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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 April 1999 Issue No. 424 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 April 1999 Issue No. 424
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Al-Ahram:
A Diwan of contemporary life (280)
Dr Abdel-Aziz Nazmi, a civic activist, proposed in the spring of 1919 the establishment of what he called the "Refuge of Freedom" for the welfare and education of awlad el-shawari', or street children. This epithet was used at the time to describe troublemakers and thieves from the lower classes who took part in the nationalist anti-British revolution but were blamed for much vandalism and looting committed in the process. Nazmi's plan was to have the projected asylum accommodate male and female street children and provide them with instruction in basic skills and look after their health. The project, however, never took off for lack of sufficient funds. Dr Yunan Labib Rizk * tells the story from reports published by Al-Ahram
illustration:
Makram Henein
During the mass demonstrations that launched the 1919 Revolution, Al-Ahram drew a clear distinction between the 'effendi', or educated classes, who for years had monopolised nationalist political activity, and the "rabble and thieves" from the popular quarters whom it held responsible for the acts of vandalism and theft that took place during the demonstrations and that it believed threatened to tarnish the nationalist movement. This distinction, in our opinion, erroneously detracts from the mass character of the 1919 Revolution and gives the impression that the revolution was just an extension of the political party struggle against the occupation that had been taking place without much effect before World War I. Nevertheless, we understand Al-Ahram's subsequent stand in support of the appeal launched by Dr Abdel-Aziz Nazmi, a prominent community activist of his day, to initiate a project to help the "children of the streets", the obvious source of the "rabble".
That Nazmi's move was directly related to events of the revolution was made explicit in his inauguration of the appeal, published in Al-Ahram on 9 April 1919. Under the headline, "The Refuge of Freedom", he wrote, "No one, no matter how adept they are in rhetoric, has the ability to describe the great jubilation that has gripped the heart of every Egyptian at the success of our united efforts in achieving some of our demands and we are now anticipating, with dwindling patience, that happy day on which we will obtain total freedom, which is the right of every human being and every people." The success to which Nazmi referred was the recent release of the nationalist leader, Saad Zaghlul, and his companions from exile in Malta, from where they travelled to Paris in order to present the Egyptian nationalist demands before the post-war peace conference.
As the Egyptian people awaited the results of the Paris talks, Nazmi took the occasion to draw the public's attention to the circumstances of the "children of the streets" and "at this moment of joy, to beseech the sons and daughters of our beloved nation to contribute such amounts as their conscience permits, even if only a piastre, towards the establishment of the Refuge of Freedom, an institution devoted to the upbringing and education of orphans and street children so as to render them productive members of a free Egypt." Nazmi, himself, had opened the fund-raising campaign with a donation of LE10 and he had chosen Al-Ahram, "the Egyptian newspaper that could not have demonstrated more clearly the sincerity of its loyalty to Egypt and the Egyptian people" as the destination to which donations should be sent. Al-Ahram heartily lent itself to the task as can be seen in its coverage of the project and the donation campaign in subsequent editions.
While Nazmi must have found the revolution a congenial climate in which to promote his project, it was not the first time he voiced his concern, in Al-Ahram, for the welfare of street children. On 24 February of that year, under the headline, "A Doctor's thoughts: where are the orphanages and hospitals?", Nazmi criticised the rich for their negligence in establishing "havens for the education of orphans and children of misfortune to preserve their lives and help them develop into productive members of society." He reminded readers that "in every civilised country, it is the wealthy who undertake most of the philanthropic tasks in their societies, such as founding orphanages, building schools and scientific academies and other such activities that bring progress and prosperity to their countries and their compatriots. However, in miserable Egypt the wealthy -- may God forgive them -- limit their activities to accumulating wealth and spending their fortunes on banquets and wedding feasts for no other motive than the love of ostentation. And, should it so happen that one of these makes a donation to some charitable concern, one can be certain that it is only to please some highly placed personage or in acquiescence to a wink from above."
It was not long before Nazmi's appeal for the "Refuge of Freedom" met with response from Al-Ahram's readers. As part of its campaign to promote the project, the newspaper published many of the readers' letters of support. It is interesting to note that many came from women such as the wife of the lawyer Hussein Mahmoud El-Keresli, who urged her "sisters in patriotism to come to the assistance of the nation in implementing this noble endeavor." She added, "I am confident that no woman will refrain from contributing to the extent that her conscience dictates."
Dr Nazmi was delighted by the response to his project by Egyptian women, particularly when some women volunteered to collect donations for the Refuge of Freedom. He expressed his gratitude in a letter to Al-Ahram appearing on 24 April in which he said, "One of the strongest proofs of the advancement of our nation to the ranks of great civilised nations is the participation of Egyptian women alongside Egyptian men in most of the charitable activities that are anticipated to bring good to the country. May God grant long life to this blessed revival!"
From Egypt caught in time: Young bootblacks, taken circa 1885, by photographer Hyppolyte Arnoux who specialised in pictures of street children. He saw them more as interestingly exotic characters worthy of being captured by his lens. Here, each face is a portrait of a very streetwise youngster
On 25 April, Dr Nazmi outlined more specifically the aims of his project. The Refuge of Freedom was to be dedicated to the education of Egyptian street children. The children would be both males and females, of all religious denominations, between the ages of 9 and 15. The refuge would accommodate 150 children, 100 males and 50 females, and would instruct the children in the basic skills of reading and writing, the fundamentals of religion ("in accordance with the particular religious background of each child"), simple arithmetic, and the necessary rules of hygiene and etiquette. In addition, the boys would receive training in one of the following crafts: music, carpentry and particularly Arab woodwork, tailoring, plumbing, shoemaking and wickerwork. The girls would learn everything necessary to become "a good wife and mother, such as cooking, sewing, housekeeping and the scientific and practical skills necessary to raise and care for the health of their children." Nazmi suggested that the refuge be built on government land in Abbasiya "or on any appropriate and salubrious site donated by a benefactor."
