I. Project Objective:
To provide integrated care for children and minors facing difficult family circumstances, and to attend to all stages of their growth and upbringing.
The "Oasis of Mercy" orphanage initiative was born to provide a suitable alternative for children in need, help them grow in a healthy way, protect them from any form of abuse or exploitation and from all forms of physical or psychological violence and humiliation, compensate them for abandonment, neglect, and ill-treatment, and to ensure a decent and reassuring life for them, and guarantee respect for their rights in society.
This initiative was born as a fruit of the Document on Human Fraternity, and the home will open its doors to all children and minors deprived of family care, without any religious discrimination and with full respect for the privacy of each child – in accordance with what Egyptian laws allow.
II. Home Name:
The name of the home, "Oasis of Mercy," was inspired by the valuable gift that His Holiness Pope Francis graciously presented to the project in 2019, which is a replica of Michelangelo's "Pietà" statue.
III. What Distinguishes the Project:
The project applies the latest educational methods followed in the world and aims to provide all modern care, psychological, human, scientific, and professional care. The project offers:
- Providing alternative families by living in small families, consisting of 6 children with volunteer parents, to ensure a healthy family atmosphere for the children's growth.
- Ensuring suitable housing and a decent and dignified standard of living for the children.
- Meeting all the nutritional, health, educational, psychological, and social needs of young children and minors, respecting their desires, opinions, and privacy, while providing them with guidance and counseling aimed at directing them towards positive and socially acceptable behavior.
- Surrounding young children and minors with a suitable social environment and family atmosphere that guarantees them the opportunity to enjoy their legitimate rights, to achieve themselves and their stability in the social environment.
- Ensuring methods that protect children from misguidance and dangers they may be exposed to, guiding them to correct behavior, and providing them with social security to make them grow healthy.
- Developing the physical, psychological, linguistic, mental, and social skills of children and preparing them to face normal life in line with the goals of society and its religious and cultural values.
- Enhancing self-confidence to build a positive vision of themselves, making them more independent, which helps them become active in society.
The general goal of the "Oasis of Mercy" home is to help children grow in a sound way and provide all real opportunities for them, upbringing, human, spiritual, social, educational, and professional development, so that they reach independence and become positive and effective people, for themselves and for others.
IV. Human and Professional Preparation and Rehabilitation Programs:
- A tangible opportunity for human, evaluative, and professional growth: The "Oasis of Mercy" home provides real opportunities for the human, social, and professional growth of children deprived of parental care and protection – often due to the poverty of their families – and providing hospitality for them, and accompanying their growth, whether on a personal, educational, or evaluative level, while providing, for example, specialized workshops for mosaic arts, carpentry, and blacksmithing, and the possibility of enrolling in training courses where children can learn various professions, and where they can receive appropriate school and educational guidance.
- A real opportunity for spiritual growth: The Oasis of Mercy home, being a fruit of the "Document on Human Fraternity," provides all spiritual means for all children without any religious discrimination and with full respect for the religious affiliation of each child. This is done by preparing a monthly religious program for children, educating children about various rituals, beliefs, and worships, urging them to respect them, participating in organizing seminars, lessons, and discussion sessions on religious awareness for children, organizing many religious courses related to children, creating religious panels that include sermons, lessons, and various stories, and providing religious lessons and seminars that include consultations, sermons, and stories.
- An opportunity for social growth: The "Oasis of Mercy" orphanage home adopts social programs aimed at achieving psychological and social balance for minors and providing them with proactive behavioral models that make them good citizens, and providing children and young people with literary values, moral virtues, and good habits such as honesty, tolerance, good example, loyalty and belonging to the country, cooperation, environmental protection, and respect for the law. Enhancing social concepts among children and young people and encouraging them to participate in all social events. Developing behavioral skills with others inside and outside the orphanage. Using educational programs to discover the skills and abilities of children and young people and develop them for their benefit. Providing opportunities for children and young people to express their feelings and ideas and allowing them to be creative and innovative.
- A tangible opportunity for educational growth: The "Oasis of Mercy" orphanage home provides children and young people with all the necessary educational care. Children and young people will be enrolled in different levels of education, based on their ages, in public or private schools, based on the economic capacity of the home, or they will be enrolled in vocational rehabilitation centers and intermediate or higher education, also based on their abilities. Children and young people who have not attended compulsory school will be enrolled in literacy courses. The orphanage will support the payment of school fees for 1 children and young people enrolled in school, based on the level of education. If a child or young person joins an educational institution in another governorate, "Oasis of Mercy" will be responsible for paying all accommodation, food, and transportation costs – provided that the child or young person returns on occasions and during holidays to "Oasis of Mercy." All necessary clothing and school supplies are provided for children and young people (clothing – books – tools).. Suitable places and times are provided to allow children and young people to study and delve into their educational lessons. Private teachers are also provided for children and young people to follow up on their lessons and studies and increase their level of education. Children and young people will be regularly monitored in schools to determine their level of education, and their attendance and commitment to school will be monitored.
