No, it is not for a product promotion or a total scam … It is a charitable initiative purposed to feed people in need and hopefully combat hunger rates in Egypt.
Every day at around 2 pm, the small corner shop in Al Hussien district distributes freshly cooked noncommercial meals to queues of women, men, and children. With 27.8% living below the national poverty lines in 2015 according to the World Bank, some people cannot afford their livings.
Hence, the initiative is operating for four main goals. For one, directly helping the people struggling with hunger without waiting on non-governmental efforts to make an impact. Acknowledging that governmental and non-governmental efforts won’t stand on their own, the initiative aims to help bridge the gap.
Another target is to fix a timing for people to know when exactly they can go to eat consistently. Along with that, the initiative aims to set a model for the rest of the capable Egyptians to do the same and launch similar initiatives to feed as many people as possible.
Spreading happiness and joy amongst both the contributors and the beneficiaries is yet another goal. The contributors can feel good about themselves contributing to a worthy cause and still see their impact instantly on the people.
An average of 240 to 250 meals are distributed per day that people were fascinated and skeptical about their purpose. However, when the beneficiaries realized their honesty after the fourth day, they started treating them as family, jokingly commenting on the food.
The contributors, on the other hand, were thrilled with the idea to the extent that instead of funding the entire distribution, the founders now fund only 10%.
The founders did not face any challenges with operating the initiative, everything went smoothly and the whole thing was executed in about a month.
Al Hussien was the chosen district as it preserves the old Egyptian identity with its reliable people. A living proof of that was that the neighbors did not at all complain about the crowd in front of their shops, but instead they helped out!
The founders of Tikkyet Al Rahman aspire to have a similar project in all the Egyptian districts, to show the world how Egyptians stand by one another. According to them, Egyptians are by default do-gooders, but the community service field is disorganized and hence less-efficient than it should be. With Tikkyet Al Rahman, the hope is to eventually make the less-privileged feel supported by the more-privileged, and the more privileged to understand their duties.
Tikkyet Al Rahman is working to add another distribution slot in the evening to feed more people. They do not accept monetary contributions, but a pack of macaroni or meat will certainly do!
If you want to know more about them, checkout their Facebook Page تكية الرحمن
