Hemaya

Introduction

The tourism industry along the Gulf of Aqaba in south Sinai, Egypt has been flourishing since the mid nineties, but unfortunately this economic development has brought with it a huge environmental impact and an increase in pollution despite all of the laws created to help reduce it.Springing from the belief that civil society has the responsibility to protect the environment and develop the local community, the idea of establishing HEMAYA a local NGO that could help achieve these goals was born

History

in 1997, the Hemaya association for community development was legally founded. Since that time, Hemaya has been working hard both to conserve the environment and serve the local community along the Gulf of Aqaba in south Sinai.

Projects

These are some of the projects that Hemaya has worked put into action so far:
*A solid waste management system was created, and a transfer station was built, to cover an area of 150km from the city of Taba all the way to the city of Dahab.

*Two wind mills were installed in a Bedouin village, togenerate clean electricity for local consumption.

*Hemaya was the first NGO in Egypt to sign a cooperation protocol with the Egyptian ministry of environment. As a result, Hemaya was able to implement a number of projects within Abu galoum national park

*Building the entrance and check point for the city of Taba,

*Providing a speed boat for marine patrolling and coast protection from Taba to Abu galoum,

*A series of internet and computer literacy courseswere organized and taught with the ministry of communication and information through their mobile information club.

*The primary schools in south Sinai were renovated and upgraded.

*A training course in solid waste management was established for more than 150 homeless children from the streets of Cairo.

*In Nuweiba city, port and Taba, Hemaya planted 120 palm trees, and public artwork was installed at one of the city squares. These actions helped enhance the appearance of the city and provide a more positive environment for it’s' residents.

*More than 80 cleaning campaigns were organized and carried out in Nuweiba. This too helped improve the environment and increase the livability of the city for all of its residents.

*A book was published which emphasized the role of thecivil society and volunteerism in south Sinai.

*holding an annual competition and public celebration for the holy prophet Mohamed’s birthday (Mulid).

Furthur on

Additionally, Hemaya submitted proposals for a variety of diverse projects and studies for both community development and environmental protection.

Ten years after its creation, Hemaya, the NGO is still working hard to protect the ecosystem and develop the local community in south Sinai. To achieve these goals and effectively promote environmental conservation, Hemaya has started working in unison with the state‘s tourism and social development plan.

In a competition held by the Arab office for youth and environment, Hemaya was awarded the first prize for the best environmental practice.

These considerable accomplishments would never have come to fruition without the dedication and loyalty of Hemaya’s employees, the aid of the Government agencies, the city council and the local community.

In addition to Hemaya’s self funding, the generous donations of business development agencies and private foundations also help facilitate Hemaya’s growth. These agencies and foundations include:

1) The Egyptian social fund for development

2) The Global environmental fund (GEF), which is part of united nations development program UNDP

3) The Arab authority for manufacturing

4) The Ministry of environment, Egypt

5) The Ministry of communication and information technology

6) fredrich-ebeirt stiftung

7) Vodafone Egypt

8) The Egyptian American bank

9) The community and institutional development firm (CID)

Hemaya believes that it is the duty of the local community strives to achieve self sustainability through their own work in public service and also to establish NGOs with careful organization in accordance with the plan of the state.