A Word from Tarek Ben Halim

Dear Friends,

• We sourced and funded three excellent projects with three innovative NGOs.
• We have identified two new projects to fund in early 2006.
• We formed our Board of Trustees with two exceptional people.
• Lubna Olayan becomes our third trustee; her bio will be on the web site soon.
• We launched our website www.arablearninginitiative.org
• We developed two new partnerships that will support our work in Egypt.
• Our registration in Egypt is almost completed (no easy task).
• We opened our Cairo office.
• We applied for tax exempt status in the US.
• We are hiring 2 new people. Check the positions out on our website, AND
• We started fund raising!

New Projects

We have recently approved two new projects for funding. Disbursement of funds and project implementation is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2006.

Establishment of Information and Research Centre

Researchers, academics and civil society organisations are frequently working on social, development and human rights issues, on which much is written in the press, however is rarely available in electronic form. This means that if research on a current topic is being done, information that is not collected first hand from the press is otherwise very difficult to obtain. Although some government publications are in electronic form,  those which are not are extremely difficult and time-consuming to access from the archives. Opposition publications on the other hand, are rarely available in electronic form. Collecting information, analysing and computerising it therefore becomes an ordeal.

Arab Learning Initiative will fund the establishment of an organisation that will carry out two main activities. The first is to set up a website that is updated daily with all information collected from the press pertaining to certain topics of public interest. The second is to provide more detailed, client-tailored research to organisations upon demand for a fee. 

The organisation will be providing a new, unique service in Egypt that is increasingly relevant given the rising number of opposition and independent publications. The group has already been providing some of its services to researchers and civil society organisations but has not been able to continue given its lack of resources.  Its client base is in much need of these services due to poor research skills and especially poor knowledge of how to use information technology. This is exacerbated by the difficulty in using Arabic language search engines. The project will be able to cover part of its cost through charging for commissioned tailored research.

Training Programme for Cerebral Palsy Health Workers

Arab Learning Initiative has recently approved funding for a training programme for health workers working with children with cerebral palsy (CP). There are an estimated quarter of a million children that suffer from CP in Egypt. Children with CP are generally dismissed as a burden on families and society, given their total dependence on others for their basic needs such as eating, standing and walking, they are usually relegated to centres that will ‘baby sit’ them or otherwise locked up in homes. Mobility Opportunities Via Education (MOVE) is a programme that allows children with CP to rely more on themselves and depend less on others to lead more productive lives. 

The financial, physical and social burden a child with CP can create within a family, particularly among the poor, often results in a rupture in the family, where the mother is left alone to bear the responsibility of the child. A programme through which children with CP are taught to rely more on themselves, is a programme that is alleviating the burden on mothers and the family as a whole.

Ignorance, fear and pity (all of which are linked to age-old assumptions about ability, normalcy, and human potential) persist. In relation to the size of the problem, there are currently almost no centres in Egypt specifically targeted at children with CP and children with multiple physical disabilities, depriving many children of their basic rights to opportunity. Equally lacking is the trained staff. The MOVE programme is in fact a training programme of various levels that targets health workers and parents in the physical rehabilitation of children with CP. The proposed programme will target health workers from both NGOs and governmental facilities nationwide.  Training will be carried out at a fee that will enable the organisation to at least cover part of its costs. 

Update on Ongoing Projects

Paper-Making Centre

Al Nafeza, our partner NGO, after 3 months of operations, has now completed its first training stage for 10 young women on the production of recycled paper using agricultural by-products and natural fibres.  Arab learning Initiative funded setting up the training centre and equipping it with the basic tools needed for the first training stage in which recycled paper is produced. The trainees have taken up the skill readily and have already moved to the production stage. Although the centre was not planning on initiating the production stage so early on, they have already received their first production requests from clients given the high quality of paper being produced. This has boosted the morale of the women and project staff and accelerated the momentum of the project.

In the coming stages, the centre will be purchasing additional equipment which should enhance production, as well as move on to more advanced training stages, diversifying production and technique as planned, and providing a steady source of income for the women.

