and brought donations from my family and friends." He found the event so fascinating that this year he brought his family along. "We came at 9.30am to have good seats and enjoy the view. We wanted to share this day with the children," he added. To encourage as many people to participate, entrance to the festival was free. There were special bank booths accepting donations of LE20 minimum. But LE1 charity coupons were handed out by young volunteers with big smiles to those who did not wish to line up at the booths. Several singers and celebrities helped make the day even more attractive for the audience, who included the patients of the present children cancer institute. Mohamed Fouad, Anushka, Hakim, and the Lebanese singer Elin Khalaf were among those who appeared in the event. "This year's festival is great, it is much better organised than last year, and it could really do something for the children with cancer," said Said Sha'ban, who was in the festival with his wife and four children since the early morning. "What is so special about the festival is that people have a common goal and they know what to do about it," Layla, his wife said. This year's event was bigger than last year, but it was commended for its organisation and the publicity it received. "Although the organisation could have been better, I have to admit it is much better than last year," said Farida Mahmoud, who took her two years old son to the festival. But as Mahmoud noted, there is something about the festival that you can't miss, "it is probably the high spirit of the people, and you just can feel it". The marathon was the first part of the festival, and the AFNCI organised six types of fun runs. The first run, 15km, was planned for the professional runners, and it took place from the hospital site to Cairo Stadium. Then, four other runs of 3km each were organised for university students in the stadium tracks, followed by shorter separate runs for particular groups, children, and companies. The last run was the celebrity run, which turned out to be 400 meters of brisk walk by high-powered senior citizens, including Youth Minister Alieddin Helal, People's Assembly speaker Fathi Sorour, and several governors. School and college students were among the event's main enthusiasts. Having done their charity bit, many gravitated to the fun area, where a food court was installed, together with children playgrounds, bungee jumping, and dancing stages. There, music resonated from powerful speakers and three DJs were on hand there to keep the festivities going and the young dancing. This did not interfere with the flow of charity. "Although some people came with the intention to just have fun, donating few pounds was alright for all," said Ayman Nour, 19, a Cairo University student. The National circus was there as well, providing three shows during the course of the day, with donation coupons used as entry tickets. All or part of the proceeds of the participatory food chains and the games went to the hospital. Many volunteers of the AFNCI were busy moving about the grounds to help orientate the visitors. Marami El-Mahdi has been doing volunteer work for the last two years. "The festival was part of the volunteer work of our association. We organise parties for children with cancer during the feasts and in Ramadan," she said. In fact, the timing of the festival was fortuitous, since it came only a few days before Ramadan, in the heart of the charity season, so to speak. "It is very timely, since many people want to do charity work, and donate money when Ramadan is approaching," said Marwa Mohamed, Al-Azhar University student. Amrawi Ali, who was selling sugarcane in the festival, said that he was working at the festival for free, and since he does not have enough money to spare, he would donate blood. It was 1pm at one of the centres for blood donation in the festival, when Dr Marian Gamal told me that so far 50 people have donated their blood. "The campaign has attracted many people to donate their blood, and we need to organise more campaigns to make donating blood another goal," she said. Advertising for the festival started one month ahead. The campaign in general started in 1998, and the hospital was renamed 57357, to remind the people of the number of the bank account for donations. The hospital which will cost LE70 million and slated to open in December 2003, will comprise 185 beds, with expansion possible up to 350 beds, It will have a large outpatient facility capable of serving 200 patients per day and the first child life and school programme in Egypt for hospitalised children. With its multi-disciplinary approach, the hospital is expected to provide not just medical help for the children, but psychological support for the families as a whole. As causes go, this one was certainly worth running for.
