Urban Sustainable Community Development Project
Cairo, Egypt
→ Prices start from $1868 or £1429 for 2 weeks
Volunteering in community development in Cairo
Become part of this dynamic project and make a difference in this rewarding hands-on experience to accomplish life-changing transformations in an urban impoverished district in Cairo.
By joining this project, you will be able to see first-hand the troublesome reality informal settlements families face and actually make a difference to alleviate the conditions of living in slums. With a total of over 280 slums in Cairo alone, the capital of Egypt has the highest poverty rate in the country, with an illiteracy rate of 16%. You will be involved in turning informal settlements, or slums, into sustainable communities, by focusing on developing meaningful education and vocational programs, while utilizing the talents of its residents to create continuous development.
Be part of improving the standard of living of the residents in this urban settlement in a variety of ways, such as providing much-needed teaching assistants in schools, using your creativity to help their performance arts program thrive and initiating new programs to maintain progress in the community.
Help us achieve our goal of alleviating poverty in Cairo, by taking part in our movement to enrich the community as a whole and allowing it to prosper. We are committed to providing continuous growth in this project to educate more children, empower more women and feed more members of the community.
Top reasons to volunteer with community development
- Experience for yourself the daily life of communities in Cairo´s informal settlements and help them through daily struggles while forming long-lasting bonds with the locals and working together for a better future
- Due to the high rate of malnutrition in Cairo, and poverty restricting dietary supplements, 16% of children are underweight. You will be assisting in introducing our Physical Education and Nutritional Awareness Program while cooking and dishing up nutritious meals for the children in the community
- Take part in a unique program providing free education to over 160 children, while offering workshops teaching members of the community various crafts or skills to make products, providing them with much-needed additional income to help support their families
- With numerous opportunities within this project, you will also be involved in helping with street cleaning, small acts of renovation and painting projects taking place in the village
- Immerse yourself in a new culture and gain an authentic experience by coming into contact with local customs, whilst making a difference in Cairo’s informal settlements
- Take part in our daily cultural exchange program, where lunch is cooked and served on the project by selected members of the community, allowing for integration into the local culture
- You will have the option to learn various types of crafts to make high-quality products with unique designs inspired by traditional Egyptian arts and crafts to take home, at a fee, that will go towards supporting the local community projects
Your Project, Your Purpose
Experience the peak of social inequality in Cairo, and witness first-hand a widening gap between the poorest and the wealthiest members of society. Play your part in working towards minimizing that gap, and alleviating poverty and illiteracy in the slums of Cairo.
This program was established when parents in the area would send their children straight to work to support their families, rather than having them receive an education. We are working to establish a balance, allowing the children to receive an education 3 days a week, and spend the other 3 days making crafts to earn money. This way children will have access to education while earning a much needed steady income to support their households.
The workshops provided have allowed women living in this patriarchal society to make crafts and establish autonomy, by earning a living that allows them to escape unsettling circumstances, such as domestic violence, by not relying on their husbands for money.
Explore our after-school programs and engage the children in areas like physical education & nutrition, tutoring and library book club.
Since the teachers have a very limited understanding of the English language, you will be playing an essential role in shaping these children’s future by interacting with them, and teaching them how to read and write in English.
Get ready to put your creative skills into practice, as you work with children to explore their talents through performing arts, which include theatre, choir, performance, and music classes. The goal is to use creative arts and explore various talents of community members to further the development of this underprivileged community.
Teaching Support, Performing Arts Cultivation & Vocational Training
Get fully involved in teaching children English language, computer skills, arts and crafts and physical education, as well using your creativity to enrich and come up with fresh ideas for their performing arts program, which already includes circus acrobatics, percussion, Arabic folklore, choir and theatre.
Play an important role in introducing our Physical Education and Nutritional Awareness Program to the community, as well as providing the children with individual attention and helping them advance their English language skills in our after-school tutoring program.
You will add great value to this program by assisting overburdened teachers and incorporating their knowledge and skills into the children’s curriculum. We hope to have each volunteer focus on 4-5 children, to provide them with individual attention, and work closely with them to reach their full potential and achieve their academic goals.
