CAIRO -

Ezzat Mohamed, an employee at the Ministry of Agriculture, is eating anxiety about his ability to continue feeding his family of 5 and meeting the needs of his young, with prices rising on an alarming daily basis.

This citizen believes that (no one "dies" dies of hunger) and it is a popular proverb, which has been increasingly popular recently to try to cling to hope in the face of the worsening economic crisis.

But at the same time, he does not believe in the validity of a common proverb also stating that "no one sleeps - sleeps - without dinner." Muhammad says, "But I sometimes slept without dinner, in order to provide food for my children, these difficult days."

Muhammad complains - in his speech to Al-Jazeera Net - the harshness of the situation due to the inflation that eroded his salary, and at the same time he does not accept aid from anyone, despite the many offers of donation and assistance to the needy, which are witnessed by social media platforms, by well-off benefactors, and although "it is possible It must be done in a manner that does not offend dignity.

In light of the significant rise in prices and the inability of many to live under them, individual initiatives for social support have increased recently and an attempt to meet the basic needs of the poor, especially food, with high inflation rates, and insufficient income in the face of inflation.

Some contribute to the effort to prepare the table and food for the poor (Al-Jazeera Net)

From the average to the simple

Although many of the middle-income admitted that they fell one or more degrees in the social ladder, the descent did not lose them the virtue of human solidarity, which “does not make a poor person in Egypt die of hunger” amid great “doubts” that donors have about the mediating institutions and associations between them and the needy, and these donors paid By endeavoring to try to give their little aid directly to the needy.

Eman Mohamed, an activist in the field of women's defense, began trying to help poor women by preparing meals, with the participation of her friends from Shubra, north of Cairo.

In her interview with Al-Jazeera Net, she admits, "I am not wealthy enough to support others regularly, but I decided to direct part of what I allocate for my family to go to two families that I know fully the extent of the suffering of their members, who literally cannot find food."

Her partner in the initiative, Marwa, who merely mentioned her first name, confirms that they tended to prepare food for female breadwinners for needy families directly, not only out of lack of confidence in intermediary institutions and associations, but also out of motives seeking to maximize the feeling among those in need that the matter goes beyond mere material assistance, to inform them of the extent of concern for them and that "we are partners." them to serve their families.

Marwa adds in her interview with Al-Jazeera Net: One of them was helping me clean the house, and she had diseases that prevented her from even serving her young, and I know very well how sincere her need is to feed them, and I wanted to deliver a message to her, "I am repaying her service for me by preparing meals for her, an ongoing charity on the authority of my father, Rahma." God".

assistance to those who deserve it

Fatima was forced to cut off a donation that she was making to a charitable organization that constantly advertises itself in various media, and preferred to direct the amount of assistance directly to a needy family through a small association in her area, and justified this by saying, "I guarantee that the assistance will reach those who deserve it."

The citizen herself supervises the association's preparation of meals for those in need, to make sure that every pound she paid goes in its place to those who deserve it. She "deducted money from live meat" in her expression, and by that she means that she was cut off from her basic resources, after her family dispensed with the luxury of eating once a week. Outside the home, as the family used to, to help "the needy who cannot find food at all, neither outside nor inside the house," as she tells Al Jazeera Net.

A table offered by benefactors continues throughout the year in central Cairo for the needy and transients (Al-Jazeera Net)

Date with lunch

At fixed time in central Cairo, at around 3:00 p.m., dozens of workers and passersby, on Ramses Street, are on a date with full lunches.

In its simplicity, it is not devoid of animal or poultry protein, as well as starches such as rice or pasta, with a loaf of bread that has become dear, with its price reaching between one and two pounds, "the dollar is about 30 pounds."

The Battah family, owner of a spare parts store, chose to have the table set up on Ramses Street directly for the beneficiaries.

At the appointed time, the table is spread out in front of the passers-by who gather around it on the narrow sidewalk adjacent to the historic Al-Tawfiqiyya market.

Haj Muhammad Etman, owner of an auto parts store, participated in making sweetened drinks for those passers-by to drink after lunch. The list of drinks varies, but the most prominent of them is licorice, the most popular street drink, especially during the summer.

Under the hashtags #Good_Azad and #What_You_Love, the communication sites witnessed intense interaction with individual initiatives whose owners offer the least little to feed the needy.

One of the donors offered to share his food packages with those who requested them. Demands also escalated for the necessity of holding banquets for the Most Merciful throughout the year, not only in the month of Ramadan.

The Ministry of Awqaf responded to calls for the opening of the most famous of these tables, which were held throughout the year, in the courtyard of Al-Fateh Mosque in Ramses Square, and it was the destination of thousands of travelers from the largest train station in the country, which stopped after the spread of the Corona virus and the closure of mosques.