St. Andrew's Refugee Services

St Andrew’s Refugee Education Programs are getting back to full speed after the Christmas Holidays. The children’s education program has been back at school for a full week and are working towards their public examinations which begin on March 15. This week is registration and placement testing for the adult education program, and lessons will start next week.

We have had many staff changes in the last few weeks and are sad in particular to say goodbye to some long standing members of staff, in particular, executive director and pastor of St Andrew’s, Peter Johnson. Pastor Peter served for almost four years at St Andrew’s in various capacities, stepping in to the role of executive director at a most difficult time. His leadership and guidance through the last eighteen months has given St Andrew’s a firm foundation from which to move forward. We wish him well in the next stage of his life, whatever that may be, and we will miss him.

2012 begins a new chapter in the life of St Andrew’s Refugee Services, one that we hope will bring more stability to our external situation. Thank you all for your support during the past year and wishing you all the best for 2012.

Dear All

St Andrew’s will be re-opening all its services from Wednesday 30 November. Thank you for your patience with us during the disruption.

We look forward to seeing all of you over the coming days.

St Andrew’s Administration

Caritas, AMERA and UNHCR are all back to their usual programing as well.

To all our clients and students:

All programing is suspended temporarily from November 20 for the entire week because of the violence in Tahrir Square.

We hope that normal service will return as soon as possible, but please check this website for information.

In the mean time, if you have an emergency, please call one of the following numbers:

St Andrew’s Psychosocial 0189614047

CARITAS emergency number 27964441

Nadeem Centre (mental health) 27961771

EFFR (Legal help)
01098895588
01098895589
01500331017
0114686134
01009564433

SMS messages were sent to all refugees (through Caritas and CRS)
informing them of the following:

- UNHCR reception will not be open on 28 November, in event of
emergency call UNHCR hotlines (protection: and detention: 0127333367
assistance related matters: 0125000671)

- While Caritas Garden City is closed, medical services will be
provided at Sanabel Hopital and St. Mary’s hospital Nasr City, Caritas
hotline for emergencies: 01224785315

- E-mail message to all refugee CBOs and leaders outlining procedures
in case of emergency, informing them that the UNHCR e-mail general
e-mail will also be checked regularly.

- Financial assistance planning is underway. Refugees on the bank list
have received their payment mid December. Planning is underway to
serve those who should receive directly from Caritas at an alternative
location. Further details will be available tomorrow.

- Emergency registration or documentation needs can be arranged.

- All cards handed to UNHCR for renewal can be collected from UNHCR on
23, 24 and 27 November.

Due to the departure of several long-serving and dedicated board members, St Andrew’s Advisory Board is looking for new members.

Do you have experience of sitting on a board? Running an NGO? Or perhaps your own company? Or fundraising?

If so and you would like to bring your expertise to the table as we enter a new and exciting time, please send your CV and a letter explaining why you are interested and what you feel you could bring to us to standrews.applications@gmail.com.

We look forward to hearing from you.

At the end of the summer term we celebrated the graduation of our senior three and primary eight students in the presence of some very special guests. We were luck enough to have Reverend Robert Smith and Reverend Rafael Malpica-Padilla visiting from the ELCA in Chigaco. As one of our most consistent and loyal funders, particularly in recent circumstances we were glad to have the opportunity to share this day of celebration with them.

This year we have eleven graduates from grade eight who have passed into the senior school. They are Lam, Mayada, Ayman, Hanadi, Velia , Silvanam Ajak, Zakaria, Dut, Khalid, Aui, Mohamed and Martin, together with Atem and Marmier who passed their senior three examinations.

2011Graduates with Rafael Malpica-Padilla, Executive Director for
ELCA Global Mission

In addition to these celebrations we were also able to have a great send off for Madit Deng Ring, who last month achieved a fully funded scholarship to the African Leadership Academy in Johannesburg. (www.africanleadershipacademy.org) Madit has long been recognized as a particularly talented student

Madit Deng Ring

and this year achieved success beyond our dreams by winning the scholarship. Madit will attend two years of high school in the prestigious South African high school where he will sit A levels, learn a new African language, study courses in African history and run a social entrepreneurship program before going on to university.

Congratulations to all our students who passed their exams, and of course to their teachers, volunteer helpers and funders without whom none of this would be possible.

Next week St Andrew’s CEP begins a new school year.  We’ve just had our results from the primary examinations and despite everything that happened earlier in the year, despite the closures and the evacuations and the fear, despite school being closed for two months altogether, thirteen of our students have passed their grade eight examinations.

We are so proud of them and of all our teachers.  They have really struggled against the odds in the last year and worked so hard to make this happen. We are planning to have a big celebration later on in the summer to say “Well Done” to students and teachers alike.  Watch this space….

By Danna Gobel

Mr. Ahmed Abdo

After over ten years of contributing and working at St. Andrew’s, staff bid farewell to one of its most  dedicated team members. I had the pleasure of interviewing Ahmed Abdo on Sunday, January 16, 2011 and prior to his departure to Canada.  The questions I asked are in bold. His responses follow.

Where are you from?

Eritrea.  In the 1990s, Eritrea was struggling for independence.  In 1990, my family (mother, brother, sister) fled with me first to Sudan.  In July 1992, we came to Egypt.

What is your Work History?

I heard about St. Andrew’s through my brother, Ismail. He came to St. Andrew’s Refugee Services (StARS)in 1995. He had heard about the Art and Crafts Cooperative(ARC) and began volunteering there when it was located at the German Church.  I began taking English and Computer classes at St. Andrew’s in 1998.

