About the Cairo Project.
Background
Egypt today, has become host to hundreds and thousands of refugees fleeing conflicts, war and persecution in Africa. While Egypt has opened its borders to refugees there are no refugee camps in Egypt and the majority of the refugees live in urban areas such as Cairo, and Alexandria. The number of refugees in Egypt is unknown, estimates vary and range widely from 500,000 to 3 million. Of the nationalities of African refugees known in Egypt, Sudanese form the largest group, followed by people from Somalia, Ethiopia, and Eritrea.
Egypt is a signatory of the 1989 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child which stipulates that children have the right to free access to education and support for psychological recovery after war. Nevertheless primary and secondary education for most refugees is not allowed in Egyptian public schools. Refugees who want a university education must pay foreigners’ fees in foreign currency. A Presidential decree signed in 2001 declared that Sudanese children of recognised refugees should be allowed to attend public schools. With the restriction on the right to work, refugees are forced to rely on the informal sector and are thus easily exploited.
Children who are a part of this project
The theme of our current project is essentially a question identity (how the children see themselves) and dislocation (their experiences of living in Cairo). The children who are a part of this project are refugees from Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea who have fled ethnic and civil conflict. What is it like to like in a City like Cairo, without complete citizenship rights, limited or no access to education, no prospects of livelihood and to grow up in a society where they might will never really belong? Some of them came to Egypt as very small children and others were born here. They speak Egyptian Arabic, yet most of them have never known what it is like to live in their own country. They call themselves Sudanese or Somali yet the culture they most associate with is the African American Hip-hop/ rap culture, where they idolise and emulate the American gang culture.
Faced with xenophobia, racism and poverty, what do these kids look forward to in life? Despite the enormity of history and persecution that looms around them they are still children; who smile, laugh, cry, have friends, play and going through the
pangs of adolescence like most children around the world.The project will be a tribute to their resilience and strive to present to the world these children as story tellers.
