Reviving Hearts That Were Born to Advocate for the Cause of Children and Youth Without Parental Care: Wataneya Society’s Youth Forum

Naglaa and Marwa Childhood Key Experiences

As a child, Naglaa was talented in singing, acting and making handicrafts. However, she was bullied inside her care home for being dark-skinned, which strongly affected her self-esteem. Naglaa had multiple different caregivers across her placement. Yet she had a primary caregiver for seven years. Even though the caregiver used to physically punish Naglaa, the girl formed a strong attachment to the woman that promoted herself as Naglaa’s mother. Naglaa actually used to feel ’seen’ when the caregiver would hit her. This dilemma lasted until the day the caregiver suddenly left the care home. Naglaa persistently tried to initiate keeping contact with her, but the ex-mother rejected all her attempts. Feeling left out by the most important person in her life, the 13-year-old Naglaa severely questioned the value of her life that she once tried to die by suicide.

Marwa grew up feeling responsible for her sisters ² at the care home. She would regularly gather them around her to teach them what she learnt through her readings and religious classes. Yet the serenity of their bond got shaken when they turned 16 years old as two of their sisters ran away from the care home. Marwa and her sisters exerted all efforts to escalate the problem, but the decision-makers persisted in refusing to let the girls return. Unprepared to leave care, the girls were left at the risk of homelessness. Although warned against contacting her sisters, Marwa persisted to support them. She used to secretly collect a monthly amount from their sisters’ pocket money to meet the runaway sisters and give it to them. However, this experience strongly affected the way Marwa viewed herself and other children raised at care homes. As per her words, she felt that society treats them more as ‘street cats’ than as ‘humans’; ‘if anything happens to any of us, there will be no one who investigates; we will be left behind’.

As they grew into adulthood, Naglaa and Marwa continuously faced challenges that hindered their positive integration into the society. In their social, emotional or practical lives, they would get rejected merely due to belonging to a care home. Internalising the stigma, the girls learnt that to protect themselves, they should never reveal their true identity.

Naglaa and Marwa Within the Context of Children and Youth Without Parental Care in Egypt

In Egypt, there are between 90,000 to 2,000,000 children at risk (Caritas-Egypt, 2018) and around 12,000 children at residential care homes (UNICEF & The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics [CAPMAS], 2016). This number is underestimated due to the large number of unregistered care homes (Ethnasios, 2012).

Naglaa and Marwa are only two of those raised at care homes. Similar to the global situation, children raised in care homes in Egypt rarely receive adequate care (Behilak et al., 2015; Kelly, 2016). Consequently, their psychological health gets negatively impacted (Ethnasios, 2012; Fawzy & Fouad, 2010; Ibrahim et al., 2012; Koumi et al., 2012). Global studies relate the negative effects of residential care to problems in attachment and the caregiving relationship (Crockenberg et al., 2008; McLaughlin et al., 2012; Sigal & Perry, 2003). The majority of caregivers in Egypt lack training and often treat the job as a temporary phase in their lives, which leads children to rarely have a consistent caregiver (Behilak et al., 2015; Ethnasios, 2012; Gibbons, 2007; Koumi et al., 2012). In addition, different caregiver participants in a study conducted in Egypt showed mixed feelings of joy, responsibility or denial towards the children’s attachment to them (Nada, 2022). Consequently, many children raised in residential care homes in Egypt showed problems in attachment (Behilak et al., 2015; Ethnasios, 2012; Kelly, 2016). Moreover, physical punishment in Egypt is a prevalent disciplining tool, which is not limited to residential care settings. A study revealed that 93% of children between 1 and 14 years old get physically punished by their biological family (UNICEF, 2016).

Moreover, children raised at care homes in Egypt often receive mixed signals of care and rejection from their caregivers and the society (Behilak et al., 2015; Gibbons, 2007). Although the religious and local culture in Egypt encourages emotional, financial and in-kind support to children at care homes, it unfortunately stigmatises them (Behilak et al., 2015; Ethnasios, 2012; Fawzy & Fouad, 2010; Gibbons, 2005, 2007; Thomason, 2008). Lack of awareness within the society leads to stigmatising children for having unknown family lineage, being born out of wedlock or having genes that would make them conduct socially unacceptable behaviour (Behilak et al., 2015; Ethnasios, 2012; Gibbons, 2007; Thomason, 2008). Therefore, struggling to feel accepted within the society, CYWPC often have to hide their true identity (Hassanin & Kotb, 2021).

In addition, the care homes are usually managed by strict rules and located in highly guarded buildings (Gibbons, 2005, 2007), isolating the children from the outside world. After years of such disempowering quality of care, 18–21-years-old adolescents in formal care are required to transition to independence. Unlike youth in biological families, youth in residential care ³ often lack any forms of emotional, moral, financial or professional support when needed, which makes their process towards independence extremely difficult (Cantwell et al., 2017; Stein, 2012).

Determined to facilitate successful independence for the youth despite the aforementioned challenges, Wataneya Society launched the Youth Forum. According to the adopted framework (World Health Organization, 2017), the following section will be describing the Youth Forum, its implementers, objectives, main activities, resources and consequences.

