Out of Egypt: refugee voices from Cairo

MCC partner Saint Andrew’s Refugee Services (StARS) works on the front lines of global displacement in Cairo, Egypt. The organization offers food, education, psychosocial support and trainings for refugees as they adjust to life there.

Every day, about 40 unaccompanied youth arrive at Naimo Center, StARS’ outreach program, looking for help. Some are as young as 10 years old. Many have been exploited on their journeys to Egypt and have witnessed and experienced violence. Some have escaped forced conscription. 

We invite you to meet Aida, Adam and Poni*. All three first encountered StARS as unaccompanied youth in need of help. Today they are program staff supporting refugees. They have found meaningful work in a diverse, welcoming community — and a family in their colleagues at StARS.

*Pseudonyms used for security reasons. 

StARS is unique as an organization in that most of its staff, more than 80%, are refugees themselves, and were StARS program recipients themselves at one point. They know firsthand the challenges of adapting to life in Cairo as refugees.

Aida came to Cairo from Eritrea on her own as a young teenager. She went to Naimo Center in need of support, and a few years later, after training and volunteering with the MCC partner, she became a psychosocial caseworker, serving youth. She reflects on what motivates her to work with unaccompanied children, amid her own struggles as a refugee.

When I came to Egypt, I didn’t know anything except my mother tongue. I only spoke Bilen — and no one speaks Bilen in Egypt! I really struggled. I didn’t know the language, I didn’t know the culture, and it wasn’t easy to adapt to it. When I arrived in Cairo, I didn’t have any support or help to cover my basic needs. I was being hosted by some people from my community. I had to work as a domestic worker. I didn’t even know how to clean and I didn’t know how to deal with the equipment in their kitchen. I didn’t even understand what the family was saying to me. It was all quite challenging. Four days later, they let me go because I didn’t understand Arabic. I came home crying because I didn’t have money to pay for rent, I didn’t have money to eat even. It was very hard for me to go through all these challenges because I was only 16 years old.

I got another job as a domestic worker with a kind woman who taught me Arabic, and she introduced me to StARS. StARS gave the opportunity to study with them and some financial assistance. I kept learning Arabic, and I started learning English, so I could speak and understand a little bit when someone spoke to me. My life started to get better.

As I am sharing my story, it can be hurtful for me to speak about it. But I know I’m better off than others because I see how my community is struggling. I have been lucky.

When young people don’t find opportunities for education, or when they don’t have the skills to work or to engage and they’re just sitting at home, it’s very difficult for their mental health.

As a caseworker, we visit refugee communities to give them some hope that unaccompanied youth can get the help that we got from StARS when we first arrived. Maybe they can become trainees at StARS, as we did. We plan a lot of outings for youth — and I think they are the most amazing outings. They’re a chance for us to engage, create friendships and support one another.

Everyone needs to hear the voice of the unaccompanied child. They don’t have a place to have their voice heard. That’s why I want to share their challenges. I am proud that I’m supporting refugees, from one refugee to another. I’m not doing this for money. I do this work to express my humanity.

When I arrived in Cairo, I really struggled. But I love Egypt because my eyes were opened here. This is where I learned and where I grew up. I remember more of Egypt than I do of my home country, because I left my home country very young. But it does not mean I don’t have challenges. There are challenges everywhere, but we are learning from them and these challenges have made me who I am today.

The youth that StARS serves — and, in turn, many StARS workers — traveled to Egypt alone, from Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, sometimes from as far as Chad and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Adam, an Eritrean who grew up in Sudan and is now a StARS caseworker, remembers coming to Naimo Center as a 17-year-old, with no connections in the city, next to no money in his pocket and no phone.

When you come to Egypt at a young age with no family or relatives at all, it’s really difficult. When you leave your home country, you miss the way you communicated with people back home. You miss the foods you used to eat — you miss everything. It’s very challenging to pass through this at a young age.

When I came to Cairo in 2018, I missed my sister very much. I used to call her and cry over the phone. I wanted to leave everything and go back to Sudan. But as time goes by, I found that my emotions shut down. Sometimes I feel that my emotions are not working anymore. But the way I see life, I just encourage myself every day to learn something new and not think about tomorrow. I just leave it to God.

