QURBANI EGYPT

IR Egypt staff discuss their Qurbani programme and how it helps the people of Egypt.

How long has IR Egypt been carrying out Qurbani distributions?

Qurbani meat distributions started in Egypt in 2002 and now cover six governorates: Qena, Assiyut, Beni-Sweif, Cairo, Giza and Helwan and more than 30 villages and slum areas, working with more than 85 local community development associations (CDAs).

The project’s main objective is to provide the vulnerable and neediest families suffering from food shortages or food deficiency problems with meat packets to ease their hardship and bring joy and pleasure to them on the festive occasion of Eid. The project provides an opportunity for those people who cannot afford to purchase meat products to receive the nutritional benefit of an Islamic Relief Qurbani meat packet in Eid Ul-Adha.

How many people usually benefit?

It varies from one year to another according to the funding. We slaughter an average of 12 cows, allowing around 15,000 people to benefit from the Qurbani meat packets. More than 74,800 people have benefited since the beginning of the project in 2002.

Will the current food crisis affect the number of people you are able to help?

Unfortunately, yes. Before the crisis, impoverished people could hardly afford to buy meat for their families every two to three months, others would only eat it on special occasions. Now, with such a crisis, those people only hear about meat!

One of our beneficiaries in Giza, Ayyat town, with a monthly income of €25 told me: "Meat has become totally unaffordable – it is the food of the rich, poor people like us only see it at the market. If I want to eat meat in a month, this means that I will have to starve the whole last week. I buy the intestines etc and I tell my children that it is meat"

This crisis has seriously affected all food prices. There is a stark difference between this year and last year’s prices, especially in meat prices which have soared.

Last year we saw a significant decline in the number of cows we slaughtered; from 12 cows in 2006 to just four in 2007. It has become harder to fulfil the needs of all these beneficiaries, and to add to their other problems they will now be deprived of their share of meat packets.

What are the main challenges you face in carrying out the distributions?

Our main challenge is always the number of packets we are able to distribute, as the price of Qurbani per head in Egypt is very high. Instead of buying a larger number of packets this year, the prices mean that we have to purchase less than in previous years.

Of course, there could never be enough to cover all those in need, but in order to cover as many as we can we have to produce packets which contain only 2 or even 1.5 kilos, which would only cover the needs of a family of five members for a couple of days. You can’t really decide who to exclude when the entire village is poverty-stricken.

In Ramadhan this year we distributed 3,800 food parcels, with more than 2,000 of them concentrated in Ayyat town in the Giza governorate. We decided to implement the programme there after seeing the very hard conditions of the people. Our challenge for Qurbani is to reach a larger number of beneficiaries than in Ramadhan.

Can you explain the distribution process from start to finish? For example how do you decide who should take part?

The distribution process starts with selecting the target areas, then selecting the local partners we will be working with. Sometimes the local CDAs come seeking our help, with long lists of very poor beneficiaries, that need our immediate intervention, and sometimes we coordinate with the Ministry of Social Solidarity who put us in touch with the CDAs. Then, after conducting the needs assessment, we finally settle on the beneficiaries, the target area, and the local partner.

Our priority is the neediest and we depend on a points system in order to reach the poorest of the poor. This takes into consideration their poverty level, health and housing conditions, the number of people per household, monthly income, if it is a female headed-household, or contains elderly or disabled people, pregnant women, lactating mothers and children under five years old.

We respect the dietary needs of our beneficiaries, therefore, we distribute fresh meat. Also, we try to help trade in the villages where we will be distributing, by coordinating with local butchers and buying the animals from the same town.

The distribution process itself usually takes from one to two days, depending on the location and the number of packets. Here at Islamic Relief Egypt we rely on our staff and the volunteers of our local partner to carry out the distribution.

To ensure the packets reach the neediest, every beneficiary has a voucher number by which he/she receives the meat packet and they sign or fingerprint to confirm receipt.

The distribution itself takes place in the selected villages, so it is not a long distance for our beneficiaries to come; instead we reach them at their houses or from a centrally located distribution centre.

Treating the beneficiaries with compassion and kindness is a top priority to us, and this message is shared by our staff and volunteers. Yes, they are poor and needy, but it is truly our privilege to serve them and fulfill their needs.

How much of an impact would you say the Qurbani programme has?

It is surprising how a simple packet of meat can bring so much joy to a poor family. I am happy to say that it has a good impact. Truly, most of them, if not all, can’t afford to buy meat; they only get it from charities or almsgivers. If you could see their faces when getting the packet; their wide smiles, how they hug the packet with their arms, you would know how precious and invaluable it is to them and you would then feel what this gift from Islamic Relief has meant to them. The prayers and thanks we get are innumerable and actually it is us who are thankful and grateful to them, for giving us the pleasure to help.