Coptic Orphans

Coptic Orphans (CO) is a non-profit organization founded in 1988 with the goal of the long-term development of the physical and intellectual well being of children in Egypt.

History

When young Egyptian-American Nermien Riad visited Egypt in 1988, she found a nation that, despite a rich heritage and much foreign aid, still grappled with widespread poverty and illiteracy. Astonished at the way that children lived in an orphanage where she volunteered, she was more astonished to learn that many children ended up at the orphanage because their mothers were forced by extreme poverty to abandon them after the loss of the family’s father.

She felt she had to do something for fatherless children in their own families and communities so that they in turn could transform those communities. From her efforts grew Coptic Orphans.

Upon returning to the United States, she began collecting and sending funds to Egypt on a limited scale to the orphanage, and began to lay the foundations for an organization with a Mission and Philosophy solely devoted to the purpose of helping children.

As opposed to a short-term relief organization, Coptic Orphans focuses on the long-term needs of the children - spiritual, physical, economic, and social - through programs that provide both tangible and intangible benefits.

Mission

Coptic Orphans is an award-winning international Christian development organization that unlocks the God-given potential of children in Egypt, and so equips them to break the cycle of poverty and become change-makers in their communities.

Coptic Orphans works through grassroots partners and volunteer networks for sustainable impact.

Programs

Not Alone

Coptic Orphans’ flagship program, Not Alone, gives a child back the protection, provision, and confidence that he or she lost after a father’s death or abandonment. This is done through one of over 300 volunteer representatives who are appointed through the Church and serve as advocates and mentors to the children and their families. Not Alone children gain the resources to break the cycle of poverty and the courage to become change-makers in their communities: all according to each individual child’s need.

The Valuable Girl Project

The Valuable Girl Project is Coptic Orphans’ innovative development program that empowers girls and young women through educational mentoring. The program focuses on high poverty areas of Egypt where girls of all ages face a high risk of dropping out of school due to poverty and bias against girls. This program supports all girls in need of it, regardless of religion.

Serve To Learn

Serve to Learn is a unique program that connects youth from around the globe to Egypt. Volunteers conduct activities in English for three weeks during the summer and share a journey of self-discovery and transformation with the children and communities they serve.

Grassroots Partner Initiatives

Through the support of one of Coptic Orphans’ major donors, the organization launched its first set of grant-making initiatives with other Coptic grassroots organizations in 2006. The purpose of the program is to support Egypt-based community development associations as well as NGOs active in one of these three main sectors: health education and awareness, orphanage support, and education and literacy to underserved populations -- including refugees, children with disabilities, and orphans. The donor who commissioned the initiatives of 2006 also commissioned another set of partnerships for 2009.

See also

• Coptic Orthodox
• Youth organization

External links

• Coptic Orphans's official website
• The Foundation Center