I can say I have been very lucky because now I’m working in StARS and have a stable job. The environment itself is very welcoming and diverse. I still do face some challenging things, but at the same time, I feel that there are a lot of good things that are happening to me, especially right now. It’s been two years since I’ve been working at StARS and my life has changed so much. The way I think right now is totally different from three years ago. I can say I became more disciplined. Before, I used to use drugs, drink, smoke cigarettes, just all bad stuff. But then in 2021, a traumatic experience happened to me, and this changed my whole life and my point of view and my perception. I quit everything. I know how to control myself now. I know how to control my life and my emotions.

Professionally speaking, I’m very enthusiastic to learn new things and new skills. That’s why I don’t think about other concerns. I don’t think about traveling abroad. My goal is to eat, sleep and just create a good future for myself. If it’s in Egypt or if it’s abroad — whatever comes, I accept it. Right now, my only focus is on how I can upgrade myself, in ways like my English language skills. But it’s not just the language that will improve you. It’s also the way you think, the way you perceive people and the way you treat people. This can also be a personal resource for your own success.

I’ve passed through many difficult times. When I meet with my friends who came with me to Egypt five years ago, they always tell me, “You changed totally. You became someone else in a good way.” These are things that make me very grateful. Other people are also in need for this chance that I got from StARS. I’m proud of being me now and that I’m working in a professional place, meeting with professional people.

In the psychosocial work I do, I interact with many people who are suffering from many issues. When I meet a client on the first day, I can see they are very sad and scared. They are not looking good. But when I start providing assistance and following up with them, then they come back to me after two months, I will see them as a different person. They will be looking better because they started to cope with their situation using my advice. For me to be able to make some decisions and advocate for them makes me happy. 

Through StARS programming, Aida, Adam and Poni have learned English and Arabic, joined book clubs, learned how to advocate for their communities — and are now helping others do the same.

Poni, originally from South Sudan, is a youth development worker with StARS. She organizes outings and trainings for youth.

We consider ourselves lucky to work at StARS. Most of the unaccompanied children have dropped out of high school. They work, just like us. But so many young kids are working on the street in unsafe, illegal jobs, and they aren’t learning anything. They are supposed to be university students. They are supposed to be developing their skills and enhancing their careers. But they are working just to survive. You work, you eat, you work, you eat, only to survive.

But we have a chance to learn something, because we work at StARS. One thing that inspires us to keep going is that the youth we work with can see themselves through us. They have their own perspectives and their own ideas and challenges. Sometimes they want to tell these challenges to someone who can relate to them and represent them. When we advocate for them and feel that their voice is heard, this gives us more drive to keep advocating for them.

There were a lot of challenges that the youth were facing before we advocated for them. We formed a Youth Advisory Board to be a bridge and advocate for their needs to StARS’ leadership. Things like English classes, workshops to improve their skills, microloans to begin small businesses and soft skills training.

I’ve already been through what the youth are going through. I took the same capacity-building training, I received the same assistance like English classes, and then I received some supervision. I’m similar to them, it’s just that my position as a youth development officer is different because I have more experience than they do. So it’s now my turn. I have the passion to support people who are facing the same issues that I did.

We’ve also begun to identify with each others’ cultures and build relationships between us. During work, we don’t always have time to interact with each other, because we work in different places in Cairo. But we’ve had outings and graduation parties, which are a fun time. They’re also a good way to release stress. Now I have gotten to know most of the cultures and dances, so if they play Eritrean sounds, I will start dancing. If they play Somali music, I will start dancing Somali steps. So it’s a way of sharing cultures.

When we are working together, dancing together, I feel like we are making a change for someone, because it inspires others, as well, to work.  When they see me, some of the youth say, “One day we will be like you, a youth officer for unaccompanied kids.” 

Leslie Mina served as interim marketing and communication manager for MCC Canada. Roger Anis is a freelance photographer in Cairo.