We are grateful our NGO member Mary Lai of Dragonboat Egypt sponsored the participation of ten of our refugee students in the 65th anniversary of Sino-Egyptian relations on September 29. Our students were elated that they were able to attend the training sessions and participated in the race on the 29th. We would wish we could offer our refugee students more regular physical education. This is a subject that has been widely neglected at refugee learning centres that give priority to academics since this is what helps them to obtain their diplomas.
 

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Dragonboat celebration                             Dragonboat September 29

Yet, in many advanced nations Physical Education is a compulsory subject for all or most of a student's time in school - Often this is a combination of gymnastics, dance and sport. Approximately 2.5 hours/week are set aside in the curriculum for these activities

Some of the benefits are:

• Students of all ages gain from physical exercise, developing strength, flexibility, coordination, balance and endurance;
• Regular exercise promotes healthy hearts and well-functioning respiratory organs;
• Physical exercise helps individuals to develop a sense of wellbeing and the ability to cope with and manage harmful levels of stress;
• Students who are physically active gain confidence in themselves and in their abilities to perform in a range of situations and challenges;
• Through participation in a wide range of sporting activities, students develop skills and abilities which develop hand an eye co-ordination, an understanding of rules and team work. the notion of "fair -play", accepting success and disappointments in good spirit and the values of sportsmanship;
• Many come to recognise that success is often the product of application and dedicated efforts;
• Through involvement in physical activity, students develop social skills and confidence when meeting others through these activities;
• Students learn to compete and the importance of application in order to achieve success.

Evidence from our recent CAWU Summer School suggests that few if any students are involved in regular, organised physical activity. Some male students are interested in soccer but lack opportunities to play in organised teams. Our refugee learning centre, unlike many regular schools lacks access to any sporting facilities or space for physical education. Female students have very limited encouragement to be involved in physical activity of any sort. Our Summer School provided facilities at a well-equipped fitness centre and involvement in water sports at a dedicated sports club. Our students loved it and looked forward to taking part. They clearly benefitted physically and mentally from participating. The award of medals and certificates did much for some students to feel an obvious pride in their achievements. This underlined the importance of these students having regular physical education, carried out in appropriate facilities with qualified coaches and teachers.
 

Our Learning Centre crew
 

If we are to continue this we should pay per 500 EgP (220 EgP monthly membership for training and 280 EgP Nile Taxi/ transportation to the Mohammed Ali Club at the Western bank of the Nile 70 EgP x 4 times)   per student per month for a three months training period with one training session per week. But if we want to serve all our students we would need to find funding for 30 (students) x 3 (months) x 500 EgP = 45,000 EgP (or 2450 Euro or 2820 US$). The costs would include the hire of facilities and coaches. Who would be willing to sponsor this?

Cairo, October 5, 2021

Peter Mathias,

Principal CAWU Learning Centre