Pioneering Cairo school struggles for funds
Mahaba, meaning love in Arabic, has long been something of an oasis
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Among the poorest of Egypt’s poor, the so-called zabbaleen who scavenge through garbage to eke out a living in a Cairo slum struggle to keep their children in school.
Residents of the Ezbet Al Nakhl shanty town earn a living from rubbish they collect across the capital and sort in privatelyowned recycling workshops.
But a school in the midst of the unpaved muddy alleys in the mostly Coptic district of the zabbaleen, meaning the garbage people in Arabic, has long been something of an oasis.
Set up 30 years ago by French nun Sister Emmanuelle, the Mahaba School - taking its name from the Arabic word for love shields around 3,000 pupils from the outside world in a clean and friendly environment.
The walls of its classrooms are brightly decorated with pupils’ work, and football posts with a net stand proudly
The Vatican once compared Sister Emmanuelle to Mother Teresa for her charitable work with slum dwellers. The founder died 10 years ago at the age of 99, and the school is now run by Sister Demiana.
However of late, Mahaba and other slum-based education initiatives are finding it hard to make ends meet due to the economic situation in Egypt.
“Everything has become expensive and people are feeling the pressure,” said Sister in the playground. Demiana. Many of the children who attend Mahaba School are malnourished and their parents struggle to buy them clothes and school supplies, she said.
Mahaba charges 3,000 pounds (Dh613) in annual school fees. But the poorest families do not have to pay, while those who are slightly less poor pay only a token amount. “The main challenge is (for the parents) to find money” to pay for their general needs, said school teacher Sabah Sobhi, who has worked at Mahaba since it first opened.