El Alsson Senior Students Helping Local Community

Over many years, whilst El Alsson has been involved with community work in orphanages, with ‘Operation Smile’ (an international charity which provides medical care for patients with cleft lip or cleft palate),ACE (Animal Care in Egypt,which is a primarily a clinic in Luxor that treats animals and raises awareness about animal abuse), the students have not got involved with the‘local’ community, around the immediate perimeter of the school.

Since the end of last year, a group of El Alsson students, led by Ms Julie Clarke, have been feeding the dogs outside the school gate, as part of a Worldwide Society for the Protection of Animals project studying the control of stray animals. Healthier dogs keep other strays away, as they develop an identity with the local area and want to protect it. We also have a veterinarian who is helping out by vaccinating these dogs around our school against rabies and other diseases and neutering them to prevent them over-breeding.

Our visits resulted in many different things, not just keeping the dogs fed. Our interaction with the local villagers has shown them that the animals that live amongst them are absolutely harmless, loving, and just need a bit of care and attention from the people around them. This created a friendlier atmosphere around the school because both the locals and animals have created a bond as a result of them realising that they are no harm to each other.

So the question that instantly pops up is: “Why help the animals first, before the people?”. Helping these animals has actually been the beginning of a chain of events, opening up so many other paths and ways of helping people from the different communities beside the school.

Our visits have been a starting point for us and other Alssonians to become aware of how the less fortunate are living, and so be more responsible, considerate, giving, and thankful. When we were out with the dogs, and standing with the local villagers, one of our students (Zein Selim) noticed that a young girl from the area had stapled, instead of sewn, seams on her dress. The word spread quickly around the school, and to help, we brought in clothes and other resources and gave them out as a way to improve the living conditions of these local villagers around our school. Now, some of our Sixth Form students are even giving English lessons every week to the village children.

Not only have we got to know the locals, they’ve got to know us as people. We are from  different social classes and have had preconceived ideas about each other. Now we all know that we are just ordinary people who want the same things-friendship, love, laughter and respect.

We take pride in the charity work that we are achieving, because it has opened our eyes to things we have never thought of before and made us realise that we are all the same, no matter which community or class we are from.

Farida El Sherbiny (Y10B), FatmaHalawa (Y10D) and Zeina Adawy (Y10B).

MUMPS Awareness Letter

Dear Parents,
As there have been talks about mumps in the papers and TV, we thought it would be useful to share information about it with you.
Mumps occurs worldwide, but its incidence has declined dramatically because of the mumps component of the MMR vaccine. Following the decrease in the uptake of the MMR immunisation, there has been a rise in the unimmunised children and unvaccinated young adults. Mumps usually occurs in winter and spring months. It is caused by a virus that is passed from one person to another through saliva, nasal secretions, and close personal contact.
The condition primarily affects the parotid glands before further dissemination to the other tissues.
Symptoms of mumps usually appear within two weeks of exposure to the virus. Flu-like symptoms may be the first to appear, including:

  • fatigue
  • body aches
  • headache
  • loss of appetite
  • low-grade fever

A high fever (up to 39.5°C) and swelling of the salivary glands follow over the next few days. The glands may not all swell at once. More commonly, they swell and become painful periodically. You are most contagious from the time you are exposed to the mumps virus until your parotid glands swell.
Only one side may be swollen initially, but bilateral involvement usually occurs over the next few days.
Parotitis is uncomfortable and children may complain of earache or pain on eating or drinking.
The fever usually disappears within 3-4 days, if associated with abdominal pain, may be evidence of pancreatic involvement.
Illness is generally mild and self-limiting; though hearing loss can follow mumps, usually unilateral and transient.
Complications from mumps are rare, but can be serious if left untreated.
Mumps mostly affects the parotid glands. However, it can also cause inflammation in other areas of the body, including the brain and reproductive organs.

  • Orchitis, Oophritis
  • Meningitis
  • Encephalitis
  • Pancreatitis

Mumps can be prevented through vaccination. Most infants and children receive a vaccine for measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) at the same time. The first MMR shot is generally given between the ages of 12 and 15 months at a routine well-child visit. A second vaccination is required for school-aged children between 4 and 6 years old.
NB. The recent controversy regarding a possible association between MMR vaccination and autism and inflammatory bowel disease has been disccreted, but adversely affected uptake of the vaccine and public confidence in the immunization programme.
However, patients who have a compromised immune system, who are allergic to gelatin or neomycin, or who are pregnant, should not receive the MMR vaccine. Children with a history of anaphylaxis to egg should be immunized with the vaccine under medical supervision.
(www.mmrthefacts.nhs.uk)

Dr Sally
Medical Consultant
El Alsson School

School Uniform NOW on-line!

Now you can buy the school uniform on-line!

Dear Parents,
As part of our efforts to continuously improve and innovate services for our parents, we are proud to be the first school in Cairo to launch the ‘Online Uniform Service ’.
Now you can order all the summer and winter uniforms on-line from the comfort of your home and have it delivered to you the same day. El Alsson has partnered up with ‘Kids Avenues’ who are market leaders for online products.
You can order via the link on El Alsson website or go directly to Kids Avenues at  www.kidsavenues.com
 The uniform shop in Mohandeseen will continue to function as normal for those of you who opt to go there.

Best wishes
Directors.