At that time, the Adult Education Program (AEP) was smaller in size, around 100 total students. The administration was very helpful and friendly.  Most of the participants were from the Horn of Africa (Somali, Eritrea).  I felt at ease coming to St. Andrew’s as it was very different from the Egyptian context around me.

I began coming to the library, seeking out Science Fiction Novels, and then began to volunteer my time there.  My first official job at StARS was when I began working in the library in late January 2001.

I also began volunteering some time assisting the Office Manager and got more involved with the Adult Education Program.  In 2003, I was hired as the Office Manager and worked in that job until 2010.  In January 2010, I was promoted to “Site Administrator”, which added the additional responsibility of maintenance.

What will you miss most at St. Andrew’s?

I will miss my friends & colleagues. They are the ones that made work more fun even in the middle of stressful days that we see sometime.  The fact that every day brings new challenges, and the opportunity to solve new issues daily. I really liked the chance to learn from different cultures.  I will miss the team work, the management group persons, as well as the sense that we are all here to  help each other.  The AEP, CEP, IT, and Executive Management team created a sense of community and a feeling that we are all here to help others.  I felt that we come to St. Andrew’s to do our best; it was not a typical 9:00-5:00 pm job, but a sense of commitment to refugees.

What has your life been like here in Egypt?

It has gotten harder over the years and this has affected refugees.  Since we arrived, prices have gone up, finding a job is difficult and the tensions are higher as Egyptians feel threatened that their jobs will be taken.  There are daily problems with the landlords and those who exploit refugees. Refugees feel stuck here and as if they are living in limbo, as they are not being resettled from Cairo.

What is the most difficult part about living in Egypt?

The fact that there is no clear future for anyone who lives in Egypt.

What do you hope to do in Canada?

There are a lot of uncertainties, but I plan on volunteering with a NGO that works with refugees. This will give me a chance to get used to the work environment there.  In the long term, I hope to find a decent job, security for my family, be able to help my friends and participate in political groups that promote human rights.  I also hope to enrich my knowledge and get involved with people from different cultures.

What will you miss about Egypt?

I will miss all my friends at StARS , the warm weather and the refugee community.

What is your favorite place in Egypt?

St. Andrews & downtown.

What have you learned over the years?

I have learned team work, how to organize my time in order to complete a task, planning, people skills, patience and anticipating ahead. I have learned how to communicate with people from other cultures, people from all five continents!

What advice would you give refugees who have just arrived in Egypt?

1)      In order to interact with Egyptians, you need to learn Arabic.

2)      Acquire English or Computer skills in order to more easily find a job.

3)      Be realistic about the choices you make in Egypt.

4)      Find a refugee community for support and information,

5) Be patient.

Any last thoughts you want to add?

I would like to thank all of my friends at St. Andrew’s Refugee Services. Without them I would not have learned so much.  They have given me much support.  This includes lots of people, but specially, Fiona, Matthew, Mariam, Amany , Tamboura and Daryl.

After the last few weeks, things are getting back to normal at St Andrew’s.  The senior school have been back in classes for three weeks and this week the children came back to school as well.  It is wonderful to have the playground filled with the noise of children playing again after the disruption and chilly silence. The adult education classes began again this week too and we have so far registered around six hundred students.

Many of the staff from the psychosocial programs and RLAP have been working closely with the UNHCR on their emergency financial aid distribution and the head of psychosocial programing is currently working at the Libyan border to identify and register refugees who are fleeing the crisis in Libya so these programs are not yet working at full strength, but we hope that they will be doing so very soon.

Thank you to everyone who has sent messages of support throughout this difficult time and to those who have made donations to support the refugees.  Thanks too to the staff of St Andrew’s who have kept the program going and who have made the distribution of food and financial aid possible through their fundraising and work.

Our next big challenge is the grade eight examinations which start on March 14th Thirty three students will be sitting these exams, and we are also hoping to host Sudanese students who have fled the Libyan crisis to ensure that they get a chance to sit their examinations too.

Our main goal is to ensure that all our clients, children and adults, get the services they need, and to get life back to normal as quickly as possible.  Once again, we thank you for all your support and kindness.

St Andrew’s has been going through a time of crisis in the recent weeks as Egypt has gone through it’s amazing transformation. All programing was closed for almost three weeks as it was too dangerous for refugee staff and clients to come to the premises, but staff continued to operate from home or later on from the offices.  Sadly all buildings including the church were broken into and there are bullet wounds and broken windows in all parts of the building.  Fortunately nothing was taken.

We are now starting to reopen programing under uncertain circumstances.  St Andrew’s need your help more than ever now as we continue to provide services to very vulnerable people in Cairo whose lives have been truly disrupted.  For refugees this is not the first time that they have had to go through the upheaval of revolution and violence, and their experience has been very traumatic.  Many of their employers have left the country, remittances have been interrupted as banks are closed and Western Union is non-operational and many services have been interrupted.

As St Andrew’s continues to press forward with re-opening its programs, with all due regard to service,  we are looking at many new challenges.  If you would like to donate to the refugees here in Cairo, please contact fionajanecameron@gmail.com to find out more details and how to donate.

We re-opened the children’s education program for older students this week, our grade eights have only four weeks left until their examinations.  We hope to open the junior school next week along with adult education program.  We are open for vital psychosocial services, dealing with people who have suffered in the recent crisis and hope to open our legal services very soon.  We are also helping to fund a food distribution program to very vulnerable refugees who are in desperate need of material aid until the situation becomes calmer.

We thank you all, as our supporters for your kindness and ask for your continued help and prayers in our present circumstances.