In July, we brought our long-term SUSTAIN enterprise, Al Farouq Charity Association, on a study mission to Egypt to exchange with organisations advancing holistic approaches to orphan care alongside wider community development.

Over the years, Al Farouq has evolved from a traditional charity supporting orphans in Irbid into a community-based organisation investing in the long-term wellbeing, dignity, and opportunity of orphans and vulnerable families. Alongside medical support, education, and orphan care, the organisation recently launched the Rakiza Center, expanding its work to include vocational training and pathways to employment.

Throughout the visit, Al Farouq met with organisations exploring different approaches to care, education, and organisational sustainability. At Alfanar alumni enterprise Educate Me Foundation, discussions focused on community-led education, partnerships with government, governance, and building financially sustainable organisations.

The delegation also visited Alfanar alumni enterprise Man Ahyaha to learn how human-centred educational and training programmes are designed around the needs of children and young people. At Sanad for Alternative Parental Care, the focus shifted to strengthening the wider ecosystem surrounding orphan care, exploring responsive support services and collaboration with policymakers, the private sector, and academic institutions.

The study mission concluded with a visit to the Littlest Lamb in Cairo, which provides care for 88 orphaned children while operating an integrated social enterprise, Birdrock Eats. Through its dairy facility, cookie factory, and farm, Birdrock Eats supplies food to the orphanage, sells products in major supermarkets, exports mangoes internationally, and reinvests its profits to provide children with high-quality education.

At Alfanar, we believe that the communities and organisations already working across our region are best placed to solve the challenges we face. Creating opportunities for social entrepreneurs to learn from one another, exchange ideas, and see different approaches firsthand helps strengthen the work already taking place. We are proud to support these exchanges as part of our long-term commitment to the organisations we back.