1988
While visiting Egypt, Nermien Riad witnesses children living in tremendous
poverty and resolves to do something.
She and her circle of friends start
supporting forty-five girls in an orphanage supervised
by Sister Potamina in Cairo.
1992
With cash flow increasing to the orphanage, the board of the orphanage intervenes
to dismiss Sister Potamina in order to obtain tighter control over the use
of funds.
Nermien no longer
feels confident in the orphanage without Sis. Potamina’s management.
Nermien and Sis. Potamina together decide to reach children who have
lost their father in their own homes. They start by recruiting acquaintances
who were working with the poor on an informal basis in neighboring areas.
The word and excitement spreads from person to person in Egypt. Soon,
a grassroots network of volunteers takes shape.
1993
Coptic Orphans gains tax-exempt status retro-active to June 1992.
1997
Coptic Orphans faces a crisis. Being run entirely by volunteers leaves tasks
undone and funds undistributed to children in Egypt. For the first time,
Coptic Orphans hires an employee from among its dedicated volunteers to oversee
the work in Egypt.
It becomes clear that Coptic Orphans did
not exist merely for charity, but to give children
the tools that they need to break the cycle of poverty.
Thus, we defined our work with children as spanning
their education years since these are the best years
to equip children.
1998
For the first time, local bishops in Egypt began nominating Coptic Orphans
Reps. Requiring the nomination of a local bishop ensured that we recruited
only volunteers with the highest reputation in their local communities, and
a partnership with local church leaders allowed us to reach villages and
rural areas to which we had never before had access.
1999
Coptic Orphans realized that the education of future mothers determines
the poverty of their children and begins focusing on girl’s education.
We conduct ground-breaking research on the needs of girls in predominantly
Christian villages, gaining access through our relationship with the
Coptic Church. For the first time, we also establish a relationship
with USAID and attempt to influence their decion-making process with
our research. In the process, we also strengthen our relationship with
the Coptic Orthodox leadership, and bishops begin nominating all reps
from this time forward.
2000
The board of directors offers to hire Nermien Riad as the executive
director of Coptic Orphans. Nermien resigns her government position
and officially takes the helm of Coptic Orphans.
2001
The Coptic Orphans office opens in Nermien’s basement with space
for ten desks. Coptic Orphans Canada becomes registered as an official
charity.
2002
Coptic Canada officially
opens. In the meanwhile, Coptic Orphans Australia becomes registered. Coptic Orphans launches the Valuable
Girl Project, which receives immediate recognition for its effectiveness
and innovativeness. The traditional work of Coptic Orphans continues
as a separate program, “The Child Assistance Program.”
2003
The Valuable Girl Project receives its first government grant to expand
the project into other geographical areas. We also briefed His
Holiness Pope Shenouda in Alexandria on our work to a glowing reception.
2005
Coptic
Orphans Canada moves to Laval , Quebec , just outside Montreal . Manal
Bedwany takes the helm and leads the office to tremendous growth
2006
Coptic Orphans staff and volunteers democratically vote to change the
name of “The Child Assistance Program” to Not Alone in order
to better represent the nature of the program.
2007
Coptic Orphans opens an office in Cairo, using its own office building
for the first time so that we can build
our capacity to reach more children than ever.
Present
The work of Coptic Orphans continues to expand rapidly for children in Egypt
with hundreds of Reps, church partners, and organization partners working
with thousands of children and families each year. Join Us Today so that
together, we can reach every vulnerable child in Egypt with the resources
to succeed… one child at a time.
