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Ilaria Cicconi interviews Msgr Yoannis GAID

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Ilaria Cicconi interviews Msgr Yoanni GAID, about the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Cairo and the Orphanage Oasi della Pietà that the Association Bambino Gesù of

2022-06-10

Ilaria Cicconi interviews Msgr Yoanni GAID, about the Bambino Gesù Hospital in Cairo and the Orphanage Oasi della Pietà that the Association Bambino Gesù of Cairo is building

The Association Bambino Gesù of Cairo which pursues purposes of social solidarity through the promotion and support both in Italy and abroad of social and health care assistance with particular regard to pregnant women and abandoned minors or otherwise belonging to non self-sufficient families. Egypt is characterized by a situation of poverty and many children are abandoned, left in poverty to live in terrible conditions.

In Cairo, in the area defined as "New Administrative Capital", the Association supports two projects: an orphanage called "Oasis of Pietà" and a hospital called "Bambino Gesù Woman's & Children's Hospital".

As the president of the Association Msgr. Yoannis Lahzi Gaid said: the idea of ​​the orphanage project began after the signing of the Document on Human Fraternity.

This Document was signed on February 4, 2019 by Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of al-Azhar Ahmad al-Tayyip in the name of Fraternity between peoples to avoid wars and conflicts. The fundamental concepts on which it is based are the rejection of discrimination in the name of religion, the rejection of religious terrorism in favor of dialogue between Christian and Muslim believers.

 

Msgr. Yoannis Lahzi Gaid tell us about the realization of these 2 projects

"The Oasis of Pietà is a project that concretizes the concept of Fraternity in an action of charity towards needy brothers. Thus was born the idea of ​​building a house whose doors will be open to all children, without any distinction.

This project will therefore welcome all children who do not have parents or children from poor families who cannot support their growth or children abandoned by their families for various reasons (e.g. children of parents in prison or from new marriages who refuse children of a previous marriage).

Our project "Oasi of Pietà" wants to give these children the opportunity to have a home where they can grow up peacefully and receive education, training, medical care, opportunities for growth and to learn a job.

In the orphanage there are several workshops: to teach the art of mosaic, the art of icons, carpentry and other manual works. All this to give children not only the opportunity to grow up peacefully but also to guarantee their future. Each child, who enters the house, will therefore be welcomed, accompanied both during the time of stay and subsequently when he reaches the age of maturity".

Who will take care of the children?

“The children will live in the orphanage in the family, in an apartment. Every six children will be entrusted to a couple of young volunteers and will live together in an apartment. They will study together, they will play together and thus they will experience the embrace of a real family.

In this way, the Oasi of Pietà will give disadvantaged couples the opportunity to live in the orphanage and give them the opportunity to give affection to little guests; therefore, Oasi of Pietà has two faces, one towards the volunteer family and one towards the children who live with them.

If there are no enough couples, the children will be entrusted to the educators who will act as parents.

The House will offer everything we want to give to our kids. They will go to school like everyone else, they will receive the necessary care, they will be dressed well, cared for and educated. They will have a playground, a games room, a library, medical and psychological assistance.

The Oasis of Pietà is a complete project, well designed to be able to give these children all that life has taken from them”.

 

Why did you choose Egypt?

 “For several reasons. First of all because Egypt is a country of about 110 million inhabitants and many of these live below the poverty line.

The second reason because Egypt is the country where Christians and Muslims live together, therefore it is the terrain of fraternity and coexistence.

Furthermore, Egypt is home to Al-Azhar University.

Another important factor: in Egypt is not allowed to adopt children, so the only way to give them a home and hospitality there is this.

Finally, Egypt is the gateway to the Middle East and the Arab and Islamic world.

All this does not exclude the possibility of extending the project to other countries that need it”.

 

When will the orphanage be ready?

“We are 90% of the work and we want to finish as soon as possible but everything also depends on donations and fundraising.

This moment of war has unfortunately caused price increase. The same thing is true for the hospital, the project is ready, but we will not start without completing the orphanage first and without receiving the necessary funds”.

 

Is the project to build a hospital going well?

“The second project is to build a hospital that will be called the “Bambino Gesù of Cairo” linked to the “Bambino Gesù of Rome”, to offer the necessary care to the children of the orphanage but also to all the other children.

The idea is to benefit from the science of the Infant Jesus of Rome through the training of doctors and nurses who will be educated in Rome before serving in Cairo. The two structures will be digitally connected to deal with particular cases together”.

Does the Association also work in Italy?

“Of course. It is an Italian association and the members are overwhelmingly Italian. Here in Italy we help disadvantaged families”.

The project to make adoption in Italy easier

 “In this period we are preparing a national congress to study the delicate issue of adoption. The congress will be open to all”.

How to help and support the Orphanage and Hospital project

“First of all, visiting the our website (www.bambinogesu-eg.com) there all can find all the detailed information on the projects.

Then, by joining initiatives such as that of the kitchen that was published on the Intesa Sanpaolo website for Funding:

(https://www.forfunding.intesasanpaolo.com/DonationPlatform-ISP/nav/progetto/gesu-cairo-cucina)

People can go to the site and donate even a euro or five euros because only with the few of many we can make a difference!

Another way is to donate tile. The tiles are numbered, so the benefactor will automatically have a tile where he can engrave his name or the name of the person he wants. Many, for example, engraved the name of their children or deceased parents.

This is another initiative that we have on the platform of our association's website.

Another way is to donate the 5 X1000 to the Association”.

Last Massage?

To carry out these projects, we ask for everyone's help. It is not about doing great things, but about doing something. Mother Teresa teaches us that "We must not do great things, but it would be enough for each one of us to do his part and the world will never be the same".