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The aid packages contain basic food stuffs such as rice, pasta, sugar and dry fruits. |
CAIRO — Anticipating skyrocketing prices in Ramadan, Egyptian philanthropists are now racing to buy as many as of the traditional aid packages and distribute them among the poor ahead of the dawn-to-dusk fasting month.
"With two weeks to go, we went to several summer resorts, which are teeming with holidaymakers every August," Amira Ismail, from the Al-Risala charity, told IslamOnline.net Saturday, September 1.
"We received generous donations to buy foodstuffs preempt price hikes," she added.
Her charity is catering for nearly 30,000 poor families, basically in the slums of Cairo and Alexandria.
"We are used to distributing a million packages every year," said Amira.
Price hikes have become a main characteristic of the holy month in Egypt. Economists expect price to soar this year by 30 percent on day one.
Ramadan this year coincides with the start of the school year, which adds more burdens on household budgets.
The charity activists organizing the nationwide aid package project left this year a notice with every plastic bag reading: "Kindly don't munch through before the start of Ramadan."
They fear the needy would put away the contents — rice, pasta, sunflower oil, sugar, nuts, dried fruits and other supplies — before the beginning of the month.
Several charities have made passionate pleas to encourage beneficent Egyptians to give alms early this year and donate to the popular aid package project, which was launched in 2003 by famed young preacher Amr Khaled.
According to astronomical calculations, Ramadan is due to start on September 13. Adult Muslims, save the sick and those traveling, abstain from food, drink, smoking and sex between dawn and sunset during the month.
Obstacle
The price hikes, however, still stand as a stumbling block to many fledgling charities and prevented well-established others to expand beyond Egypt's frontiers.
"Price hikes threaten our noble cause," Ibrahim, an activist at one charity, told IOL.
"We have collected LE50,000 in donations to prepare only 1,000 aid packages," he said.
In the no too distant past, the sum used to cover 5,000 aid packages.
As some charities are still raising funds for their aid packages, some merchants gave a great boost to their effort by providing them with all stuffs at today's price and collect their money when they got the job done.
Some charities can no longer expand their effort to other needy Muslims worldwide, particularly in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"Unfortunately, we cannot afford sending aid packages this year to our brothers and sisters in the besieged Gaza Strip," said Muhannad, a university student.
"We cannot even afford covering the Palestinians stranded in Rafah because prices are soaring like crazy," he added desperately.
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