Fat’het Kheir (FK) started in April 1999, with a group of young Egyptian volunteers who joined forces to create a grass-root volunteer-based center in the community of Masaken El Zelzal in El Hadaba el Wosta on the Mokattam hill. Fat’het Kheir has, over the years, become an innovative development initiative in Egypt whereby the majority of its staff is made up of volunteers, all funds are Egyptian and the NGO has become a center of community participation, skills development and volunteer mobilization. In 2001, due to its success in attracting an increasing volunteer labor force to implement community-based development projects, Fat’het Kheir was officially registered with the Ministry of Social Affairs.

Our Mission

Fat’het Kheir aims to create a successful and replicable development model to reduce poverty by empowering a community through the complementary values of volunteerism and development. Fat’het Kheir’s model of development uses a holistic approach, based on community participation in decision making to improve economic, socio-cultural and educational levels as well as the health and well being of members of the family unit. In doing this, it seeks to build tighter support-networks (i.e.: safety nets) within the community.

Our Projects & Activities

The core of FK’s activities is built upon “Empowerment – not charity”. FK’s target beneficiary is the family and so tools are offered to all members of the family in as many areas as possible: economic development is at the core of its work and is supported by education and awareness as well as cultural development and health care. Some emergency funds have been put in place to avoid any beneficiary falling from the fragile safety net thus created.

   Economic Development    

• Group Based Micro-Loans provides micro-loans as small as 250-350 Egyptian pounds to individuals (mostly women) to commence income-generating activities.    
• Urban Agriculture offers training courses, awareness sessions & loans to women interested in pursuing Urban Agriculture income-generating activities such as rabbit breeding, mushroom growing, etc.    
• El Mashghal and other sewing projects provides sewing and quality control training to women as well as starting a marketing strategy for selling final products through providing marketable skills training.    
• Employment Service and Skills Development Project: in January 2005 FK initiated a two year pilot project co-funded by the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development, to train 150 youth from the community and assist them in finding employment.

   Education and Awareness    

• Informal Literacy Classes (For Women) offer an innovative and holistic experimental approach which develops the overall literacy of the women.   
• Tutoring Classes (For Children/Youth) provides tutoring classes to children from grades 1 to 5 in different subject matters.   
• The Library encourages children, youth and adults alike to read by making books available to all. The Education Fund responds to the call of needy children whose education was at risk because the family could no longer afford their school fees.

   Cultural Development Program    

• Art Expression weekly classes enable children to learn how to express themselves through art    
• Theater, summer activity whereby children participate in acting, costume design, prop making and backstage roles.

   Health Care    

• The Health Clinic provides accessible professional health care services to the community.    
• The Emergency Fund started to help those women who faced problems that were critical to their survival and the success of their income-generating projects.

   Autonomous Charity Activities    

• Meals on Wheels provides weekly meals to a number of orphanages, street sweepers and traffic men.    
• Ramadan Bulk Meals where food baskets are prepared by volunteers to be distributed to least advantaged groups not restricted to the Moqattam area.    
• Kesswa provides a permanent exhibition of donated clothes sold at very low prices to community members

www.fathetkheir.org

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