CAIRO: Hundreds of Egyptians gathered at the Sphinx on Friday to share millions of cause supporters worldwide in raising their voices against poverty.
This served as a reminder to world leaders of the oaths they took in 2000 ahead of their meeting on the Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) Review Summit in New York on Sept. 20.
The campaign which ran under the title “Stand Up, Take Action, Make Noise for the MDGs” was attended by high profile figures, such as Zahi Hawass, head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), actresses Youssra and Laila Elwy, as well as religious figures such as Father Boulos Sorour, priest of the Mary Gerguis church, and Sheikh Salem Abdel-Geleel, undersecretary of the Ministry of Endowments.
The event was also attended by James Rawly, the UN’s resident coordinator in Egypt.
Specifically addressing the cause of halving poverty by 2015, Father Boulos came to remind people that we are not the owners of anything we have; neither our souls nor any of the riches we possess, and so it is unwise for anyone to withhold the blessings of God. ”Blessed it is giving more than taking,” he said.
“We serve all humanity, and all humans,” added the priest, “we serve goodness to everyone without discrimination.”
Even in times when the Egyptian society was a severely divided hierarchy, the ruling pharaohs of Egypt commanded that the rich of Upper Egypt and Delta must feed the poor, or else they would have their noses cut off and exiled to Sinai, explained Hawass.
“If you don’t stand up against poverty, the Sphinx will curse you all,” Hawass humorously warned the presidents of the world.
While many were trying to shed light on how to combat poverty and lessen hunger in our society, Youssra rather chose to question the definition of “poverty.”
“Poverty isn’t only about the lack of food; it is also the lack of safety, the lack of education,” she said.
Elwy on the other hand expressed that “trying to be empathetic is a chance to reassess yourself.”
“Make saving your citizens your first priority,” Elwy said, “we are not asking for charity, rather justice.”
Not only did those high profile figures help make this event a successful one, but also the huge number of attendees who chose to gather at the Sphinx. However, some of them had different reasons.
A 14-year-old girl scout, Marine, joined the campaign “out of her love for the scouts,” although knowing nothing of the cause, the campaign or the MDGs. Whereas others such as 19-year-old Mona from Rotaract, have already long been engaged in developmental charity work.
“I’m not a regular member at the Rotaract due to my stay in Ireland, but I’m already a volunteer at the Red Cross over there, where we participate in a lot of charity work, especially for Africa.”
There were also other volunteers (for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization), such as Omar and Viki, who were trying to collect 20,000 signatures for supporting the campaign.
“I think the event is influential; the UN has more power in Egypt than the government itself,” said Omar, “although it could have been more motivating for real action had there been a data show for poverty in Egypt.”
Means of support for the cause did not stop at the Sphinx. Seventy thousand mosques across Cairo chose poverty as the sermon’s topic for the Friday prayer, and churches were also raising religion’s voice regarding poverty during Sunday’s prayer.
Furthermore, the MDGs’ pledge will be read at El-Sawy Culture Wheel before the beginning of all shows, as well as Naseer Shamma’s promise to also read the pledge at the Lute Festival.