Al Nafeza will need assistance in moving from a simple training facility to a more sophisticated production unit. Arab Learning Initiative will support the centre with technical assistance in management and marketing in order to ensure sound sustainability and growth of the project.

For more information about the project: www.elnafeza.com

Science Education Pilot Project for Underprivileged Children

Our project to bring environmental science education to underprivileged school children is well underway. While the results of the evaluation are still being finalised, the enthusiasm with which the school children and their teachers have received the programme far superseded our expectations.  The Wadi Environmental Science Centre (WESC), our partner NGO, has piloted its programme of ‘classrooms with no walls’ with children from the public school sector. This programme brings topics such as renewable energy, wildlife, botany and biodiversity out of the classroom and into practical outdoor learning.

Private school children have benefited from this programme for a number of years. Arab Learning Initiative has supported a pilot project to test the applicability of the programme to benefit public school children who have little access to these sorts of facilities and to many of these topics. Approximately 150 children from grades 4, 5 and 6 of the Abu El Nomros village have attended the programme.

WESC have worked extensively with the teachers and staff at the Abu El Nomros School. With their support, guidance, and input, they have crafted a programme of environmental science lessons that will meet their specific needs, build on their strengths, offer support in areas they are less proficient and provide the best learning platform for their students. 

The challenge facing WESC now is how to scale up this project, and how to expand the existing facilities.  WESC is being approached by a number of NGOs to replicate the programme in different Egyptian governorates.  Arab Learning Initiative is helping link WESC with business consulting to secure funds and an appropriate business plan for that purpose.

For more information about the project: www.wesc.org

Loan Programme to Upgrade Quarries and Improve Worker Conditions

The first three loans have been disbursed for the upgrade of three limestone quarries in Minia and another three will be disbursed by the end of January 2006.  The Wadi El Nil Association has agreed to disburse the loans gradually to minimise the risks and apply lessons learnt as new loans are disbursed. The loans are allowing quarry owners to put safety measures in place on the work sites, upgrade to safer machinery and equip workers with basic protective gear. 

Training of quarry workers on labour rights and collective action will begin in January 2006.  Focus group discussions with the quarry owners have indicated that they are keen on upgrading the working conditions in their quarries yet wary of sending their workers to the training sessions. The organisation is therefore working on maintaining the delicate balance needed to solicit support from the quarry owners while advocating worker rights.

Arab Learning Initiative is currently exploring the possibility of linking the Wadi El Nil Association with one of its partner institutions to help with developing ideas for further financial sustainability beyond the loan programme.

New Partnerships

Arab Learning Initiative will  be supporting organisations that are proposing projects that have little precedent in the region. These will be projects that aim to achieve social change by adopting certain practices from the private sector. We aim to facilitate that process by teaming up with the best learning establishments and skills in the Arab region, providing a new dimension to assist NGOs.

The American University in Cairo is one such institution, given its commitment to service learning and its aim of increasing the participation of its students and wider AUC community in service and philanthropic work. The AUC and ALI have agreed to pilot a project for cooperation commencing in January 2006.

The graduate programme in the School of Business, Economics and Communication will be providing hands-on experience to students where they can apply theory into practice through developing the sustainability plan of a project selected by Arab Learning Initiative. A short term consultancy conducted by a small, select groups of students and faculty will be piloted in the Spring 2006 semester. 

Pharos Capital, a financial services and private equity company, is another such example. Pharos Capital will be providing financial advisory to an NGO selected by Arab Learning Initiative on a pilot basis in early 2006. This type of partnership represents the kind of skills transfer that is needed to help NGOs acquire the business acumen necessary for their sustainability. In turn, the company is developing its corporate social responsibility by dedicating a portion of its time, skills and staff for a pro bono endeavour.

Arab Learning Initiative will invest time and effort in finding NGOs that would benefit from such cooperation; assist in the development of project proposals with AUC, Pharos Capital and the NGOs; work with them in developing practical solutions and ultimately fund the proposed projects if they are deemed viable.