How the Littlest Lamb is Saving Egypt’s Forgotten Children

Egypt is home to approximately 1.7 million orphans, children whose future hinges on the systems that have too often failed them. Adoption and ‘kafala’ come with their own complexities in Egypt, but one home for orphans is changing the very way we think of what they call ‘abandoned children’.

The home in question is The Littlest Lamb in Obour City, which was founded by Mira Riad, who left life in the US to establish the orphanage with the backing of the Ministry of Social Solidarity, after seeing firsthand some of the horrors that orphans face.

Alongside General Manager, Marina Rina, Riad has developed The Littlest Lamb as an escape for these ‘abandoned children’, a place where they are able to rebuild their charges out of some truly horrific situations, be it mental, physical or even sexual abuse.

This is not a simple story of saviours and victims, though. The road to recovery for these kids is often tough. They come with baggage, they come with scars, some of them beyond healing. It’s a challenge that Riyad and Rina understand all too well, one that has no simple answer, no manual.

Since opening its doors and offering a homely, educative and loving environment to Egyptian orphans, they’ve seen progress, they’ve seen a light at the end of the tunnel. They’ve seen that these children, who stand among the most disenfranchised of people in Egypt, can and do have a future, as we found out when we sat down with Riad and Rina for this exclusive, in-depth documentary.