Assiut, Egypt – A year ago, Pastor Magdy wrote: „I dream of a great work with deaf children between the ages of 4 and 18. They could learn to read and write and sign language for the deaf in their own school. We could bring 150 children back into active life through a conversation course where they are helped to actively communicate with their environment.“ Today, this school is a reality thanks to CiN‘s donors. It is an ecumenical project, as all Christian parishes in the Valley of Christians near Assiut are involved.
Doubly discriminated against
Being deaf is associated with severe discrimination in rural Egypt. If they are also Christian children like Jolya on the previous page, then they hardly have a chance to lead their lives with respect. This results in double discrimination: as deaf people and as Christians. They are quite ordinary children, often even very intelligent. But their lot is to spend their lives in secret and behind the doors of their family‘s hut. Even more than here in Europe, the everyday lives of people in the Orient depend on oral communication. Every single one of the children sees a school for the first time. There, the children are taken seriously. They learn to communicate and participate better in life. The training of siblings and parents is also part of the school project.
Ibrahim Emmanuel
Their father suffers from chronic kidney disease. He has three sons and two daughters. His daughter Ibrahim is deaf. In the school project, Ibrahim also receives training in sewing. The family now knows that they can trust their daughter to do something. Ibrahim is not disabled, just deaf. This distinction is often still unknown in the rural population. This is why the parents‘ involvement in the school is so important.
Jehan Shenouda
The deaf girl‘s father is suffering from polio, an infectious disease that has almost been eradicated in our country but is spreading again in the Middle East.
But there is a brother in the poor family who can hear and speak normally and takes great care of little Jehan. With his help, Jehan attends school with great diligence and makes a lot of progress.
If the family helps, Jehan will be able to lead a largely normal and later more independent life. A hearing aid may also be necessary, but the very poor family with the sick father cannot afford it. CiN also tries to support them with donations, because in all our educational projects we strive to open up opportunities for self-determination for persecuted and severely discriminated Christians. Education alone is not enough. It also needs a boost for an independent path into the future.
The school needs around 300 euros once a year for materials and around 100 euros a month for the teachers.
