The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Featured image via Daily News

Who does not have a memory that involves themselves splashing around in the water, whether it was during swimming practice, a beach day in the North Coast, or even in the bathtub at home, enjoying a soothing bubble bath? A luxury that we sometimes underestimate and don’t appreciate as much as we should. Why do we say this? Because there are some children in areas of Egypt that have never had the experience of diving into a swimming pool and playing around with their friends and neighbours. This was the state of the underprivileged district of El-Dweika up until recently, when a man, by the name of Hussein Makbool, decided to take matters into his own hands.

According to Daily News, Makbool started the initiative and established the district’s first-ever portable swimming pool, based on his conviction that the residents of EL-Dweika are “buried alive”. He decided to let the children of his area live the closest thing to other kids who spend their summers by the pool, and to open what he sees as more of a happiness gate for children in need rather than just a typical business project.

In terms of location, the portable plastic pool was placed over the roof of a red-brick building, and is open every day during the summer from noon until night, with fees varying from 1-3 EGP, depending on the affordability of each youngster. Makbool remarked to Daily News, “I know that they suffer to get those EGP 2, and some of them work hard to get it in order to spend a few hours playing in the water. So, money is not that essential for me.”

The inhabitants obviously couldn’t have been more thrilled with the latest addition to their community. Makbool said, “No one could have imagined the happiness that the children and families expressed when I first purchased this pool and announced it is open to the public. They were over the moon!” Sayed, a twelve-year-old regular, stated, “I have seen the sea one time in my whole life, and that was many years ago. But I come here a lot in order to play with my neighbourhood friends in the water.”

 Maintenance for the pool is no easy task, which Makbool doesn’t take lightly. To preserve the hygiene of the water, he exerts all of his efforts to keep the water as clean as possible by emptying the portable pool and refilling it with water every day, as well as avoiding the addition of any harmful substances.

We genuinely hope that this generous initiative will set off a chain reaction of similar projects throughout all the underprivileged districts in Cairo and, eventually, Egypt.