CAIRO - Something great is going on in Egypt that is reassuring us about the future, namely the high concern the society seems to be paying to charity work. In the past civil society struggled hard to convince people to donate some of their funds to assist poor and needy people. On the one hand, the societies in charge of these charitable endeavours were not innovative in introducing new means of helping the impoverished and upgrading their living conditions. On the other hand, the majority of people did not trust such organisations that much, believing that some of them were not honest in investing these funds for the welfare of persons in need. However, when the citizens sensed that sincere efforts were being made to assist indigent people to have a chance of humanitarian treatment for the killing disease of cancer, they raced to donate huge funds to the cause. Accordingly, they managed to establish the 57357 hospital for treating children suffering from different kinds of cancer. The renowned establishment has even attracted donations from the rich people of the region. Senior officials and clergymen hastened to join the advertising campaign for the esteemed medical institution, which embraces substantial research studies that have managed to upgrade the survival rates of the cancer patients to the level of world standards. Just as the people sped to donate funds for the cancer hospital, the Egyptians did similarly with the prestigious Aswan Heart Centre in Upper Egypt created by the foundation of the famous surgeon Sir Magdy Yacoub. The donors were motivated not only by the international fame of the British surgeon of Egyptian origin, but also by the humanitarian and dignified treatment enjoyed by poor patients and their families enjoy at this medical centre. Its services are offered free to all Egyptians, especially to those of the southern governorates that have long suffered from deteriorating medical services. It was a wise, noble and considerate action when the Grand Mufti of the Republic Sheikh Ali Gomma issued a fatwa (religious edict) legalising the allocation of zakat (Muslim alms giving) to such a medical institution founded by a Christian surgeon. The Mufti conveyed an invaluable message of the importance of assisting anyone who is working to serve the people. Gomma himself heads the charity institution of Misr al-Kheir, through which he has widened charity work and directed it into fields never previously considered by the charitable society. These include supporting scientific and medical research, upgrading animal production, offering food to the underprivileged, and implementing a programme to treat many poor blind patients and eliminate the affliction of blindness. The nature of this charity has touched all of society and has crystallised during the fasting spiritual month of Ramadan to reach its peak. In addition to the charitable societies, some production companies have been competing in announcing their respective donations of some of their profits to certain charity fields. One even consulted the public about the field to which it should direct its donation, namely educational, sporting or charitable works. In other words, the whole of society is ready to give some of their savings to help persons in need. It is most important to note that Egyptian citizens will positively respond to any initiative to fund a giant development project to be created in any field if they trusted the institution sponsoring this project. This is not attributable to the good nature of the Egyptians rather than the important change rendered to them by the revolution. Now they all have a dream to see their country attain the position it deserves amongst nations. They are ready to spend much of their money, effort and time to achieve that goal. All that they need is a trustworthy leadership and a clear programme to effect progress within a specific timeframe. The Egyptians might be divided over the image of the coming regime whether it is secular or religious. They might also differ on some articles of the new constitution. But they do all agree about the necessity of rebuilding the country in such a way that it achieves progress. This must be made clear to the coming regime that will assume the responsibility of establishing the main pillars of this new state of Egypt.
