June – December 2015; funded by UNHCR in collaboration with Terre des Hommes.

Over a span of seven months, trips and art activities for 200 Syrian and Egyptian school children in historic sites in Cairo celebrated the values of diversity and acceptance and alleviated estrangement by emphasising historic links between Egypt and Syria. Through visual and performance art events, Syrians and Egyptians were brought together from four institutions and one network operating in three different districts in Cairo thus facilitating networking, cooperation, and pooling of resources between CSOs. Fus-ha themes:

• Play: History of play and board games.
• Travel: Benefits of travel through an interactive game focusing on cities and their history in the Islamic period.
• Family: Meaning of family through two sub-themes: storytellers and builders.

Children were introduced to the themes through games and activities that linked them to the history of these sites.  All programs started with visits to Ibn Tulun Mosque and the adjoining Gayer Anderson Museum.

• The Family home was introduced through studying how the traditional house of Bayt al-Kritliyya functioned and the meaning of family discussed through stories of families as diverse as the Kritliyya.Watch the Fus-ha Family theme video here.
• The Play theme was introduced through games such as a treasure hunt for pieces of a jigsaw that tells the story of Ibn Tulun Mosque when put together. Watch the Play theme video here.
• Travel was discussed through a game linking objects from the Gayer Anderson collection to the rest of the world. Watch the Fus-ha Travel theme video here.

To find out more about the project click here.