Children Cooperative

Brief History:

Children Cooperative (CC) started working about 4 years ago with the aim of promoting the wellbeing and empowerment of socially excluded children through participatory educational activities. They use art, drama, games and discussions to explore solutions to issues that are important to children. CC particularly focuses on working with children of different cultures and backgrounds, and promoting mutual tolerance and understanding among them.

CC which was formally registered in 2006 (Registration Number 6920) has a stuff of 7 employees

CC adopts participatory methodologies, based on the conviction that like adults, children have the right to have their views heard and taken into account in decision-making, and that children’s participation is crucial for development work, in addition to the fact that adults cannot protect children all the time. Thus developing children’s decision-making abilities empowers them to deal with the risks and challenges they face every day.

CC's adoption of participatory methodologies is expressed through:

• Using creative education activities (discussions, games, art, film and drama) to explore issues that impact their lives, such as discrimination, conflict and health.
• Bringing children from different backgrounds together to explore their experiences learn from each other and seek solutions together.
• Working with local communities, schools and other service providers to include children’s opinions in planning and implementing activities that affect them.
• CC is mainly self funded, but from time to time they get some funds from some institutions interested in certain aspects of their activities such as Sam Sociale Organization – French organization which funded a mobile clinic project, Ford Foundation, St. Andrews and private sector.

Target group:

Children Cooperative targets vulnerable children in Egypt who face discrimination because of poverty, class, race, gender, religion and ability. These include:

• Children from families with very low incomes
• Refugee and displaced children
• Street children
• Child laborers
• Children with no access to school
• Disabled children

CC's activities are open to everyone who would like to participate in them. About 30 refugee kids have been included in these activities.

Main activities:

Services provided:

During it work, children cooperative conducted the following activities:

• July 2007: Providing training for the Kafelat Hala and Adwar group in research participatory methodology.
• July 2007: Coordinated a workshop for fifteen Congolese refugees in Sayyida Zeinab in the Children’s Garden.
• • February 2007: Participated with forty five NGOs in Egypt to make a carnival for street children on 23rd February and to make this day an annual festival.
• Sept 2006 - present: Participatory personal and social education classes, theatre workshops, and reproductive health for young adult refugees at St Andrew’s school for refugee and displaced children.
• Oct 2006- Jan 2007: Theatre and art workshops with street children (in partnership with Hope Village and Nadir El Mahrousa) resulting in a theatre performance “The Street is Ours” and an art exhibition “Draw Your Dreams”.
• June-July 2006. Multicultural Awareness Project with the Townhouse Contemporary Art Gallery. Initial training of facilitators on issues child rights, participatory methodologies, teamwork, empowerment, and culture and difference.

Training with St. Andrews (has been continuing for the 3rd year) on life skill training, for teenagers, the training included

• Gender
• Sexuality
• Violence
• Power issues
• Conducting Parenting classes in St. Andrews, the classes included literature reading in class, giving parents the opportunities to talk about their children's behaviors and best ways to deal with them.
• Conducting citizenship seminars that kids attended dealing with citizenship related issues, rights, duties …etc.
• Organizing a 15 days Camp in Port Said last May, the camp was called “We are all Human Beings, We are all Different” and it included Eritrean, Sudanese, Egyptian, Belgian kids).
• Special kind of continuity was granted for CC's work with their success to get the approval of the Ministry of Culture 5 month ago to use the Child Garden located in Sayeda Zainab to conduct its activities. Since they got this permission, CC started doing activity each Sunday with children there; these activities include cinema, arts, drama, culture, sports. Such as:

o Series of workshops to have kids start their own stuff
o Tennis training
o English training

CC is about to issue ID or membership cards for kids involved in the activities conducted in the garden.

Problems and hardships facing work:

1. Lack of fund for essential and basic requirements needed in their activities, such as:

• Food/drinks for kids
• First Aid box
• Pencils and papers
• Camera to document these activities which reflects changing minds about coexisting between Egyptians and refugees.

2. The need for volunteers (who will get training) to coordinate and organize work with kids.

Relations with other organizations working with refugees:

CC has good relations with NGOs, civil society institutions and CBOs but most of which work with Egyptians, not refugees. In this regard CC is now gathering info from CBOs from south Cairo to establish a network among them. CC is also coordinating work with 25 NGOs doing many different activities.

CC also coordinated work with some refugees CBOs in 4.5 district (such as Abanos and Ared Altybeen) in conducting trainings for children on different topics.
In addition, there is also CC's cooperation with St. Andrews and Townhouse in several activities as mentioned before.

Needs:

CC's main needs are related to finding a stable fund for their activities specially with having a huge space for different kinds of activities (Child Garden).

As for training, CC has its own training program and people who are qualified in fields of strategic planning, animation, health, child protection, fund raising … etc. Their experience in this regard has been gained and used through different organizations such as UNAIDS, Arab Council for Childhood, Save the Children, UK, Mena Office, Institute of Cultural Affairs, UNICEF and Development Support Center.