The SunShine Foundation Luxor
Once again, so much has happened since our last newsletter. The
arrival of Gomar on the 18th of June 2007 brought our numbers up
to 74 children, 33 of whom are still accommodated in our T.V. Street
site, but not for long.
In June, the contracts were signed to start the construction of
the longawaited and dreamt of, permanent home for our children.
Four of the five residential buildings are now under construction
and the framework has reached the second storey level as of the
beginning of October '07. These 4 buildings will have a capacity
of 72 children. Initially 41 children will be moving to the village
in spring 2008. For the time being new arrivals will continue to
be accommodated at Ahmed Esmet Street and all our toddlers will
move to the village as they reach school age. In future, we hope
to build extra accommodation as the need arises, on the village
site.
The replacement of 3 internal walls at Ahmed Esmet Street will
give us 8 self-contained apartments for independent living, for
the older boys. Independent living for the girls will be in self-contained
apartments on the village site. Foundations have been laid to support
5 storeys so we will be able to build 10 more apartments in the
future.
Words can't sufficiently express my gratitude to you all for getting
us this far. I wish all of you could have been there to see the
children's faces when I took them to see the start of the construction.
I don't think they could believe that it was actually happening.
Moments later, when it had finally sunk in, the questions started:
“Can we……? Will we……? What about……? When……?”, and so on! My head
was spinning at the end of the day. Our website www.sunshine-international.org.uk
will keep you up to date on our progress and I hope as many of you
as possible will be in attendance on the day we finally open the
gates.
Amidst all the excitement, our daily lives continue. Tears, laughter,
teenage strops. Just like any other family but on a slightly larger
scale! The summer of 2007 has seemed endless and has been the hottest
I have experienced in 9 years. Fortunately, we have so much space
at T.V. Street, that it has enabled us to provide a variety of indoor
activities for the children. Luxor's Olympic Swimming Pool has proved
a great source of fun and a welcome respite from soaring temperatures.
The Sofitel Karnak hotel continues to provide us with a fabulous
day out each month. Sadly, the instigator of these visits, Mr. Hazim
Amin has been promoted and is now based in Cairo. He remains in
touch and we wish him every success in his new post.
World Children's Day was celebrated at a new venue this year, due
to the closure of our previous venue, and was a resounding success.
Several of our U.K. colleagues and supporters were in attendance
and rallied early in the morning to decorate in preparation for
the arrival of the children at lunchtime. Unfortunately 75% of the
venue is outdoors. As we headed up the driveway in search of a cool
drink and a short break all we could hear was the constant popping
of balloons as the sun wreaked its vengeance. There was so much
going on for the children to enjoy that I don't think they noticed
the remnants of balloons dangling pathetically from trees.
We are receiving tremendous practical support from our local community.
The occupational therapist from our clinic gives five afternoons
a week teaching needlecrafts. A local Sheikh gives Koran lessons
and accompanies the children on social and sporting activities.
A local charitable organisation, Risallah, organises outings and
takes the children, almost on a daily basis, into their family homes.
They are all young men and women who want to give something back
to their local community. All of the above is carried out on a voluntary
basis. It is heart-warming to see our family become such an accepted
part of our local community.
Saturday 15th September saw our older children return to school
followed by the younger ones on 1st October, making a total of 41
children in mainstream education. It had been a long, long holiday.
Raffat is about to start his second year of Engineering School and
Samah was successful in his interview for hotel school. When I look
at the older children now I wonder where all the years have gone.
I remember, as if it was yesterday, the day I came to SunShine.
None of the children had started mainstream schooling and now they
are young men and women preparing to make their way in the world.
We have come a long way in the last eighteen months by working
together for the benefit of the people who count – our children.
Every achievement is down to the constant, unflagging efforts of
sponsors, supporters, tour leaders and my colleagues in the U.K
and Egypt. On behalf of the children I send you our heartfelt thanks.
Lorna Ford - Project Manager - The SunShine Foundation Luxor
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