CAIRO: Popular Egyptian activists have raised over $200,000 in one week for the development of Ezbat Khairallah, an impoverished community of some 650,000 people. Spearheaded by blogger and activist Mahmoud Salem, local and international companies pitched in the majority of the donations. Coca Cola, Mobinil and Azza Fahmy Jewelry donated some $150,000 together, while other donors were reported to account for some $70,000. “We managed to reach seventy percent of what we need to do in phase one,” Salem told The Next Web. It was part of a Twitter campaign, called Tweetback, that shared information about the area to be donated, and called on individuals to donate, even $1, to the fund. “In phase two, we hope we'll exceed the remaining thirty percent, where we'll be crowd-sourcing the donations,” Salem continued. BM
