News

Cleanup action

14. March 2011

The police also participated and cleaned the area near their station on the West Bank.

During our cleanup action, everybody helped; here at the West Bank corniche. This action is to be organized every week.

Inspired by the cleanup and tidying actions around Tahrir Square in Cairo after the disturbances of the revolution (on TV there were several reports on the cleanup campaigns), some of the workers, sponsors and friends of the Small Pyramid Luxor – armed with brooms, dustpans and rubbish bags – made their way to the Nile, in order to clean up the 500-meter long embankment of the Nile, freeing it of rubbish and debris, since it is the dock for the ferry and many motorboats.

When our group arrived there and started working, we got almost immediate support from numerous motor boat captains and children, who helped us clean. Even the policemen at the nearby station participated in the cleanup action, which took 2.5 hours. A large truck full of rubbish was collected during this time. At the end, everything was super-clean and there was great praise from passing tourists and Egyptians!

From now on, we ourselves will clean this piece of Nile embankment and its surroundings – which are after all the entrance point for thousands of tourists coming to the West Bank – once a week. And everybody wants to join us!

A funny little incident happened too: Two children about 9 years of age came running up to us and asked, “Why are you cleaning? Is Hosni Mubarak coming?” Everybody burst out laughing and a policeman then explained to the children that Hosni Mubarak will no longer come to Luxor because he is no longer the president. Incredible amazement on the part of the boys … to whom we then explained that in future, this area will not just be cleaned when some “big boss” from the government comes here, but it will be cleaned all the time and for all the Egyptians living here and for the tourists visiting the West Bank. The boys thought that was a really good idea and immediately grabbed a trash bag and started helping…

Fund-raising campaign on TV and reports from Luxor

9. February 2011

The walls for the bathroom and the kitchen area are up, and in Sahar’s room (which was previously a terrible dump) a window and a floor have been put in.

Since the child can not walk but just crawl, the room will be laid out with thick mats. The donation amount of 2,580 euros even permits the improvement of living conditions for the entire family. A wheelchair for Sahar was procured, and thanks to a sponsor from Trier, Sahar can have regular physiotherapy. “She has made great progress”, says Ingrid Wecker. The formerly listless child shows pleasure and laughs a lot now.

The heavy unrest in Egypt could not keep Sahar from getting help until now. In Luxor, said the ex-teacher from Konz in Germany, life has been fairly quiet until now. In this tourist city, there is usually a peaceful coexistence of different populations. The way that western politicians and media treat the subject of Egypt sometimes makes Ingrid Wecker, who has been living in Luxor for years, pretty angry. The country is not sinking into a civil war and there is also no reason to doubt the intentions of the democratic movement. If in previous years people had been more seriously interested in the tortured Egyptian soul, they would not be so amazed, helpless and panicked now. “Everything happening now was easily foreseeable previously if one had given the situation a critical look. 99 percent of the Egyptian population only want one thing: to live in freedom and peace”.

Ingrid’s great fear is that tourism as one of the main sources of income will break down and that there is then more poverty among the population than before. She says: “Come to Egypt, as soon as the situation has quietened down! The country needs you more than ever!”

There is a new project for the Small Pyramid at the “Meine Hilfe zählt” site
(www.volksfreund.de/projekte/). Physiotherapy devices are needed for the work of the Pyramid, for about 30 handicapped children. The project has the number 4782. We need about 2,000 euros, then this project could also be realized.
Thanks to all sponsors and advocates of all of our projects.

Klaus Kürten,
Responsible for the project

New Newsletter online!

5. March 2011

In our garden, the children learn their texts for the puppet show.
Our current newsletter, which we’d like to recommend to you, is now online! There you will also find the reports that fit the pictures. Here, our children are rehearsing for a puppet show called “The Strike of the Animals” …