Getting down to business

My work at EACID in Aswan is now fully underway with the end of Ramadan and the Eid holidays. The past week was a flurry of activity as all of PICC Work’s staff were in Aswan for a variety of meetings and a training from Street Kids International. My week was mostly spent with a film maker/editor named Ahmed Hassouna, filming various aspects of the project along with stories from the kids and staff about the project. It was a good opportunity both to further ground myself in the different parts of the project and the work that has already been done, as well as to get to know the people and places that are now my home. The videos that will eventually be finished in a few months are to highlight the impact of the safety and hazard mitigation training, the use of a business simulation computer game, and the individual stories of a couple of the kids who have been part of the project from the beginning. I got to visit three different businesses, a home bakery, a carpentry shop, and a laundry facility. In two of the cases I had already met the kids and so got to get to know them a little better. The visits also allowed me to visit parts of the city that I would otherwise never frequent since aren’t in walking distance and my central location means I don’t have to walk far to get what I need. That is one disadvantage to my central location, that it feels a bit like a commercial bubble that isolates me from the experience of the majority of people living here. This may be a feeling I’ve created, but I feel this way regardless.

Sunday things will return to normal and it will be just me and the EACID Aswan staff. They are all really great and I’ll be putting my Arabic to good use, the little that I have so far that is. I’m really excited to get started on the photo documentation work I’m here for, as well as all the other things in between that come up with the kind of work I’m doing. It means that every day is different and there is little time to get comfortable in any routine, keeping me on my toes!