The SunShine Foundation Luxor
The SunShine Project UK

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