Friday March 29th, 2024
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The Egyptian Initiative Sending Buses with Games, Medical Check-Ups, More for Homeless Children

Video games, fun activities and psychological care all in a fleet of roaming buses giving Egypt's homeless children some much deserved R&R.

Staff Writer

In a joint collaboration, the Ministry of Social Solidarity and the Tahya Masr fund have launched a neat little campaign simply called Homeless Children, which sees some rather pimped-out buses intended to give homeless children across Egypt shelter, games and free medical checkups, as reported by Al Masry El Youm this week.

There are 17 buses, each on allocated to a governorate. Games, laptops, a big screen TV, air conditioning and a team made up of a psychologist, a social worker, an activities coordinator and a paramedic can all be found on the buses. In Cairo, the main pick-up point for the children is Giza Square with buses making their rounds through 6th October to Hosary Square.

With the team on call for six hours everyday, children below the age of 18 are welcomed on the bus and delegated a social worker who will handle their case after the psychologist's diagnosis. The social worker then determines the best course of action for the case at hand. 

“We try to figure out each kids individual problem and why he or she left their home. We check to see what were the issues with the family or if the child doesn’t actually have a home. And from there, we develop a plan for him or her,” explains Maher Saleh, one of the social workers on the buses.

The activities coordinator, on the other hand, makes sure the kids take part in educational interactive games and uses drawing and coloring to encourage a flow of communication.