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Hands Along the Nile Development Services, Inc. (HANDS)
E-newsletter March 2009
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
American and Egyptian College Student Intercultural Dialogue
March 26, 2009
Egyptian Cultural Center, Washington DC
Medical Mission to Egypt
March 29 - April 9, 2009
American-Egyptian Dialogue and Exchange
April 1 - 10, 2009
Atlanta, GA and Washington, DC
New Grant: HANDS was awarded a grant from Alternative Gifts International for a second consecutive year; this grant will support a micro-credit program for women in Egypt!
Connect with us: Join HANDS' community on Facebook by becoming a member of the Hands Along the Nile Development group. (Click on the icon below).
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Dear Friends of HANDS:
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As we seek to find ways of being good stewards of the funds we receive from you in these challenging financial times, we are experimenting with sending our newsletters by email. We also hope to communicate with you more frequently in this way, updating you on the many programs you help make possible in Egypt. Please let us know what you think of this new format.
Sincerely,
The staff of HANDS
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Working children in Egypt face dangerous conditions. |
Empowering Working Children
In Salam City, a neighborhood on the outskirts of Cairo, an estimated 20,000 children are employed in workshops. Rather than spending their days studying math and reading, they are involved in labor-intensive professions such as car-painting, mechanics, carpentry, and welding. They work long hours, often for less than $1 per day, not always receiving the promised daily meals and sometimes even being exposed to physical abuse.
HANDS supports work, through CEOSS, one of our partners in Egypt, to improve the lives of these children. Our Egyptian partners help re-enroll them in school and provide scholarships to cover their school expenses. For children who do not want to return to school, they train them for safer jobs, purchase safety equipment for their workshops, and provide health check-ups. The kids find some joy in the midst of their long weeks through field trips, drama clubs, and sports events that are also arranged for them.
Some friends of HANDS take the opportunity to visit our partner projects during their tours of Egypt. The Eslingers were one such family who visited Salam City and met with the children HANDS is supporting there. To read their account of the visit, please click here.
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Dr. Toocheck conducts an eye exam. |
Tackling Eye Problems in Upper Egypt
The Community Eye Care Center of Minia is about to open its doors! With funding from USAID, international foundations and individuals across the US, HANDS and one of our partner organizations, CEOSS, have been working to complete construction on this project. A mobile medical unit is already circulating through villages around Minia, treating those with eye problems and referring them to the soon-to-be-completed clinic.
In 2008, one of the volunteers on a HANDS Medical Mission, Dr. Daniel Toocheck, visited this center and travelled in the mobile unit through surrounding villages to provide basic treatment and testing. HANDS intern, Patrick Kirby, interviewed Dr. Toochek about his experiences. To read the full interview, please click here.
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Kamal welcomes customers in his new shop.
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Empowering Egyptian Entrepreneurs with Micro-Credit Lending
From women who start car-repair shops to men opening grocery stores, the recipients of HANDS’ microcredit lending all have a sense of accomplishment in the businesses they have been able to launch. This month we meet Kamal and Nevine, a couple with two children in a working-class neighborhood in northern Cairo. Kamal was working hard to support his family in a local telephone service center, where people came to place local and international calls. One day, the owner of the center announced that he would be immigrating to the West and putting his business up for sale. Kamal and Nevine began to think about ways they could purchase the small business themselves. They heard about a program that one of HANDS’ partners, Think and Do, was operating in their community: a microcredit lending program.
After preparing their business plan, Kamal and Nevine applied for a loan of $250 to buy the telephone service center. When their loan was approved, they added this to their own life savings—enough for the first payment on the small shop. The couple now manages the center together, with Nevine working during the daytime and Kamal running it at night. The loan from HANDS has enabled this young family to secure their own future as small business owners and carve out a better life for their young children.
Family by family, entrepreneur by entrepreneur, community by community, HANDS’ donors are helping to support our Egyptian partners in bringing socioeconomic stability to the most populous country in the Middle East.
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DONATE NOW AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE
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You can make a financial contribution to HANDS by cash, check or credit card payment. Please make checks payable to HANDS and mail them to:
Hands Along the Nile Development Services, Inc.
1601 N. Kent Street, Suite 1014
Arlington, VA 22209
By Phone: Please call our office at 703-875-9370 or 1-800-564-2544.
Online: You can donate through Network for Good by clicking here: 
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About HANDS
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HANDS is an American organization working to develop partnerships between Americans and Egyptians to increase intercultural understanding and support community development in Egypt. To learn more about us, please visit our web site: http://www.handsalongthenile.org/. You received this email because your address is on our mailing list. If you do not wish to receive announcements from HANDS, please click on the link below to unsubscribe.
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