Egyptian Red Crescent with Land Rover and Swiss Red Cross supports underprivileged in Cairo

 The Egyptian Red Crescent (ERC), in cooperation with the Swiss Red Cross (SRC) and with the valuable financial support of Land Rover is moving forward with its project to help families in the Zeinhum district of Cairo.

Earlier this year an ambitious two-year project with the objective to improve the hygiene situation, the access to health care and livelihoods for underprivileged families was launched. The project, which is financially supported by Land Rover, focused on a first phase to recruit new volunteers, who will serve the deprived communities of Hoash Bahara, Kal’et Al-Kabsh and Tal Al-Akareb in Zeinhum district.

This phase is now complete and over a period of two months the volunteers received training and undertook a first visit to over 900 families to collect data on their health and hygiene habits and also their social situation. The young leader of this team of “community and youth volunteers”, Aya Hegab, is excited about the first results, saying: “The families have been very welcoming and are happy that we show interest in their plight and are ready to help them to improve their situation.”

In the meantime a total of 90 volunteers have received training in “Community-Based Health and First Aid” (CBHFA) and “Youths as Agents of Behavioural Change” (YABC), an innovative programme approach used by Red Crescent and Red Cross volunteers around the world.

These volunteers, both young females and males from all walks of life, most of them from the Zeinhum district, are now ready to visit the families again and contribute to the promotion of hygiene and health awareness messages. They will not just come empty handed to these families but bring some useful items with them such as soaps, tooth brushes, rubbish bags, washing powder and brooms.

Furthermore they will spread the word that the newly renovated and extended ERC health clinic in Zeinhum district, located at the ERC Women & Social Centre, is ready to treat them for a minimal fee. In the last weeks ERC has upgraded the clinic and even installed a dental clinic to assure access to health care for people with low income.

In the last few months, ERC has also purchased and installed tools and equipment such as sewing machines and computers in order to start with vocational trainings before the end of 2015. Women and young people will learn new skills in sewing classes, electronic repair workshops and computer training courses.

By the end of the project in January 2017, 675 women and young people who will participate in the vocational trainings will develop or refine their skills, which should help to open up their employment opportunities. In total, some 35,000 people will benefit from the hygiene and health promotions, the access to the upgraded health clinic and the vocational training classes. This will help to address urgent medical and economic needs of families in difficult situations in the area.

Ahmed El Gharib, Managing Director General Manager of MTI Automotive, Egypt's exclusive importer of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles underlined: “Jaguar Land Rover’s global CSR programme aims to help 12 million people by 2020. We as general distributor are proud to be part of this worldwide commitment and support it whole-heartedly. We are glad to be able to support the important work of the Egyptian Red Crescent and its many volunteers for the benefit of the Egyptian people.”

The initiative also comes under the umbrella of the company’s long term ‘Reaching Vulnerable People around the World’ programme and its global partnership with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), spanning 15 countries and dating back to 1954. United by their philanthropic beliefs, the partnership between Land Rover and the IFRC has previously changed the lives of many people around the world, and will continue to do so until at least 2018.