Wataneya Society’s Youth Forum

In December 2017, Wataneya Society launched the ’Youth Forum’ for youth without parental care in Egypt. The Forum’s objectives are as follows:

Providing a safe space for the youth to exchange their thoughts and experiences.

The forum targets youth without parental care from the age of 18 years. Since 2017 to date, the Youth Forum’ sessions have been held once a month to discuss topics related to the care leavers’ challenges, needs and rights. The session usually lasts from 4 to 6 hours. In addition to the group discussions, the forum includes different activities such as workshops, hosting guest speakers, social outings and outdoor activities. To date, the workshops covered topics such as life and professional skills, adapting to change, effective integration into the community, and planning and leading an independent life. The guest speakers had different expertise based on the needs. For instance, it hosted some from the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS) ⁴ and the Egyptian parliament to give the youth a better understanding of their rights and responsibilities. By the end of each session, a celebration is conducted for participants whose birthdays are in the same month. To keep the momentum going throughout the month, Wataneya’s team created a WhatsApp group with the youth, which is used to offer different opportunities that contribute to the youth growth such as scholarship opportunities, internships/job opportunities as well as relevant national and international events.

The first participants of the ’Youth Forum’ were Forsa (meaning opportunity) graduates. Forsa was a one-year youth development programme which was launched and implemented by Wataneya from 2011 until 2018 to empower 15–18-year-old youth to express themselves. The Youth Forum also welcomed other participants from Wataneya’s partner care homes. Later on, interested candidates wishing to join the forum had to fill an application form and go through an interview process. Naglaa and Marwa were two of the candidates who applied to and joined the Youth Forum in 2019.

To achieve the Forum’s objectives, Wataneya Society built on cumulative experiences and knowledge.

First, Wataneya was mindful to involve different staff members in designing and holding the Youth Forum’s sessions. The reason was to promote attachment to Wataneya’s team rather than certain facilitators. During implementing Forsa, there was heavy reliance on certain facilitators that some participants used to experience detachment difficulties when those facilitators changed their job. In studying ways to provide a secure base for children without parental care, Nada (2022) recommended focusing on promoting children’s sense of self without the promotion of certain attachment figures.

Second, it was important for the team to have patience and trust the group development process. At the beginning, the forum sessions were challenging, loud and full of heavy emotions. Many participants had their own expectations and objectives and were unready to listen. Others were unsure what to expect, and few were quite desperate and pessimistic that they could not trust the possibility of positive change and even urged others not to be hopeful. According to Yalom and Leszcz (2005), groups normally pass through five stages in their development, namely ’forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning’. It was likely that the group was in the forming and storming stages at that moment. During those stages, members form their understanding of the group’s goals and objectives as well as their position within the group, then conflicts, transference and competition start arising among members.

Third, collaborating with the youth to develop, document and continuously communicate the group’s code of ethics and objectives was key in creating shared values and vision. These were used as a reference point in times of disagreements or times of new members’ enrolment.

Fourth, flexibility in changing the activities and modality of implementation based on the needs were significant for the group. Over the year 2018, the forum worked on building the youth capacity to better present their case, accept feedback and focus on their circle of influence. This led the forum to become a safe space where the members could express their fears and share their dreams without judgement. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic demanded Wataneya to focus on providing deeper support. Therefore, Wataneya held the forum’s sessions biweekly virtually, covered the Internet connection expenses for those who needed it and allowed members to invite their care leaver’s roommates (who were not members of the forum) to attend the online sessions.

As a result of the Youth Forum, multiple ripple effects occurred. Based on the adopted framework (World Health Organization, 2017), the coming section will discuss the Youth Forum’s ripple effects on Wataneya Society’s programmes as well as Naglaa and Marwa as two of the forum’s participants.

Ripple Effects of the Youth Forum on Wataneya Society and the Youth

By 2019, the forum managed to strengthen the sense of unity among the youth participants. It transformed the youth mindset from being self-centred to being more sensitive to the group’s needs and experiences. For example, instead of discussing a personal challenge, the discussions became more holistic and included other youth experiences, which motivated all of them to propose practical solutions. Naglaa said as follows:

Before joining the Youth Forum, I was interested in discussing my and my sisters’ issues with our care home’s management; after the Youth Forum, I am taking it on myself to advocate for the cause, not only for my sisters at the care-home but also for all CYWPC in Egypt.

Moreover, the opportunities offered by Wataneya to the youth led many of them to participate in national and international events, conferences, workshops and sessions related to CYWPC. The events the youth joined mainly discussed topics such as alternative care, aftercare and deinstitutionalisation. After participating in one of these events, Naglaa changed her social media nickname from ’Naglaa Black’, which was affected by the dark skin association she developed as a child, to ’Naglaa Bright Smile’.

