No Child Should Have To Live Like This.

It all happened on way to the fish market in Egypt, I fell in love, not in your typical holiday romance way, it started with a half-eaten sandwich I was holding. He wanted the sandwich, so I gave it to him as I was looking for a bin to throw it in and he gave me the biggest hug like I had given him the crown jewels. He followed me to the fish market, hiding behind the stalls when I turned around he would give me a cheeky grin, this is how I met Zeyad an adorable homeless kid.

Not being able to communicate he took my hand and led me to the second floor of an abandoned building, where he lives, he sleeps with his father on a two-seater couch, a bag of clothes and surrounded by rubble, he seemed to take great joy in showing me his humble abode, I, on the other hand, was horrified.

So, I took them to the Marina, the little man had the best time and so did I, I gave him Coca-Cola and took him on a kids train ride, let him watch spiderman on my phone, he was in heaven and so it began I returned every day found him at the abandoned building and took him to the Marina.

I later found out that Zeyad’s mother had died four months earlier from a drug overdose, I think the reason why he was drawn to me was I have greeny yellow eyes and so had his mother, very rare in Egypt, I have now seen a photo of her, and I look similar.

I had extended my time in Hurghada at this stage and decided that I must travel on and stick to my travel plans, I did consider taking him with me as his dad had said "take him", but was not keen on the idea of ending up in an Egyptian prison on kidnapping charges if he changed his mind, so I left him in Hurghada, he cried I cried.

As I travelled Egypt sticking to my Itinerary, he was constantly in my thoughts. No one has made such a great impact on me like this little boy, I decided to return to Hurghada, found him in his abandoned building, got him some new clothes, set him up with a Facebook account so he can always contact me, which he does nearly every day. I was going to book my holidays from work to see him again, but Egypt has gone on the Red List which is why I am asking for help.

The main objective of this project is to get Zeyad a roof over his head, security and long term stability, the second focus will be getting him an Education. I want to adopt him permanently which involves me going to Egypt to live, I have thought long and hard about this matter and taking him away from his culture, country and surroundings is not what I want to do. I can work remotely and am prepared to do this, so as you can see I am not going into it lightly. 

All support will be greatly helped. 

Thank you in advance