Photo essay

Egypt, Syria and Sudan Under One Roof

Three girls from Egypt, Syria and Sudan discover their countries' cultures through UNICEF-supported LSCE program

Dalia Younis

UNICEF/Egypt 2023/Ahmed Emad

Available in:
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العربية

11 January 2024

Several weeks before the end of the summer vacation, September 2023, three girls from Egypt, Sudan and Syria met by chance in one of the activities supported by UNICEF in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Technical Education.

During the day, the girls participated in many fun games, and this particular game made them get to know each other more.

In this game, the three girls were asked to identify the differences between the Egyptian, Syrian and Sudanese dialects. The children were offered words such as "love" or "child" and each of them pronounced them according to their dialect.

We had the opportunity to talk to the girls after the game to explore how these activities brought them closer together and explore what their cultures have in common.

UNICEF/Egypt 2023/Ahmed Emad

Shahd, now 13, came from Syria to Egypt when she was just two years old. This is her first time participating in the summer activities at the 6th of October Comprehensive School. She comes to this school every year to take exams only, and she learned about possibly joining the summer school through the school’s Facebook page. "I liked the activity of musical chairs the most because it was fun and joyful," she says. Also, it was Shahd’s first time dealing closely with the Sudanese: "I got to know them after the conflicts erupted in their country. They were as good as the Egyptians when I got to know them."

UNICEF/Egypt 2023/Ahmed Emad

Aden (on the left), 13, came from Sudan four years ago when the conflicts began. She is posing in this photo with her best Egyptian friend. Aden notices the arrival of more Sudanese to Egypt, and she wants to tell them: "Egypt is beautiful; Egyptians and Syrians are beautiful. We are all sisters and brothers." Aden attended the same school and, like her classmate Shahd, this was her first experience with summer school. On what word surprised her the most in other dialects, she said: “How the Syrians pronounce ‘veil’ as ‘lahshe’!”

UNICEF/Egypt 2023/Ahmed Emad

Malak is a 15-year-old Egyptian girl who has dealt a lot with Syrians before, but it was the first time she had dealt with a Sudanese girl of her age. She enjoyed the different games throughout the day and told of the dialect game: "I was totally fascinated by learning those new words." On what she thinks about dealing with bullying of non-Egyptian children, she said: "We are all siblings. No one should tease anyone just because of where they were born."

UNICEF/Egypt 2023/Ahmed Emad

This program phase targeted 452 public schools, 2,446 teachers and 64,256 students in hosting communities with marginalized and vulnerable refugees and migrants in Egypt.

This project is supported by PROSPECTS programme – a partnership between the Embassy of the Netherlands in Egypt, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), International Labour Organization (ILO), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and UNICEF.

Egypt, Syria and Sudan Under One Roof

Three girls from Egypt, Syria and Sudan discover their countries' cultures through UNICEF-supported LSCE program

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Egypt, Syria and Sudan Under One Roof

Three girls from Egypt, Syria and Sudan discover their countries' cultures through UNICEF-supported LSCE program

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A year away from home

Learn, Play, and Save the planet with LEGO.

Skills for Everyone