Africa Hope: strengthening Egypt’s bond with wider Africa

Being in Africa is true happiness in this world. As a child I was inspired by books about the African continent and everything in it; our traditions, our landscape, even our football, and most of all our people.

Egypt is part of Africa, but for a long time it has been disconnected from its African roots. I often thought about my role in bridging this gap and strengthening the bond between us in Egypt and our wider continent. I recall I once saw a photo of the Scottish physician Dr David Livingstone, who dedicated his life to helping Africa and even died in Zambia. In the photo, one of Dr Livingstone’s legs was in London and one was in Cape Town, South Africa. That photo was from the mid 18^th Century, and I was quite in awe at how this man had travelled so far more than 160 years ago, without the aid of aeroplanes. I told myself that I would do as he had done, and travel the African continent by land.

In 2015 I finally went on my overland trip, travelling solo from Cairo all the way south to Cape Town. What I saw on my journey often shocked me. I witnessed many refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) in camps on the borders between several countries. I volunteered by supporting the management of community schools inside some of the camps.

I was inspired by what I had seen. When I returned to Egypt, I organised a fundraising campaign contributing to the establishment of community schools in Darfur, Sudan. After this, I met three hardworking and enthusiastic guys at a wedding party who were doing similar work. We discussed how to introduce the continent of Africa to Egyptian youth and give them access to volunteering opportunities in various countries.

We put our plan into action, and in September 2017 the first group of 10 young Egyptians travelled to Cape Town. Their goal was to put a smile on children’s faces by holding exciting recreational activities for the children. Later on, the number of backpackers volunteering with us reached more than 100. More than 70% of them were girls! We weren’t expecting that.

This milestone coincided with me finishing my Master’s programme in International Development at the University of Birmingham, which I undertook with Chevening. I was also completing a specialised programme about Change in Africa at the University of Oxford around the same time.

When I returned to Egypt, I took new ideas with me and we established our organisation, Africa Hope, with a vision of improving access to education for every child in Africa.

Since then, hundreds of volunteers have crossed overland from Cairo to Cape Town via local transportation and had hands-on experience with life across Africa.

Africa Hope has now launched our campaign, Africa Sees, supporting children with poor eyesight to receive eye care and glasses, services that are difficult to access in some places, improving their quality of life and their education. The campaign began first in Tanzania in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Health, and with the support of our volunteers the campaign will move into Egypt and South Sudan next.

In the first quarter of 2021, the organisation has also launched a campaign in three African countries to help more girls access education by providing them with safe and effective menstrual supplies. These pads will be priced lower than other multinational brands, enabling girls to access safe supplies that they can afford.

So far, Africa Hope has gone from strength to strength, but there is always more work to be done.

My hope is that by making fellow Alumni aware of our work I can connect with other Chevening Alumni based in Africa who hope to give back to our beloved continent.

To connect with Mohamed and learn more about his work and how to get involved, you can find him on Chevening Connect or on LinkedIn.