CAIRO: Young men and women form an assembly line as they pack staple foods into boxes to be distributed to underprivileged areas throughout Ramadan. This has recently become a growing trend as the holy month brings out people's charitable spirit. Usually initiated by a family or a group of friends, such campaigns vary from packing bags of basic food supplies such as rice, macaroni, oil, sugar, and distributing them, setting up mawae'd rahman (charity iftar tents) or organizing events for orphans and fundraising activities. While some are ambitious, aiming at distributing 10,000 boxes throughout the country that require donations of up to LE 75,000, others are smaller in their magnitude organized on a smaller scale. Iman Al-Wasifi, a senior market specialist, chose not to join any of the charity organizations and started her own network comprising more than 20 volunteers. After some research, Al-Wasifi came across a village in Al-Saf in Helwan where 2,000 residents are living under the poverty line. Al-Wasifi's group's initiative is already in motion and they will start distributing bags containing various foods before the start of Ramadan. “A lot of people are willing to help and contribute in such campaigns but they just need the motivation which is best found in Ramadan,” Al-Wasifi said. “We are hoping that next year we could even organize a bigger campaign,” she added. Containing basic food supplies like oil, rice, sugar, dates and vegetables, the average cost of Ramadan bags this year ranges between LE 50 and LE 60. The number of bags a group can pack depends on the amount of donations they could gather. Motivation For the organizers and volunteers of such campaigns, it's the sense of gratification and people's feedback that encourage them to participate. “The look in people's eyes when you give them the bags sparks an incomparable feeling,” said Iysal Al-Jouria who, along with her friends, formed a group dedicated to charity work called “Discover the Moment.” The group is planning to distribute more than 1,200 bags this Ramadan. This is the fourth year for Al-Jouria to participate in packing and distributing bags; however, she says that the experience is rewarding despite the effort exerted. “The joy I feel after we finish can't be described; every year we celebrate after the event ends successfully,” she said. “You feel as if God gives you the power to do more; we had this small girl carrying more than five heavy bags and another distributing despite a knee injury,” Al-Jouria added. Two of Al-Jouria's friends will open their houses in Maadi and Rehab for the volunteers to pack and store the bags before distribution. For Sherif Al-Haywan, a veterinary student who organizes various charity events with his friends every year, it's a season for charity. “Although in Ramadan you may find 300 volunteers packing food bags, in other times they may not exceed 30,” he said. “We just announce after the Taraweeh prayers that we will be packing bags and hundreds, of all ages, flock to help,” he said, “Last year, we packed 800 bags in 30 minutes so this year we are trying to organize packing across several days to allow as many people as possible to participate,” Al-Haywan added. Last year, Al-Haywan and his friends raised over LE 100, 000 and distributed 200 bags; however, this year they are planning to distribute more than 2,500 bags in Sharqeya, Tanta, Zagazig, Sohag and Cairo. They are also organizing an orphans' day, an iftar tent at the Ring Road and will be distributing dates at iftar time in the streets of Maadi. “We believe that no one else can do what we are doing so we feel it's our duty; we depend on personal connections and the donations of food companies rather than sponsors,” Al-Haywan said. Al-Haywan prepares lists for those in need in each city provided by someone who lives there. “It's amazing how LE 50 can help a family survive for one month; they wait for us from one year to the next and we try to meet their exact needs by doing some research before packing,” Al-Haywan said. For reasons varying from personal gratification to lack of trust, many volunteers prefer to organize their own campaigns rather than join those of established organizations. Al-Jouria's group agreed with an organization called “Bedaya” to become part of their Ramadan Charity campaign; however, the organization tried to force its conditions of limiting the number of items included in the bags, and putting deadlines they couldn't meet. “They only helped us in providing contacts of people in need and agreed with us that we would take care of Beni Suef governorate mainly,” she said. “We worked at charity organizations before and we know that there is business involved sometimes, so we preferred to organize our own charity,” Al-Haywan said. However, others like Al-Wasifi said they didn't join charity organizations as not to “deprive themselves from the positive feedback and the reward.” Social networking Regardless of their scale, all campaigns are taking advantage of social networking websites, namely Facebook, in gathering donations and volunteers. “Since we created the event on Facebook, 4,000 confirmed their attendance although I don't know most of them,” Al-Jouria said. “It also helps us communicate easily and rapidly and increases our credibility as we put up photos of us as well as our contact details.” For Al-Haywan, Facebook helped him gather donations from factories and food companies as well as attract huge numbers of volunteers. “Facebook is becoming more and more vital for us,” he said.
