Ramadan is a month that is associated with the Islamic calendar when Muslims from all around the world refrain from eating and drinking from dawn till dusk. As in Egypt Ramadan is celebrated in its own unique way, that it is almost impossible to live in Egypt without taking part in the traditions that have become synonymous with the month of fasting and doing good deeds. It has been a CISV Egypt tradition to do something for those in need during that period. It is also an opportunity to give back to our community. It’s a guaranteed opportunity to do something different and since it’s an annual event we are sure that the tradition will go on. Everyone gathers at our CISV Egypt Office to pack bags of essential dried food goods; including oil, rice, macaroni and many more items, that would satisfy a family for a month or sometimes maybe more.
Though it is a tradition that has been ongoing for many many years, even before this generation was old enough to join CISV, during the past few years, we experienced low participation and have stopped going out and distributing the packs ourselves (we would call the guy who takes care of the neighborhood and he would come pick them up). Thankfully this year was different. We had around 30 participants packing the bags, and some of them went to distribute to families directly in the neighborhood.
This year CISV Egypt packed 250 packs for Ramadan and set a new record.
To achieve that success we used 2 new strategies this year, the first was getting to CISV parents and families through CISV events and announcing the details of the day. Getting through the parents was better since the they are the ones who are more interested that their kids do something for the community. The second strategy was to introduce a new CISV item that we will start selling. Having that aside was something that motivated the participants throughout the day.