Solidarity: the Child Jesus Association of Cairo Onlus is one year old

The Child Jesus Association of Cairo Onlus is preparing to celebrate the first year of life, inaugurated on 21 July 2020 and the fruit of the Document on Human Brotherhood signed by the Holy Father and the Great Iman of Al-Azhar Ahmed Al Tayeb, in Abu Dhabi on February 4, 2019. Illustrious ecclesiastics and laity motivated by the common spirit of being there for others participate in the Child Jesus Association of Cairo Onlus. The Association aims to protect children and young minors through the implementation and management of two projects: the “Oasi della Pietà” orphanage and the “Bambino Gesù Women’s and Children’s Hospital” in Egypt. The Oasi della Pietà is a home that supports the growth of young guests in a family environment, with the capacity to accommodate up to 200 children. Its name is inspired by the gift that His Holiness Pope Francis kindly wanted to address in 2019 to this project by delivering an identical copy of Michelangelo’s Pietà statue. The Bambino Gesù Women’s and Children’s Hospital is a model pediatric hospital infrastructure that will make use of the consultancy, instrumental and training support of the Bambino Gesù Pediatric Hospital in Rome to ensure reception and medical-health assistance for children suffering from pathologies and to pregnant women throughout the gestational process. The scientific committee for the realization of the work is chaired by Dr. Mariella Enoc (President of the Child Jesus of Rome) .The Orphanage and the Hospital are the first – and only to date – medical-health reception works of the Church Cattolica present in the New Administrative Capital of Egypt, aimed at people of all religious beliefs and at the service of the poorest, to also consolidate interreligious dialogue. The statue of Blessed Carolo Acutis will be placed in the chapel of the Orphanage. It was blessed by the Holy Father on March 17, 2021. Despite the serious situation created by the pandemic, the works have never stopped and today 60% of the ‘Orphanage, thanks also to the generosity of the members of the supporters. This is why the Association supports the “Not Gifts but Formelle” initiative which consists in donating a tile for the construction of the orphanage. These tiles will form the mosaic of the Association’s logo. The name of the benefactor will be engraved on each tile. On 22 July the Association will celebrate its first year of life with a ceremony that will take place at 6.30 pm at the Diplomatic Office of the United Arab Emirates – Piazza della Croce Rossa, 3 Rome. Guests and members will be welcomed by His Excellency Ambassador Omar Obaid Al-Shamsi and by Mons Yoannis GAID, President of the Association. The event will be conducted and presented by Claudia Conte and will be concluded with a song entitled “Brothers” written and composed especially for the Association and interpreted, for the occasion, by the singer Annalisa Minetti.