You also have the option of taking part in the vocational training program, while learning various crafts (including woodworking, metalworking, needleworking and basket making) from different artisans. You can make traditional Egyptian items to take home for a financial contribution that will go towards purchasing raw materials to ensure the continuity of the vocational program, that acts as a source of income for the majority of the homes in the neighbourhood.
Get the chance to utilise your creative side by exploring marketing ideas to help raise awareness about the Performance Arts program, and come up with new methods of product development to increase sales of products handmade by members of the community to enrich the Vocational Training program.
Street Cleaning, Painting and Improvements
Get ready to get your hands dirty and take part in upgrading the living standards for the residents of Istabl Antar. Your work may include cleaning, painting and minor restoration activities in streets, homes and schools in the neighbourhood.
Your Volunteer Week:
(Click to View)
*This is a rough example of how your workweek as an Urban Sustainable Community Development volunteer could look. However, due to the nature of the project, these activities may change on a daily basis.
Your Accommodation:
You will be staying in a 3-star hotel, located in Zamalek, a district in the middle of the Nile river possessing some of the most beautiful views in Cairo. As host to the majority of the city’s embassies, the area is very safe, with plenty of security on the street, providing you with reassurance to go out and explore, in a safe environment.
Not only is Zamalek ranked as the safest neighbourhood in Cairo, but the district is also known for being Cairo’s nightlife hub, with plenty of bars, restaurants and cafés.
You will share a twin or triple room with a bathroom, accompanied by fellow volunteers or interns. Private rooms are available upon request and availability, at an extra charge.
What’s Included:
- Accommodation in 3-star hotel
- 3 meals a day – catering to special dietary needs
- Airport pick-up/drop-off to and from Cairo International Airport
- Transfer to and from your volunteer project
- Daily housekeeping (laundry services available for a small fee)
- 24-hour reception and on-site support
- Returning volunteers receive a 5% discount
- Volunteers booking 2 or more different projects, with a minimum of 2 weeks per project, receive a 10% Discount on the lower-priced project
What else can you do:
We believe there is more to your placement than simply the incredible work that is happening right here on the ground. Egypt provides world-class activities and opportunities. You can discover some of the world’s most exquisite landmarks, captivating culture and mesmerising views on offer.
Popular trips & tours*:
- Visit the only remaining survivor of the Seven Natural Wonders of the Ancient World, The Great Pyramid of Giza
- Visit the Egyptian Museum and downtown street bazaar Khan El Khalili
- Explore beautiful beaches with the crystal clear water of the Mediterranean Sea and stunning coral reefs of the Red Sea, while enjoying world-class diving experiences
- Visit Valley of the Kings and Karnak Temple in Luxor
- Visit Temples, museums, mausoleums, tombs and monasteries in Aswan
- Ride a Felucca boat along the Nile River, the longest river in the world
- Experience the Sahara Desert, the world’s largest hot desert, by taking part in our Bedouin Safaris while camping under the stars
- Visit Biblical Mount Sinai where Moses received the Ten Commandments and Saint Catherine’s Monastery, one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world
*At an additional cost to the volunteer placement.
25% discount for start dates between 15 February and 15 March applicable for bookings made by the end of December
This project starts every Monday throughout the year. We ask volunteers to arrive at Livingstone Airport on Monday your project starts and we’ll pick you up from there.
You can volunteer from 10 days up to 12 weeks. Project ́s last day is on Monday when we’ll drop you back at the airport.
(This project remains open over the Christmas period)
- February: 15, 29
- March: 14, 28
- April: 11, 25
- May: 9, 23
- June: 6, 20
- July: 4, 18
- August: 1, 15, 29
- September: 12, 26
- October: 10, 24
- November: 7, 21
- December: 5, 19
| GBP | USD | |
| 1 Week | 839 | 1099 |
| 2 Weeks | 1426 | 1868 |
| 3 Weeks | 1762 | 2308 |
| 4 Weeks | 2349 | 3077 |
| 5 Weeks | 2937 | 3847 |
| 6 Weeks | 3524 | 4616 |
| 7 Weeks | 4111 | 5385 |
| 8 Weeks | 4698 | 6154 |
| 9 Weeks | 5286 | 6924 |
| 10 Weeks | 5873 | 7693 |
| 11 Weeks | 6460 | 8462 |
| 12 Weeks | 7047 | 9232 |
