7 - 13 November 2002
Issue No. 611
Thousands attended a marathon in Cairo
this week to help raise funds for children with cancer. Dena Rashed
was among them
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Mohamed Fouad sings to the crowd at Cairo Stadium;
Lebanese singer Elin Khalaf joined the Egyptian singers in cheering
up the masses; Youth Minister Alieddin Helal and Cairo Governor
Abdel-Rehim Shehata participated at the marathon; a cancer patient
with his father among the crowd
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Venue: Cairo Stadium. Date: 1 November. Guests: anyone and
everyone. Goal: raising funds for the first children with cancer hospital
in the developing world. The second charity event organised by The
Association of Friends of the National Cancer Institute, AFNCI to help
fund the hospital was held under the slogan: run, have fun, and give life
to others. Last year's event attracted more than 15,000 people from all
ages. This year, more than 60,000 showed up for the all-day festivities
that featured singers, dancers, acrobats, and yes, runners.
Hassanein Ismail travelled 132km from his home in Mansoura
governorate to take part in the event. "I came last year for the festival
and brought donations from my family and friends." He found the event so
fascinating that this year he brought his family along. "We came at
9.30am to have good seats and enjoy the view. We wanted to share this day
with the children," he added.
To encourage as many people to participate,
entrance to the festival was free. There were special bank booths
accepting donations of LE20 minimum. But LE1 charity coupons were handed
out by young volunteers with big smiles to those who did not wish to line
up at the booths.
Several singers and celebrities helped make
the day even more attractive for the audience, who included the patients
of the present children cancer institute. Mohamed Fouad, Anushka, Hakim,
and the Lebanese singer Elin Khalaf were among those who appeared in the
event.
"This year's festival is great, it is much
better organised than last year, and it could really do something for the
children with cancer," said Said Sha'ban, who was in the festival with
his wife and four children since the early morning. "What is so special
about the festival is that people have a common goal and they know what
to do about it," Layla, his wife said.
This year's event was bigger than last year,
but it was commended for its organisation and the publicity it received.
"Although the organisation could have been better, I have to admit it is
much better than last year," said Farida Mahmoud, who took her two years
old son to the festival. But as Mahmoud noted, there is something about
the festival that you can't miss, "it is probably the high spirit of the
people, and you just can feel it".
The marathon was the first part of the
festival, and the AFNCI organised six types of fun runs. The first run,
15km, was planned for the professional runners, and it took place from
the hospital site to Cairo Stadium. Then, four other runs of 3km each
were organised for university students in the stadium tracks, followed by
shorter separate runs for particular groups, children, and companies. The
last run was the celebrity run, which turned out to be 400 meters of
brisk walk by high-powered senior citizens, including Youth Minister
Alieddin Helal, People's Assembly speaker Fathi Sorour, and several
governors.
School and college students were among the
event's main enthusiasts. Having done their charity bit, many gravitated
to the fun area, where a food court was installed, together with children
playgrounds, bungee jumping, and dancing stages. There, music resonated
from powerful speakers and three DJs were on hand there to keep the
festivities going and the young dancing. This did not interfere with the
flow of charity. "Although some people came with the intention to just
have fun, donating few pounds was alright for all," said Ayman Nour, 19,
a Cairo University student.
The National circus was there as well,
providing three shows during the course of the day, with donation coupons
used as entry tickets. All or part of the proceeds of the participatory
food chains and the games went to the hospital.
Many volunteers of the AFNCI were busy
moving about the grounds to help orientate the visitors. Marami El-Mahdi
has been doing volunteer work for the last two years. "The festival was
part of the volunteer work of our association. We organise parties for
children with cancer during the feasts and in Ramadan," she said.
In fact, the timing of the festival was
fortuitous, since it came only a few days before Ramadan, in the heart of
the charity season, so to speak. "It is very timely, since many people
want to do charity work, and donate money when Ramadan is approaching,"
said Marwa Mohamed, Al-Azhar University student.
Amrawi Ali, who was selling sugarcane in the
festival, said that he was working at the festival for free, and since he
does not have enough money to spare, he would donate blood.
It was 1pm at one of the centres for blood
donation in the festival, when Dr Marian Gamal told me that so far 50
people have donated their blood. "The campaign has attracted many people
to donate their blood, and we need to organise more campaigns to make
donating blood another goal," she said.
Advertising for the festival started one
month ahead. The campaign in general started in 1998, and the hospital
was renamed 57357, to remind the people of the number of the bank account
for donations. The hospital which will cost LE70 million and slated to
open in December 2003, will comprise 185 beds, with expansion possible up
to 350 beds, It will have a large outpatient facility capable of serving
200 patients per day and the first child life and school programme in
Egypt for hospitalised children. With its multi-disciplinary approach,
the hospital is expected to provide not just medical help for the
children, but psychological support for the families as a whole. As
causes go, this one was certainly worth running for.
