Taxis stop near the unguarded building fence only a few meters away from a gate, which is bolted with a metal chain. A large sign hangs over the main gate but goes unnoticed, as taxis and tuk tuks are lined up in front of it an orderly fashion, indicating that something links the vehicles to this place. From time to time, a passenger gets out of one of the cars, quietly approaches the fence, stops for a short while and then leaves. Just behind the fence, a group of young men gather underneath a large umbrella.

Taxis stop near the unguarded building fence only a few meters away from a gate, which is bolted with a metal chain. A large sign hangs over the main gate but goes unnoticed, as taxis and tuk tuks are lined up in front of it an orderly fashion, indicating that something links the vehicles to this place. From time to time, a passenger gets out of one of the cars, quietly approaches the fence, stops for a short while and then leaves. Just behind the fence, a group of young men gather underneath a large umbrella.

The scene takes place in front of an orphanage in 6^th of October City in Giza Governorate. Orphans living there run ‘the wheel’ – the term used to describe the place where all kinds of drugs like cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy— are sold.

Over 27 orphanages exist in 6^th of October city, all under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS). Parallel to the January 2011 revolution, residents in three orphanages started a rebellion against their boards of directors, seized control and took over all administrative aspects, including educational issues and receiving and storing subsidized foodstuff. 

It all started in the ‘Laylet al-Qader’ Orphanage whose name has been linked to political riots. Some of its orphans were engaged in dispersing demonstrations, and they established the first wheel in the city. The phenomenon then spread to two other orphanages— Ameen and Umm al-Qura.

The MoSS still pays follow-up visits to these orphanages although one orphan says the last visit was four months ago. “Nothing happened. They know what is going on here, and they do nothing.”

Safe trafficking

Sayed, a resident of 6^th of October City, expressed resentment over the fact that some of those who run the wheels are only kids. “They had a good chance to start a new life, but they became heroes of stories that are mostly tragic. There are many stories of orphans losing huge amounts of money and going back to live in the orphanage, or getting away from the ‘care’ umbrella to live in a relatively faraway place only to return, preferring this safe trafficking,” said Sayed.

The beginning

Located in the tenth quarter, the Umm al-Qura orphanage is inhabited by 80 young men aged 16+ . They never leave the place. There is only one supervisor but he does not come to the orphanage. The only person who is always present is ‘B’ – the assistant supervisor who preferred anonymity. B is a student in the Faculty of Commerce at Ain Shams University, and he maintains good relationships with the residents, since he is one of them—they have all been raised together there.

“After the revolution, it was said that orphans were being used to cause problems and disperse demonstrations, but that did not happen at our orphanage. Things were quiet within the orphanage before the revolution; residents would regularly attend school until they were 21 – the age they leave the orphanage. However, sometimes some students did not do well in school, so they stay longer,” says B.

The orphanage was established by a woman interested in charity, but with the tight budget and scarcity of donations, she ended up running two orphanages; one for males and the other for females. A basic policy was that study was just till the end of middle school within the orphanage while allocating bank accounts for residents. When a resident became an adult, they would be placed in apartments. Suddenly, however, apartments were no longer available. “Ownership documents of the apartments suddenly disappeared,” says B. “Thus, many residents have officially received their documents to leave the orphanage, but they are still living here pending getting their apartments.”

With the spread of stories about delinquent orphans in the city, donations decreased and many orphans dropped out of school. Only four out of the 80 residents are pursuing university study. “The kids did not find another way, so they started distributing drugs to make money, especially since the budget has dropped since the revolution from L.E. 7,000 to 5,000,” says B justifying drug trafficking.

The wheel is entirely supervised by older orphans. “Only 20 residents work in drug trafficking. We have not faced any security harassment, but people exaggerate the issue. Since 2012, drugs have been distributed with no problems,” says B, stressing that the orphans have not turned into bandits or annoyed city residents. “Trafficking only takes places within the orphanage,” Sayed insisted.