“She was the first child I saw, and I knew from the first time I laid my eyes on her that she was my daughter. She enlightened our lives and filled them with joy, love, and true happiness.” I am Basma, 37 years old, English teacher, married since 2009. I didn't think for a moment that I wouldn't have children, but after the marriage, and after spending more than 10 years on doctors and operations that drained almost all of our psychological and physical energy, I decided that enough was enough. Although our son Ibrahim was taken care of by my husband and I for a long time in one of the orphanages, I have never thought about kafala. Until one of my neighbors approached me about her desire for kafala, even though she had children. She introduced me to the kafala pages, and here I entered this beautiful world of kafala and felt that it was a message from God to me. I started reading stories and communicating with some of the families until we were finally able to make the decision. It was a hard decision. We went though it despite how those around us tried to intimidate us. Sponsorship is an energy of light and life for anyone, a light in the midst of darkness, a life you give to a child and a life that he gives to you. A beautiful child who enlightened our lives and our hearts after years of patience. There was no life before Habiba at all. My daughter deserves all the good things in the world. My family and I will provide her with the best life we can. Ghalia now has her own family forever. You have enlightened our lives, Ghalia.

I was afraid to go to any baby shower and bless any child born in the family, for the fear of people’s looks at me or their fear of envy, because I am sterile and have been married for 10 years without children. I was dreaming of having a child to fill my life with joy and warmth. One time, I saw a woman sitting with her young son, feeding and playing with him. I was distracted by them and imagined that one day I might have this same feeling. I made many proposals to my husband that he would get married and leave and have children, but he always refused. One day, my husband’s relative went for a kafala of a beautiful daughter, God bless her. The first time I saw her, my heart ached, and the tears fell down my face. Since then, I stopped eating, and I spent an entire week, thinking of kafala, until one day I submitted an application without having any expectations. Unexpectedly in the same week, the Ministry of Social Solidarity called me and asked me to prepare my papers. I was extremely thrilled, but unfortunately my husband refused the idea. I kept nagging about it until he agreed and told me to ask for the family’s opinion. I presented the idea to my mother-in-law, but she also refused and told me that it was a huge responsibility. I convinced her and she agreed. I believe that this is my destiny and God’s will. Thanks to God, the process was very easy and I received my son, Mustafa when he was 10 months old, and now, God bless him, he is 3 years old, and all those who refused were the people who were most attached and loved him very much.

My story with sponsorship began more than seven years ago, when Muhammad and I sponsored our only son, Mustafa. When I was young, I dreamed of having many children, but I couldn’t because I discovered that I had endometriosis, which is a chronic disease that makes pregnancy rates very low. I got married and traveled to America, changed my career from tourism, and directed my interest and studies to children, and then opened a nursery. I did not lose hope in becoming a mother and entered the cycle of artificial insemination for 20 years. I tried it 4 times. This period consumed me financially and psychologically and ended up with my divorce in 2004, so that I could begin a new chapter in my life after that. In 2012, my life changed 180 degrees after I met Muhammad al-Iraqi and we got married. Although he has two daughters from a previous marriage, I did not object at all to the idea of kafala, which I learned about from my friend’s sister by chance. He knew that my whole life was for children, and that I had never forgotten my dream of being a mother. With him, I started looking around and asking to find out everything about kafala in Egypt. It took us a whole year to finish the papers and procedures, and finally it became possible for us to do kafala a child. I was terrified and asked myself a lot, I wonder if I can be responsible? Will I be able to raise a child and play with him when I am 45 years old? Should I continue on my own and not pursue the dream of motherhood? In the end, Muhammad's encouragement and my desire to be a mother won, and we began to go around the orphanages to choose our son. At first, I was dreaming that we would have a beautiful girl who would look like me and Muhammad. Over the past years, I had been collecting girls’ clothes in the hope that God would honor me. I was looking for a girl in FACE Maadi. I thought that I would be overwhelmed the first time I saw her, but that did not happen. I saw a girl who looked like us. I decided to wait when I found out that there was a girl and a boy coming tomorrow. I decided that I would come again tomorrow to see the girl, but when I saw her, unfortunately, she appeared blonde and her eyes were blue, not like us at all. For a moment, I lost hope that I would find the child I dreamed of, but the surprise was when I looked at the boy with his eyes wide open. My heart skipped a beat, and I knew that this was my son. I kept carrying him for five hours, feeding him and changing his diapers. I was afraid someone else would take him, and I remained behind them until they changed the baby’s name instead of the girl I was settled on . When I told my husband, my family, and my friends that I had chosen a boy, no one believed me. They all knew that I was having a girl, but this is what happened. My son, Mustafa was my beautiful destiny. I wanted to live the full experience of motherhood. I started an artificial breastfeeding course. When we took Mustafa home, my life was complete. Finally, I had the one thing I ever wanted. When Mustafa entered my life, my life was complete with his presence. Even though I gained weight and my fear and anxiety increased for him and his future, I was happy with the experience, and I knew that kafala is not easy, but it is worth it. All the time looking at his face, I smile and wonder to myself, what did I do to deserve this amazing gift?. After 4 months, we traveled to America again, carrying with us the newest member of our small family. We had to go through other procedures because Mustafa’s papers are not done yet. I believe in complete honesty, and that is why I share my experience with all people in the family, at work, and on social media. That is why I created the page “Sponsor a child in your home, adoption story in Egypt” Things escalated and we have a website about all you need to know about kafala in English and Arabic too. Not only that, we also formed a non-profit organization called Yalla Kafala in California and in Egypt. People started getting aware of kafala. This is not just a story of Rasha and an ordinary page on Facebook, we became a large team of volunteers who helped with whatever they could to deliver the idea. We help more children and families live the dream of motherhood. Mustafa himself wishes that we have other children, and if I had known about kafala early on, I would have more children. That’s why people in Egypt need to have greater awareness about the issue in order to help more children, and this is what we are trying to do now through Yalla Kafala.