Etisalat Misr Starts the implementation of the Origin initiative

In the framework of its corporate social responsibility projects in the first phase of its initiative "Origin" released on last March to counter the water dilemma in seven governorates, Etisalat Egypt Company has announced its latest report on the provision of safe water to beneficiaries in a number of villages of Matai, Minya Governorate, as well as installing and operating the dialysis unit in Matai Public Hospital.

Furthermore, the Company has announced that 152 water connections from the source to 9 villages in the Governorate; Gawada, Matai el-Balad, Abo Aziz, Abbas Rahmi, Kom Matai, Bardnoha, Anani, Tawfiqyia and Dafsh in collaboration with El Khair Community Development Foundation in Matai, are already connected.

The populations of these villages have expressed their extreme happiness on providing safe drinking water to their homes. "The villages' only source of water was the pumps, located in the middle of the residential areas, which provide us with an undrinkable water from the tanks. Such water has facilitated the spread of kidney failure disease among the populations. Now, thanks to the projects funded by Etisalat, we have safe water in our homes which represents a great achievement and we are very grateful to Etisalat for the efforts in improving the health conditions in our village", a beneficiary from the project, Gawada village, said.

"Water was not available in my home, and I used to bring it from neighbors or from the far located pumps, which was a big problem to me. Such water was not fit for drinking as it was very salty and polluted. Furthermore, having clean water was a far-fetched dream due to the very low financial abilities of my family. But now, the water is available in my home and we are enjoying it", a housewife who benefits from the project said.

Etisalat Company also has announced the installation of the kidney dialysis unit in Matai Public Hospital. "The hospital was in great need for a new dialysis unit due to the increasing number of kidney failure cases in Matai as a result of pump water pollution. The great increase in numbers resulted in a shortage in the dialysis units and increased the waiting lists amongst patients" Ahmed Yassin, the renal dialysis unit supervisor said. "The hospital bears a heavy burden due to the increasing number of patients every day, we carry out 250 treatment sessions per month", he added.

"After operating the unit, the patients' waiting lists is likely to be eliminated, and the number of beneficiaries from the dialysis sessions, which are provided at no cost by the hospital to patients, will increase" he asserted.

Dr. Ahmed Yassin has called upon the other companies to follow the example of Etisalat Misr’s “originâ€‌ initiative in order to counter water dilemmas in Egypt once and for all.

Its worth mentioning that Etisalat has announced, in the press conference held last March, the four main components of its imitative; providing safe drinking water; purifying water; managing water irrigation projects and treating kidney failure.

Etisalat has announced the commencement of the first phase of its initiative in a plan aimed at countering the water dilemma. The initiative is in partnership with the giant international organization "Care" as well as renowned Egyptian NGOs like "Resala" and the "Egyptian Society for integrated development", under the supervision of the governmental authorities, to utilize the experiences gained by these organizations in the field of development and, specifically, water projects.

27/6/2009