Ramadan, the Islamic month of  fasting, is said to direct the heart and mind away from worldly activities, but it is also a festival of giving and sharing. Special foods are prepared, gifts for family and friends are bought, and the poor are helped out. There is also a social aspect of Ramadan, best seen in the custom of inviting people for  Iftar, the meal to break the fast just after sunset.

By the end of Ramadan 2008, on Sunday 28th September, a very special Iftar took place in Saida Zeinab, a traditional district of Cairo, close to the venerated mosque where the Prophet Muhammad’s granddaughter is buried. In the sabil of Sultan Mustafa III, an exceptionally diverse group of people gathered to share a meal. They included local artisans and workmen, workers of the charity based in the sabil that helps families of cancer victims, conservators restoring the building, members of the Egyptian antiquities authorities, the staff of the Netherlands-Flemish Institute (NVIC) including its director, and, together with the personnel of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the Dutch Ambassador.

It was the building itself that brought these diverse people together. Built in 1758 as a charity for distributing drinking water and for providing elementary education it was established by the Sultan reigning from Istanbul. It is unique in combining its Ottoman-style architecture with blue-and-white Dutch tiles that decorate the interior.

This unusual manifestation of the varied and meaningful cultural links between Egypt and the Netherlands triggered the interest of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Cairo that resulted in a conservation project affiliated to the NVIC and financed by the Embassy’s Local Cultural Fund. The currently on-going conservation work started in April 2008 and is scheduled to be completed in April 2009.

The Iftar was an opportunity for H.E. Susan Blankhart and other Embassy’s staff to have first-hand experience of the very much needed work that is carried out in the Historic Cairo with the NVIC and funded by the Embassy’s Local Cultural Fund. It was a chance for the conservation team to proudly present their work to the donors, and for the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities officials to meet foreign partners concerned with promoting cultural exchange between Egypt and the Netherlands.

Most importantly, it was a magical evening in the enchanted setting of Historic Cairo, bringing together different people in the spirit of Ramadan, a festival of giving and sharing.

Cairo, October 2008

Agnieszka Dobrowolska, Architect

Director of the Sabil Sultan Mustafa III Conservation Project