Children at Cairo's popular market celebrate Mother's Day. (March 2006) (Photo by Steven Bagshaw/UN Volunteers)UNV Volunteer Nashwa Salah (right) talks to 16-year old Nora Sabre during a seminar about early marriage in the Cairo suburb of Manshiet Naser. (March 2006). (Photo by Steven Bagshaw/UN Volunteers)

While visiting, I was also given the opportunity to see some of the activities of UNV and other volunteers in Cairo. This was a fantastic experience for me, as I had never been to Egypt before, and I got to see a side of the country and the people I could never have imagined visiting as a tourist or just a “computer guy”. In the end, I wrote a couple of stories and took some photos that appeared in the 2005/6 UNV annual report.

There were lots of memorable visits. The particular standout for me was visiting the suburb of Manshiet Naser, where a seminar by volunteers on early marriage was being held for 12-13 year old girls from the neighbourhood. Although the foreigner walking around taking photos with a very large camera was a massive distraction, I could see the passion with which some of the young participants were discussing the issue.

Another highlight was the hospitality shown by national UNV Khaled Hammad and UNV Programme Officer Eva Otero while visiting Cairo. I’d love to come back one day and I hope this website – which I have helped to develop – will allow me to keep in touch with how volunteers are working to improve their own communities throughout Egypt.