Funding, of course, was a major source of anxiety. Nazmi estimated that construction costs would come to LE4,000, but, he added optimistically, might "drop to half that figure" due to the end of wartime conditions. Furnishing and equipping the refuge would cost another LE1,000. The annual operational costs of the new institute, he predicted, would come to LE3,000, again an overly optimistic prediction based on the slight decrease of the prices of food and industrial products following the war. Eager to offer incentives to encourage donations, Nazmi announced that donors who contributed LE20 or more would have their names inscribed in gilt plaques mounted on marble at the entrance to the refuge. Donors of LE100 or more would have their names inscribed on one of the beds and the surname of the benefactor would be given to one of the children of the refuge.
As part of the fund-raising campaign, Al-Ahram published the lists of contributors. The first list was not that encouraging, with a total of LE56.50 collected, including the LE10 donated by Dr Nazmi. From the fourth list we learn that Dr Nazmi had four children -- Abdel-Razeq, Saadiya, Ahmed and Hussein -- each of whom contributed 50 piastres from their personal allowances. The fifth and sixth lists showed more promise, each totalling about LE100.
Not only is it noteworthy that many women were among the donors, but also that many contributors initiated fund-raising efforts of their own. One of these was "the wife of Shafiq Bek Rifaat" who collected LE7.20 from various women, among them her servant Hamida Bilal who contributed 10 piastres. Also, several enterprising individuals collected donations following the Friday prayers.
Donations tended to vary from as little as a few piastres to LE20. On occasion, one might find a donation of LE50 such as that contributed by Ibrahim Mirshaq, "the well-known contractor in Cairo". Nazmi, naturally, expressed his gratitude to Mirshaq, who also volunteered to contribute an additional LE6 annually and "to donate a portion of his time to assist the project and to collect donations."
The lists also included the names of quite a few non-Egyptians. Most of these were Greeks and Armenians. Interestingly, too, few donors concealed their identities behind such epithets as "anonymous benefactor", as had frequently been the case in such charity drives in the past, even if their donations were no more than a few piastres.
As the fund raising campaign progressed, Al-Ahram featured articles dealing with several topics related to the project. One issue related to the definition of the beneficiaries of the refuge: the street children. Professor Fouad Abul-Saoud, an Al-Ahram reader, wrote to Al-Ahram on 3 May 1919 to ask whether "any Egyptian in their comings and goings is blind to the little wretches who hound people for alms, wander the streets and slip around the tables and chairs in the coffeehouses to collect filthy and germ-infested cigarette butts." These, he says, are the street children, "the most poverty-stricken class of people in Egypt, the object of Dr Nazmi's appeal to wrench them from the clutches of destitution."
Commandant of Cairo's Police, Russel Bek, offered a more detailed depiction of street children which Al-Ahram translated from The Daily News. Russel Bek wrote, "These are the youths who live in the streets, who wear tattered rags, whose hair is dirty and dishevelled and whose feet are usually bare. On occasion, you can see one of these youths loafing, smoking the end of a cigarette butt that he had collected, before dropping it into his tin box." The police commandant observed that the numbers of street children had increased alarmingly. "Among them one finds a clever little pickpocket who had been trained in this skill by the more experienced thieves."
However, the question of donations for the Refuge of Freedom remained more pressing and several readers forwarded suggestions on ways to promote the campaign. One suggestion caused some controversy. One reader suggested that young girls present flowers to pedestrians in the public gardens in exchange for donations. "This is the practice in civilised nations," this writer added. A female reader reproached the author for this suggestion, writing: "While you may have seen other people doing this, keep in mind that we are not them. Our upbringing and our customs are different. You must know that plants cannot be cultivated in anything but their native soil and at any time but their proper season. Otherwise the soil will either reject the plant or corrupt it. Therefore, fathers and husbands, if you introduce this method of collecting donations you will regret it for you will have committed a grave offence against your daughters and wives." However, this reader did offer an alternative suggestion. This was to raise the price of Al-Ahram from half a piastre to a piastre "for a stipulated period of time" and to dedicate the proceeds to the refuge. She added that theatres and cinemas could introduce similar price rises on their tickets and physicians could donate two piastres from every house call they made for a period of a month.
The fund-raising drive reached its peak with the charity fête that was held in the Royal Opera House on 16 May 1919. Dr Nazmi opened the occasion by presenting before the audience 10 street children, "naked and miserable." These children, the doctor said, if properly brought up, could become productive members of society. Writers and poets attended the ceremony, as did women. The fête also saw the formation of the preparatory committee for the Refuge of Freedom. Composed of a number of prominent figures, the committee held its first meeting on 28 May 1919 "in the home of His Excellency Murqus Hanna Bek". The new committee offered Al-Ahram the occasion to hand over fund-raising responsibilities to it. Unfortunately, the subsequent collection drives did not succeed in collecting sufficient funds to begin the project. Several months later, in Al-Ahram of 4 September, columnist Mohamed Tawfiq Diab asks mournfully, "Where is the Refuge of Freedom? What has happened to the embryo that was not and will not be born? Why have the flames of enthusiasm flickered and cooled?" Diab's questions still remain unanswered.
* The author is a professor of history
and head of Al-Ahram History Studies Centre.
