Arab Abou Saed Brick Factories

Improving workers’ living conditions: 
Earning While Learning in Arab Abou Saed

2006-Present

Funded by the Spirit of Youth Association, CIDA Canada and the Office of the Private Sector. Designed, established, incubated, and implemented by CID Consulting with grants from EEIF-CIDA, PPIC Work, Rotary International, and the Sharkawy Law Firm.

Objectives: 

To provide essential healthcare and basic education to children who otherwise wouldn’t have access to it and to improve the living and working conditions of boys in the 12 factories we currently visit with the hopes that other factories in the area will follow this example, thereby helping the workers in the long term as well as improving their immediate situation.

Significance: 

The factories are situated on tracts of desert where men and boys as young as 5 work for 12 hours a day in temperatures of up to 40 °C. After working for 12 hours a day, the boys sleep in badly-built concrete shacks resembling stables in which the rooms are unlit and lack beds or bedding. The boys share these buildings with men working at the site and some children have reported sexual abuse.  

The long hours of exposure to the scorching sun, the poor quality of drinking water, sanitation, and nutrition result in poor health for all workers.  The absence of efficient clinics and affordable primary care worsens the health situation. Additionally, children who are sent to work at a young age are unable to continue their education and will miss out on opportunities later in life.

Target group: 

Area: Arab Abou Saed, El Saf, Giza, Cairo

900 boys and young men in 200 brick factories 

Methods: 

• 11 teachers visit brick factories in the Arab Abou Saed area to teach and organize assistance from qualified doctors and nurses in order to provide: 

     • Healthcare

     • Essential healthcare such as tetanus vaccinations

     • Medical checkups from qualified doctors and nurses

     • Nutritious drinks and snacks – milk, fruit and clean drinking water 

     • Safety equipment such as goggles and suitable shoes

     • Separate dormitories for children, with beds and bedding

     • Training in animal welfare, which in turn helps to ensure the welfare of the workers

• Teaching literacy through Montessori-style teaching, allowing the boys to gain their primary school certificates

• Providing financial help to enable the boys to attend government schools

• Organizing concert trips and sports days to give the boys a well-earned break from work in addition to an annual holiday camp to give the boys a chance to play and swim in the sea

Achievements: 

• On-site classrooms have been built, decorated and stocked with books and games.

• 40 brick factory workers have obtained Literacy Certificates since 2006.

• 6 children have gained places at middle school.

• 90 - 100 children have benefited from three trips per year and 3 sports days per year at a local sports clubs. 

• 50 to 80 children per year enjoyed a holiday to Port Said.  

• We have provided first aid for injuries sustained in the factories.

• During 2012, we organised 3 visits from qualified doctors and nurses to ensure that the boys are in good health and that injuries and medical conditions are treated. 

• 170 boys have been successfully treated. 

• We have developed and delivered lessons on animal welfare for the children. 

• We have built 3 rooms with beds for 40 children in 3 brick factories, saving them from the risk of sexual abuse and improving their outlook, as they say the feel "human" with beds to sleep in.

• We bring the children their breakfast at sunset during Ramadan so that they are fed before they start work during this fasting season.

• Each factory has a day when we bring the children a home-cooked meal and a gift package of clothes and food. 

Goals for the Future:

To build a permanent teaching and treatment centre situated near the brick factories to enable us to provide services on a permanent basis and save the project money in the long run, helping us to help more children.  

Challenges:

Our relationships with managers of the factories are sometimes fragile, and this can mean that we lose the on-site teaching premises we have invested in, and that the boys lose their visits from us.