SHARJAH: The Big Heart Foundation (TBHF), a Sharjah -based global humanitarian organisation dedicated to helping people in need worldwide, has visited Egypt to assess the development of a number of social projects it is helping fund in the country. The trip was made to evaluate the current impact of the trio of activities and to assess the progress made with them so far.

The joint delegation comprised TBHF members and their partners in Egypt, including Mariam Al Hammadi, Director of TBHF; Randa Aboul-Hosn, UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) Country Director in Egypt; and Dr Heba Handoussa, Director of Egypt Network for Integrated Development (ENID) initiative.

The first of TBHF’s projects was the re-opening of a healthcare centre in Luxor in Upper Egypt. With a budget of $270,740, TBHF has funded the renovation and development of the centre’s medical units. Egypt Network for Integrated Development (ENID), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Egyptian Ministry of Investment and International Cooperation (MIIC) partnered with TBHF on the facilitation of the project.

During their visit, the TBHF and UNDP delegation inspected the healthcare centre, which caters to more than 20,000 patients each year, to ensure it had sufficient medical equipment and other supplies.

They also met the team of physicians and nurses working at the centre who shared their new plan of action in approaching patient treatment and expressed appreciation to TBHF for their efforts in improving healthcare services in Luxor.

“We are delighted with this humanitarian initiative that will play a vital role in maintaining the health of citizens in the area through its provision of healthcare, diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative services to thousands of people.

“We will further enhance our successful partnership with TBHF to provide yet more support to the most underprivileged areas and to work together to deliver quality services to disadvantaged people in the country,” said Randa Aboul-Hosn.

WOMEN’S EDUCATION

Also during their visit, TBHF delegates toured a centre to improve women’s education. The representatives were taken around the project’s literacy and vocational training departments and explored the enrolment level of women in its various academic courses. They stopped at the traditional handicrafts section, which has succeeded in empowering dozens of women by enabling them to generate independent sources of income through helping them start their own handicraft businesses.

“TBHF’s projects in Egypt align with the directives of Her Highness Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah and Chairperson of TBHF, to enhance humanitarian action in fraternal countries and to contribute to improving the lives of people there by providing educational and healthcare services to them.

This visit was aimed at measuring the impact of our three current projects in the country and to assess the extent to which they cater to the needs of the target group,” said Mariam Al Hammadi, Director of TBHF.

Al Hammadi underscored that TBHF places education and healthcare as the two key priorities on its development agenda around the world, given the fact that they not only constitute basic human rights but are also essential pillars of sustainable development. She pointed out that the focus of TBHF’s projects in Egypt is to bring about positive change in the lives of target groups by providing essential healthcare services that are integral to the wellbeing and stability of the local commun ty.

The delegates also visited Cairo to review TBHF’s third project in Egypt, the Abbasia Hospital for Mental Health. TBHF’s grant of $311,459 to the hospital has supported the development of a Child and Adolescent Unit, which offers therapy sessions to a large segment of patients, as well as funded the construction of a day-care centre for children with autism.

During their visit the representatives met hospital management, physicians, nurses and medical experts and checked the beneficiary numbers of psychotherapy sessions, following up on TBHF’s pledge to provide 20,000 such sessions to patients each year. It also assessed the current research being undertaken by the institution, with TBHF having agreed to financially support studies designed to better focus the provision of care at the hospital.

TBHF envisions a world where the vulnerable are protected and empowered to live with dignity. To achieve its goals, the foundation administers grants through a competitive application process for qualified partners and advocates to push policy changes. It convenes global humanitarian actors to inspire sustainable solutions, placing women and children at the centre of its activities.