With painful wars raging in the region and taking a huge humanitarian toll on its people, Egyptians are rallying efforts to alleviate the suffering of war victims.
In Cairo’s southern suburb of Helwan, the Helwan Fertilisers Company prepared 4,000 boxes of foodstuffs for Sudanese refugees in Egypt. The boxes were handed to the Sudanese embassy in Cairo, which has been asked to distribute them among the refugee families in various places in Egypt.
The company chairman Hassan Abdel-Alim said that Helwan Fertilisers is living up to its societal role in supporting Sudanese refugees in Egypt, especially given that President Sisi has called upon businesses and industrial firms to share in this role. “This is not the first time we offer our support, nor will it be the last,” Mr Abdel-Alim said. “We are keen to pursue our efforts in that regard, because Sudan has a cherished place in Egyptians’ hearts; we are all people of the Nile Valley.”
In Menoufiya in the southern part of the Nile Delta, a delegation from Menoufiya Red Crescent (RC) Society visited the Teaching Hospital of Shebin al-Koum University to offer aid to the Palestinian families and women under treatment in the hospital. The delegation was led by Muhammad Moussa, head of the Menoufiya RC, and included senior executives at the RC and a number of members. They offered the Palestinians much-needed moral support, as well as blankets and warm clothes.
In Beni-Sweif some 100km south of Cairo, where Palestinian cancer patients receive treatment at Beni-Sweif University’s Teaching Hospital, Fr Ermiya Abdu who is in charge of the crisis committee in the Coptic Diocese of Beni-Sweif, and Tassoni (Sister) Amalia paid a visit to the Palestinian patients. They offered them flowers and goodies, spreading an air of compassion and good cheer.
Fr Ermiya relayed to the patients the greetings and prayers of Beni-Sweif Bishop, Anba Ghabrial, and his wishes for them of peace and speedy recovery.
Earlier this month, under the motto “On the way to our people in Palestine”, Pope Tawadros II, Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church, launched an initiative to send humanitarian aid to Gaza.
The first of that aid was a truck-full of relief material that joined a convoy of aid heading to Gaza.
The Coptic Orthodox Bishopric of Public, Ecumenical, and Social Services (BLESS), headed by Anba Yulius, took charge of fulfilling the Pope’s initiative, working in collaboration with the National Alliance for Civil Work.
The contents of the truck included blankets, mattresses, winter clothes for children, and other necessities, which were collected at the BLESS headquarter in the Cairo suburb of Nasr City. Anba Yulius, along with Church servants, as well as girls and boys from the Church scouts, prepared the aid material.
The Coptic Church’s initiative came in response to the call by Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi for Egyptians to support the Palestinian people under the war’s difficult circumstances.
The Coptic Church incessantly prays for an end to the fighting in Gaza, and for peace in the region: “The Lord is able to alleviate all pain and distress”.