The following narratives introduce individuals who are detained in refugee camps. They are in desperate need of the La Casa Futura project currently underway by Voice of the Copts. Egyptian youths have been uprooted and displaced for various reasons all related to religious persecution. Names have been changed to protect identities. Narratives are based on true accounts of actual events.
Final High School National test.
Alice had straight A’s in school and was an excellent test-taker. Upon completion of secondary school she prepared to take the national placement exam to determine her university program and future career. Her hard work and scholastic excellence now hinged on how well she would perform on this test. With good reason, her family and teachers expected her to score among the highest of the 675,000 exams submitted.
Alice failed the test with “zero” grades across every discipline, more than fifteen separate tests. As a matter of course, she had discussed every one of her test answers with her teachers and trusted older brother after completing each test. Her answers were perfect. In disbelief, Alice and others began to ask if the score belonged to her or to another student in error.
The procedure in place by the testing authorities of the Governor of Education Ministry ensures fairness in grading by a number system that provides anonymity. After a student is issued a number for an assigned seat she or he is provided a test booklet with the same number. The booklet is then labeled with the student’s name and address.
The booklet passes next to the department where it is individually handled to remove the name label and seating number in order to separate the identity of the owner from the test booklet. The handlers place a new number in the booklet corresponding to the seating number and name label. At the end of the process, the new number is matched to the original name, number and booklet grades.
Alice’s intelligence was the target of test handlers that make large sums of money trading low test scores for the highest ones. A bottom performer would now be credentialed with Alice’s scores for entry into the highest academic level in the profession of his or her choice. Alice was educated in private Christian schools in a Coptic community where industriousness and the corresponding rewards are always up for grabs by trolls who prey upon the minority community.
This crime caused Alice to repeat her final year of high school and test again the following year because that’s what students do when they fail. Her original goal was to major in medicine like her older brother, but in the end she had to settle for pharmacology. Meanwhile, the justice system would not investigate her claim of fraud against the testing authorities. Authorities refused to produce her test booklet as evidence when she contested the grades.
Alice’s younger brother Meina wanted to avoid the same problem when his time came up to compete for university placement since his academic record was also stellar. As hard as any person works or succeeds is inconsequential when the deck is stacked against you. As members of the wrong group an obstacle course of offences assails you, some very dangerous, and will always ensure that you have limited success in your own country.
Meina made the radical decision to leave Egypt. He would forge his future in a place that offered equality of opportunity. Competing fairly and honestly was part of his culture, and he wanted to live that way.
Meina is caught in between two countries now living in a refugee camp. He is certain he did the right thing but doesn’t quite know what is next. He has heard circulating through his refugee community that a place call La Casa Futura located north of his camp will transition him into the new culture and set him on a path for success.
Meina needs our help. The La Casa Futura project is the only concrete solution for Meina on his journey to achieve his goals. But as we seek to secure the La Casa Futura program for Meina and others like him, we really need your help.
Donating $5, 10, 20, 50, 100 or more to this valuable project will make a world of difference for Meina and others like him. Please donate today to save the futures of those who have no choice but to set upon their paths without family or country. Thank you.
La Casa Futura project currently consists of one dormitory building providing help for up to 100 youths per session. Each session provides language learning, job direction, and cultural understanding. LCF is in its initial stage of development as we seek financial backers and matching funds for individual donations.