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An oasis in Cairo
Ministry
provides opportunities for Sudanese
refugees
Beyond a
gate at a bustling intersection in Cairo, Egypt, is a church compound that, for Sudanese refugees there, is an oasis. It’s where they find community
as well as opportunities for education and employment.
Life in Cairo for Sudanese refugees is difficult. They face high rents, gang violence and limited
job opportunities. Fewer and fewer countries are admitting refugees from Sudan, so they get “stuck” in Cairo.
“They
feel they can’t go forward and they can’t go backward,” said Richard Allhusen, program director for St. Andrew’s Refugee Ministry, an ELCA companion institution. “They feel they can’t emigrate and it’s
not safe to go back.”
The ministry, which started in 1978 to serve Somali refugees, offers a school for
children, adult education classes, woodworking and sewing workshops, and a gift shop that sells the refugees’ crafts.
It also provides a network that allows the refugee community to identify its members in need—such as children who lack
jackets or families without furniture.
“The source of strength comes from the community itself,” Allhusen
said. “They can come to the church. It’s a safe place to talk. The women who come to the sewing project, sometimes
they just come to have tea and talk. We tell them to linger.”
| In a trailer-style classroom called a “caravan,”
music teacher Abdul Haleem plays guitar and leads children in song. “I am with you. You are with me. We are together,”
the children sing. The lyrics reinforce what they’ve learned in English classes. |
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Aisha Abdul (right) helps Faisa El Amir design
a pattern for an outfit she’ll eventually sew. Abdul is a refugee from Eritrea who lived in Sudan for two years before
coming to Cairo, Egypt. El Amir has lived in Cairo since fleeing the violence in Sudan nine years ago. Each week 650 people
attend adult education classes at St. Andrew’s Refugee Ministry. In addition to sewing, they can learn English, accounting
and computer skills.
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| Students play soccer in the courtyard of the church
compound during a physical education class. Of the 196 schoolchildren at St. Andrew’s Refugee Ministry, 170 are from
Sudan. Gang violence among refugees from different regions forces many children to stay
indoors, and some develop rickets
because they don’t get enough sunlight. “This is the only place they can come and play. At home they are stuck
in their houses,” said teacher Mariam Hashim, herself a former refugee from Somalia who is now an Egyptian resident. |
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