In addition, listening to the Youth Forum discussions has contributed to Wataneya’s expertise in aftercare. In mid-2019, based on the youth’s insights, Wataneya launched the Care Leavers independence programme, which is a five-year programme to develop the aftercare system in Egypt in partnership with the MoSS and Drosos Foundation. ⁵

The ripple effects continued with Wataneya Society holding the first regional conference on aftercare in the Middle East and North Africa in 2019: ‘Sanad (meaning Support)’. ⁶ The Youth Forum participants were heavily involved in the conference design and in developing three policy papers that were discussed in one of the conference’s roundtables, which was attended by care leavers from Jordan, Tunisia, Yemen, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Germany. The themes of these policy papers were on: subsidized housing for care leavers, medical insurance for care leavers, and identification papers for CYWPC. The youth were also empowered to participate in a plenary discussion to present their challenges and policy recommendations to media, civil society and government representatives from around the world. During the conference, Marwa met many people who were passionate about the cause and authentically provided support, which corrected her previous conclusions about the society and the future of all CYWPC. Simultaneously, Naglaa attended panels by youth without parental care who were proud—not hesitant or afraid—to share their true identity, which led her to feel enough security and courage to also reveal her identity for the first time in her life.

In 2021, Wataneya launched a leadership programme called Mobader (which means being proactive), with the aim of building the care leavers’ capacity to design and lead their own initiatives, tackling the most pressing challenges CYWPC face. Naglaa, Marwa and most of the Youth Forum participants joined the first cohort of Mobader. Currently, the participants are in the implementation phase. Marwa thinks that Mobader is her first step towards achieving her life calling, which is through her contribution to an awareness campaign that is led by care leavers for the care leavers. The campaign aims at helping all youth without parental care to explore their skills and needs in order to develop a self-development plan to improve their skills and build a balanced life of meaning. Demonstrating what she learnt through this programme, Marwa is currently in the process of re-exploring and developing herself. She is aspiring to work in the HR field at reputable organisations; therefore, she is currently taking courses in English, HR and life coaching.

In 2022, Wataneya Society created a YouTube channel called Gaylak Men Henak ⁷ (meaning coming to you from there/residential care). The channel targets CYWPC. It is planned to be managed by the care-leavers in the near future. Naglaa is currently one of the main people executing and managing this channel, as she has become a part-timer in the marketing and communication department at Wataneya Society. Today, Naglaa no longer associates violence with being ’seen’. She highlights that her exposure to different people like those in the Youth Forum made her correct what was wired in her mindset as a child. She is also using her voice through her social media accounts to raise everyone’s awareness against violence, among different topics. The ripple effects of what Naglaa learnt through the Forum made her become the first young person to simulate the role of the Minister of Social Solidarity for one day. Through the simulation, Naglaa met with the Minister of Social Solidarity and discussed with her the challenges of CYWPC.

When asked about what the Youth Forum represents to them, both Naglaa and Marwa said it represents ‘the family’. Experts in the alternative care field developed a therapeutic framework that targets improving attachment and resilience for abused and neglected children, which is called the Secure Base Model. The model has five dimensions, namely availability, sensitivity, acceptance, cooperation and family membership (Beek & Schofield, 2016). Even though the forum did not directly intend to tackle the youth’s secure base, the words of the youth show that it did. In describing the Youth Forum, Marwa said as follows:

The facilitators of the Youth Forum are so similar to us that I sometimes get surprised that they weren’t raised in residential care. They listen to us with ‘care’. They ‘accept’ all of us the way we are. They think about our future and want to see us successful. I always feel comfortable when I’m with them; I speak openly and express all my thoughts without having to pretend. I go to Wataneya and feel that this is my second ‘home’. I started feeling ‘seen’ and feeling that I am ‘valuable’ and that there are people who ‘believe in me’ and listen to my ideas and ‘support me to achieve them’. I no longer feel that I’m talking to ‘a wall that pretends to help’ but doesn’t! Attending the workshops of the Youth Forum made me ‘a totally different person’. I now feel that ‘I have a calling in life’: I want to help all CYWPC to have a secure and successful future. I also want to change society’s mindset so that we’re able to get integrated into it.

As shown throughout the article, the Youth Forum built on its experience to achieve its ripple effects. Based on the adopted World Health Organization (2017) framework, the following section will highlight the forum’s key learned lessons.

The Youth Forum’s Key Learned Lessons

Working as a team with care leavers is healthier than working as individuals for both the team’s sustainability and the youth’s overall wellbeing; therefore, it is important for the team to have aligned vision, values, and attitudes while working with the youth.

Creating a sense of community among a certain group of people, even if they share a common background, takes time and needs patience and awareness on the nature of group dynamics and group development processes.

Setting expectations needs effective and constant communication using different tools to avoid misalignments.

Flexibility and agility in the implementation are highly required to meet the youth’s actual needs and evolvement. Therefore, it is key to be objective-driven rather than activity-driven.

Respecting that each participant has his/her own pace of evolvement is important for everyone to feel accepted, seen and valued.

Mobilising professional volunteers as guest speakers and trainers makes the model cost-efficient.

A sustainability plan, where the programme is connected to the organisation different programmes and initiatives is crucial to ensure the continuation of the forum.

Wataneya envisions the forum as a starting point for a national network led by care leavers across Egypt, who play a significant role in reforming and sustaining the national alternative care system.