- A tangible opportunity for professional growth: The "Oasis of Mercy" orphanage home provides its residents with all the possibilities related to the vocational training required for the labor market to facilitate their future job opportunities and protect them from misguidance. The home provides professional workshops to train minors in various professions such as: carpentry, painting, sewing, maintenance of electronic devices, and the art of cooking. Young minors will be enrolled in specialized training courses to acquire various professional skills and encourage them to work freely and implement small projects.
- Recreational activities: The "Oasis of Mercy" home provides recreational activities to participate in healthy social activities that encourage socialization and develop psychological expression skills. In recognition of the child's right to rest in free time, the right to play games and recreational activities, and to participate freely in cultural and artistic life, "Oasis of Mercy" will encourage full participation of the child or young person in cultural and artistic life, and will encourage the organization of appropriate means of entertainment and recreational, artistic, and cultural activities.
V. Educational Methods:
The home relies on an integrated and effective program and system that ensures the effective management of human resources and financial capabilities available in the institution to ensure the quality of child care and the healthy social growth of children and young people. The home will apply balanced educational methods that support the child or young person, based on the principle of giving and taking, enjoying rights and fulfilling duties to form a personality capable of facing and participating in life, and capable of bearing the responsibility of work and forming a family. The home carefully attends to the human element and the presence of a qualified administrative and human resources team (educationally, psychologically, and academically) to deal with children and young people in order to form a healthy social life in them. The continuous application of all methods and standards of psychological and social guidance and assistance to overcome the social difficulties of children and young people, and to help them overcome the identity crisis, and to accept their circumstances according to the religious and cultural goals and values of society. These educational methods aim to enhance the cultural, social, and national values among children and young people in order to instill in them a sense of patriotism and the importance of working to help build society, and at the same time help build respect for others from different cultural and social values. Providing all appropriate opportunities to train young minors in specialized vocational training centers to absorb their skills and knowledge of various professions, and to start professional projects based on their inclinations and abilities, and to qualify them to work in professional jobs, and to help them become productive energies that contribute to the economic activity of society.
VI. Home Specifications:
The "Oasis of Mercy" home was built in the "New Administrative Capital" in the Cairo Governorate, 45 km east of the current capital and outside the second ring road of Greater Cairo. The "New Administrative Capital" will include the main government offices and ministries, the parliament headquarters, and foreign embassies. The total land area of the "Oasis of Mercy" orphanage home is 6,429.77 square meters, of which 1,994 square meters represent the building area and the remaining 4,435.77 square meters represent the green outdoor area. The home building contains an integrated library to develop the child's cultural and cognitive skills. Places for basic services (kitchen – restaurant – bathrooms – laundry) and warehouses (food – supplies – clothes – bathroom and cleaning tools), places of worship, a clinic and qualified halls designated for use for study and recreational spaces for practicing various activities, arts, and skills. Administrative offices and rooms for receiving visitors and rooms for receiving specialists in the field of psychology and sociology. A private garden with a swimming pool and playgrounds for practicing sports and motor activities. The building consists of an underground floor, a ground floor, a mezzanine floor, a first, second, and third floor. The "Oasis of Mercy" home provides the possibility of receiving hundreds of children from the age of 7 to 18. The bedrooms of children and young minors are equipped with suitable furniture so that each child has a bed and a wardrobe to maintain their privacy, and a shelf or box to store toys. Suitable furniture and equipment are planned in the daily and study rooms (study table – chairs – shelves for storing books and school supplies), for practicing activities and receiving visitors. The furniture is designed in a safe way that allows children to move freely and is comfortable in shape and size, and suitable for the needs of children's growth and development. The health clinic is equipped with the necessary equipment (refrigerator for storing medicines / sterilizers / first aid). The kitchen and restaurant are equipped with feeding equipment and tools necessary for preparing, storing, and serving food, according to health needs, with cooling and heating devices and tools for each child, while ensuring that the kitchen utensils are made of stainless steel. The home provides all procedures and precautions related to safety, rescue, and protection, located inside and outside the building and prominently, for all children and young people in "Oasis of Mercy."
Oasis of Mercy is an advanced model for serving children and providing them with integrated care and providing all methods and means to create a person who is good for himself, for society, and for the country.
