The ‘Nile Day: Voices And Stories’ performance, organised by 350 Egypt on February 22nd in downtown Cairo, was part of 350 Arab World and 350 Africa’s celebration of the annual Nile Day. The performance aimed at creating discussion about the importance of confronting climate change and its impacts on the Nile.

The event included 3 different performances, namely ‘Rubayat El Nil’ or ‘The Nile Quartets’, a shadow puppet show performed by Benha Puppetry Troupe which portrayed the struggles of those who make a living off the land in the Nile Delta in the face of climate change and increasing environmental degradation, followed by a monologue performance based on a real testimony of a woman from the coastal city of Rashid (Rosetta) named “Haja Manga”who tells the story of her drowning village, performed by Mona El-Shimi and Sarah Rifaat and written by Sondos Shabayek.  Afterwards came an improvisational music piece inspired by a John Keat’s poem ‘To The Nile’, performed by Cherif El-Masri. The night concluded with an open discussion with the audience about the issues raised in the performances. 

The Nile river is 6650 km long and covers about 3 million and 349 thousand square kilometers of land, and is thus the longest river in the world. The Nile is also considered a source of life for more than 200 million resident in its basin, who are increasingly threatened by desertification and other disasters aggravated by climate change. The Nile Basin is shared by 11 countries: Burundi, Congo-Kinshasa, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Egypt, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Sudan, South Sudan,Tanzania.

النسخة العربية