Hadana Kindergarten

Location: Cairo, Egypt
Founded: 1992

How it all started

Medinat El Salaam is one of the new cities built by the government on the outskirts of Cairo. It is a desperately poor area and a Social Centre, administered by the Diocese of Egypt, was set up with the aim of providing much needed care to the people who live there. This Centre runs various programmes, including a health clinic, a paediatric clinic, and small business loan schemes. One of the main activities at the Centre is the kindergarten.

Current activities
The Hadana kindergarten offers low-cost early education for up to 50 children, aged 2 to 6 years. The subjects covered include handicrafts, basic literacy and numeracy skills, music and Arabic language tuition. The staff at the kindergarten also encourage good socialisation skills and aim to provide each child with a positive self-image through affirmation and encouragement. Each child is provided with a healthy nutritious meal each day, thanks to a BibleLands' grant.

Many of the children are from broken families and the kindergarten provides a place where they can feel secure. Family break up is not uncommon in this area of Egypt, and it is hard to keep such things private in such close-knit communities. This makes life even more difficult for the children, who become innocent victims of bad choices made by their parents. The staff at Hadana try to act wisely and sensitively with both the parents and the children in these situations.

Whilst the children are in the safe environment of this Christian kindergarten, the mothers are able to go out to work to earn money for their families. Many of the children who attend the kindergarten are from Muslim families. This is encouraging to the staff as they strive to break down barriers and promote communication rather than opposition between those of different faiths.

Although parents are charged fees to allow the kindergarten to keep running, most families are unable to pay the full amount.

In 2000, the kindergarten was congratulated by the Egyptian government on being one of the best three kindergartens in Cairo, particularly in the areas of activities for the children.