Chinese companies in Egypt donate food boxes to poor people during Ramadan

An Egyptian receives a box of food donated by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Egypt during a charitable event in Cairo, Egypt, on April 24, 2021. In the backyard of an Egyptian charity in Cairo, dozens of low-income Egyptians received boxes of food donated by some Chinese companies operating in Egypt on Saturday. (Photo by Mohamed Asad/Xinhua)

CAIRO, April 24 (Xinhua) -- In the backyard of an Egyptian charity in Cairo, dozens of low-income Egyptians were seated patiently, waiting for their turns to get boxes of food donated by some Chinese companies operating in Egypt.

The companies are members of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, which donated this year over half a million Egyptian pounds (about 32,000 U.S. dollars) to the Egyptian Society for Integrated Development (ES4ID), a foundation in charge of preparing the food boxes and other charitable activities.

Each beneficiary received a heavy box containing bags of rice, pasta, sugar, legumes, canned tomato sauce, cooking oil, and others.

Karima Kilany, a 36-year-old divorced woman, told Xinhua that the ES4ID and its donors have been enabling her to lead a more decent life despite her impoverishment, "they really care about us and make us in need of nothing."

"We thank China for everything, because all people who have received food boxes really need them," Samir Abdel-Aziz, an aged beneficiary, said after receiving his boxes of food.

"The member companies of this chamber are very pleased to take part in this kind of activities to show our firm commitment to the community here in Egypt, particularly in this holy month of the year," said Bian Shiyuan, head of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Egypt.

Bian, also chief representative of the China Development Bank office in Cairo, noted that it is the seventh year in a row for the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to cooperate in donations with the ES4ID.

For her part, Hana Ismail, chairperson of the ES4ID, said each beneficiary has also gained a box of surgical face masks as an additional gift.

Ismail said the ES4ID used to cooperate with Chinese investors in holding a charity banquet for 15 days during Ramadan over the past few years. However, the charitable activity has been suspended for the second year as a precautionary measure against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have agreed with Chinese investors to prepare 1,350 food boxes this year, each 40 kg, but we received more contributions from them so we have prepared over 1,550 boxes so far and it might exceed 2,000 boxes this year," said the charity chief.

Ismail said that over the past seven years, the ES4ID in cooperation with Chinese partners distributed about 11,000 food boxes to some 40,000 beneficiaries, not only in Cairo but also in other provinces including Giza, Beni Suef and Aswan.

Among the donors is China Harbor Engineering Company, Egypt (CHEC Egypt). "We treat Egyptians as our friends. We believe that Egypt will have a bright future and we would like to boost our future cooperation with Egypt," said general manager of CHEC Egypt, Dong Xiaowei.