Imagine being told you can not return to school until you have 1000 pounds ($US 128). Imagine you’re just eight-years-old. Moaaz was discovered by journalist Mohamed Ragab on the steps of a metro station near Cairo University. In a turquoise and yellow ‘Spongebob Squarepants’ jacket, Moaaz shows a diverse sample of his sketches to the journalist. “Do you sell these drawings?” asks Ragab to the young, wide-eyed boy. “Yes…for five pounds,” answers Moaaz with a smile. “I only sold three [drawings] today.” “Do you sell anything else?” continues Ragab. “Napkins,” says Moaz, pointing to a few packets next to his sketchbook. Curious, Ragab asks whether Moaz goes to school. “I used to go,” says Moaz with a hint of sadness. “I was staying with my [paternal] grandmother and then went to my father. He didn’t wake me up for school or give me any pocket money. I stayed a long time there.” “Then I went back to my grandmother and she tried to get me back to school but they said I was too late and have to pay 1000 pounds because the [school] year has already started,” says Moaz who should have…
Eight-Year-Old Child Cannot Go to School so He Sells His Drawings on the Stairs of a Cairo Metro
December 31, 2015
