A Peek into the Yard!

120 kids and counting!

Cairo is full of suprises. Something extremely well planned can completely flop in seconds and the most disorganized event can be a success. We could have 10 children come to the center or 100 children. Fortunately, we have had the overwhelming surprise of currently having 120 children registered for “A Yard for Yohannes.” I must admit that we were only planning on 60 kids, 30 for each day, but the response has exceeded my expectations. We are now at the point where we have to have a waiting list in case spots open up. Some parents have really been upset, asking us to register just their children. However, the size of the center and the wear of the toys prevents us from having an open number of registrants. As it is now, the amount of children makes the center very crowded. We are fortunate that they play well together and that they use the toys nicely, but when you look at the room, it can be exhausting even for the bystander. We can only hope that one day we will be able to open up more centers to serve the needs of these children.

Our Opening Celebration

To celebrate the opening of our new center we had a party with the children and their parents on Sunday, June 7th. Approximately 60 kids plus adults were at the party. Not all of these children were registered, so registration also occurred during the party. We played “Simon Says” and “Hot Potato” as party games and the winning children were ecstatic with their prizes. The eleven year old boy, Sabri, was so excited with his Frisbee. We even wrote his name on it so that no one else would take it. We bought 3 cakes and bottles of soda as well because no party is complete without the half fruit/ half chocolate ugly cakes that they have here in Egypt. It was so hot as we served the food that the cake began to melt as we put it on the plates. The great thing about children is that they don’t care what the cake looks like as long as they can eat it. We also used this time to introduce those involved with the center and tell everyone about our inspiration, Yohannes. We also explained the rules and expectations of the center while we had a majority of kids there. It was great to see everyone there for our opening celebration and see the kids’ anxious faces. After all, even thought this was an opening celebration, they would not be able to play with the toys until the next day…

Meet Angelina!

As part of our project, we wanted to hire a Sudanese refugee to run the center. This not only creates a sense of community for our center, but it also provides an income for a Sudanese family in Cairo. We will be paying this person a monthly salary that will help her support her family. We have found the perfect woman to run our center. Her name is Angelina. She is a widow with three teenage daughters who will also help with the center. She works as a teacher for a local Montessori refugee preschool and has a tremendous passion for children. Her ability to speak both English and Arabic is an essential quality for both the administration of the center and communication with the children. Her insight so far into the best way to run the center has also been valuable and we have been extremely pleased with her loving connection with the children. We are excited to welcome Angelina to the “Yard for Yohannes” team.

A Successful Registration

You never know what to expect when you schedule a registration here in Cairo. It’s always hard to gauge how many children will show up and, if they do register, if they will return to the center on their scheduled days. The first registration was slow, with 12 kids registering for the center. The language barrier makes it a little difficult to get all of the proper information, but we were able to do it. The same number of children registered on Saturday. Each child that registers will receive a membership card with their name, picture, age, and days he or she can attend the center. The purpose of this is two-fold: it will control the number of children on certain days and it will also give them proof of where they are going if someone in the building or on the street should hassle them. With only 24 kids registered after the scheduled dates, it seemed like our project was going to start small. However, 42 children from one of the local Sudanese churches came to register. This caused our numbers to skyrocket. A few days after registration, we still have parents coming to register their children. It seems as if word of mouth will be more successful than our handouts!

Registration Announcement!

New Play Center!

Location: Mohamed Abdu St. off of Abdu Square

Arab el Maadi, Cairo

Ages: 4-10 years old

Cost: Free!

Registration Days

Thursday, June 4th
4:00- 6:00pm

Sunday, June 7th
2:00- 4:00pm
* Must register to come to center*

Center will be open from
Monday- Thursday
4:00- 6:00pm
(Each child attends 2 days)

The Yard Has Begun!

View from the balcony of Hadayek el Maadi

The entire team is in Cairo now and we have begun to lay the foundation for the yard. While readjusting to Cairo has been rather easy, it’s hard to ever imagine adjusting to the heat. The lack of internet service might impede regular updates to the blog, but we will try to keep you as updated as possible.

We have made some progress on the center already, and we are preparing it to be opened in the near future. The apartment for the center is located in a new building with some of the other apartments still a gutted mess. However, our particular apartment is great. It is brand new and very clean and nice looking- even by US standards. There is an office, a large room, another medium sized room, a kitchen, bathroom, and large closet. The 7th floor balcony overlooks the crowded Hadayek el Maadi, a poor area of Cairo where many of the refugees live. Unfortunately, the elevator, or “lift” as it is called here, is not yet in service. The apartment is unfurnished, but the walls are newly painted and the floors look great. The sink outside the bathroom is perfect for the kids to wash their hands before playing. We have installed ceiling fans and hopefully will be able to purchase a refrigerator and stove pending donations. This will make it possible to provide food for the kids. While we are not as concerned about having the apartment extravagantly furnished, we want it to have the appliances that will make it a place for the entire community to use.

We’ve been organizing the toys that were donated or that we bought into general categories and have bought some bins, containers, tables, and had a water table built by local carpenters. The set up is really starting to look great and we’re excited about the kids getting to play at all the stations. We have it organized into a number of stations:


- Blocks, legos, knex, etc
- Dolls, Barbies, and stuffed animals
- Kitchen toys
- Tool table and tools
-Dress up clothes
- Puzzles
-Cars, trains, etc
-Water table
-Art room
-Puppets and music
- Reading ‘corner’

Registration starts today, and we’ll have more pictures up soon.

Sorry for the Lack of Updates

We would like to apologize to everyone who has been checking the blog. The project is up and running successfully. However, due to the lack of consistent and compatible internet here in Cairo, our updates have not been able to be posted. We are working on a solution to this problem and will have an mass update soon! Thank you for your patience and support!