Inclusion Without Limits   2 min Empowering Children with Disabilities in the Nile Delta

The Love and Giving Association serves as an inspiring model amid social stigma and lack of understanding of the needs of people with disabilities in Egypt, particularly beyond Cairo. An interview with Mirna Fouad, the association’s director.

Over 10 percent of Egypt’s population live with a disability, according to 2017 figures from the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS). However, there is a lack of public awareness about how best to interact with people with disabilities, who often suffer from social stigma. The Love and Giving Association serves as an inspiring model for addressing these challenges. An interview with Mirna Fouad, the association’s director.

First of all, how did the idea for the association originate?

The concept for the project came about 35 years ago, as the mother of a child and a group of mothers with special needs struggled with the daily commute from El-Mahalla El-Kubra to Tanta, which caused them and their children considerable hardship. On top of this, it was hard to find schools nearby that could accommodate children with severe disabilities; many schools refused to accept them. This gave the late Maysa Ishaq Gaafar (“Hajja Maysa”)—may God have mercy on her—the idea for the association. She was deeply concerned over the fate of these children. She found some land and established a school to educate them, and thus a school was founded in El-Mahalla. The next question was: “What does a child do after completing their basic education?”
 

How did you take over running the association?

Hajja Maysa was like a spiritual mother to me, so I took on the task of managing the association after she passed away. My belief in the association’s mission stems from the fact that I have a brother with Down Syndrome. I had to take care of him after the death of my mother, and I felt I had to find a way for him to play an active role, so I enrolled him in the Paralympic Games. We are the only association in the Delta region, and specifically in El-Mahalla El-Kubra, whose children take part in the Paralympics. In 2019, three of our children won medals in the Special Olympics, with 35 countries taking part. In October 2025, our children won the qualifying rounds in the Gharbia Governorate.
 

What sets the activities you offer apart from those of other associations?

From the outset, we were keen to make our mission clear. It’s even reflected in the association’s name: “The Love and Giving Development Association for People with Special Needs and Their Families.” We are committed to providing both material and moral support to families with members who have special needs. Each of these families faces its own unique challenges and struggles.

For example, there is a divorced woman who cares for her siblings with special needs, and another woman with a child but no stable income. Through social assistance, we provide them with financial support to ensure they can support their relatives with special needs. We also offer family counselling sessions to help them better manage disabilities from a young age. As for our children with special needs, we provide them with speech therapy, skills development, and behavioral guidance, tailored to each child’s individual needs.

What are the most significant challenges the association faces in providing services to people with disabilities?

There isn’t one specific challenge; the issue is that there are numerous speech therapy and support centers for various disabilities, some of which are well equipped to provide these services, while others lack the necessary expertise. Competence aside, a genuine desire to help, a love for cooperation, a strong professional and ethical conscience, and a commitment to supporting these children and young people are all essential to the success of any project aimed at providing services to people with disabilities.

Do disability service organizations face shortcomings that prevent them from providing the necessary support?

I believe that families of people with disabilities need a great deal of guidance and greater awareness within society. I must commend Law No. 10 of 2018, which formalized the status of people with disabilities in Egyptian society and guaranteed them equal opportunities and inclusion, by establishing quotas to guarantee they would be accepted in schools and various workplaces. In my opinion, this law has made a major contribution to changing society’s perception of people with disabilities.

Up until 2024, the El-Mahalla El-Kubra Rehabilitation Office entrusted the association with issuing disability cards—the integrated services card for people with disabilities—until the rehabilitation offices were transferred to the Social Affairs Departments. We were the only association tasked with serving the El-Mahalla El-Kubra area and its various disability centers.

How has the Love and Giving Association helped change society’s perceptions of people with disabilities?

We always focus on creating a genuine bond between family members, especially the caregivers of people with disabilities, by involving them in our trips and activities. The goal is to eliminate any feeling of shame the caregiver might have.

Does the association have any plans for the future?

Yes, there is a plan to establish a care home for children with disabilities. Through it, we hope to provide much-needed care to these children, who are innocent and must never be the victims of neglect or any form of exploitation or ill-treatment.

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February 2026