N.I.L.E. Journeys

With over 22 years of experience in community building, sustainability and peaceful conflict transformation. I founded the Nile Forum (recently rebranded as the N.I.L.E. Journeys), a platform where Nile people can engage in meaningful dialogue to improve understanding between each other and to transform the regional dynamics towards positive peace, through regenerative actions and trans-local collaboration. .

My career has been about making dreams for peace actionable; I created the first initiative in Egypt for ‘the culture of peace’ called Misriyati in 2003, co-founded of a political party, established World Fair Trade Organization office in West Africa, co-created Nahdet el Mahrousa the first project incubator in Egypt and was the director for Africa in AIESEC International the largest youth exchange organization worldwide.  

I hold an MSc in Environment and Development from the University of Edinburgh and I’m currently pursuing a PhD in Integral Design for community development.

The problem we are addressing is the dormant conflict around the scarce Nile waters. Technical collaborative solutions exist but are not implemented, because they require trust. Building trust necessitates shared understanding and dialogue across all societal segments; this is not the case in the Nile Basin. There is not one single platform for dialogue between Nile citizens.

The project idea is of a citizens’ platform that allows people and their communities from the 11 Nile countries to interact and regenerate the ecosystems and the social systems of the bio-region.

Humanity was born on the banks of this majestic river. The Nile is one of the cradles of human civilization. Today 1 in 4 Africans calls the Nile basin home. If we, around the Nile, model collaboration and reconnection to the soil of our very existence, we can elevate the human consciousness from worldviews scarcity and separation to abundance and connection.  

The Nile dynamics are extremely complex to put it as ‘one problem’. Shared by 11 countries, the Nile has the largest number of riparian countries world-wide. It is home to nearly 500 million people, 40% of Africa’s population; 257 million depend directly on the Nile.

The long-standing problem is water scarcity; for agriculture, livelihood and energy. Hydro-logically, the Nile is the world’s longest river with 6,695 km long and basin area of 3.2 million km2. With an annual discharge of 84 billion cubic meters, the Nile has less water flow than many shorter rivers like the Danube, the Indus, the Mekong and the Mississippi. With rugged topography, the Nile evaporation rate is highly vulnerable to climate change.

There is an overwhelming consensus among experts and academia that the solution is to collaboratively ensure integrated river basin management. However, with the accumulative historical baggage and trauma, the issue of cooperation is non-existent because of lack of trust.

To date, solutions presented to the Nile Conflict are confined to hydro-logical aspects, therefore they either failed, reached stalemate, or reached minor unsustainable success. Only by addressing trust building, will an integrated river basin management be possible. 

Nurturing Impulses For Living Ecosystems (N.I.L.E.) Journeys, intervenes at the deep-rooted causes of inter-community and trans-boundary mistrust in the region. We do that on two levels: the local community and the trans-boundary. These combined two interventions will create systemic transformation.

First, on the community level, we work through local communities across the Nile. We equip those hubs with skills, equipment and tools to become spaces for dialogue and healing on the local level. These community hubs collectively serve as the “acupuncture points” that will enable ripple effects for the whole body of the Nile Basin to heal.

Second, on the trans-boundary level, we are creating spaces for interaction, exchange and dialogue virtually and physically (face to face):

• A virtual platform is being currently developed, to enable the Nile citizens to know about each other and have a forum to exchange, which aims at a paradigm shift in the way we look at each other in the region.
• On the physical level, we create spaces for face to face interaction, like camps, gatherings and workshops that will foster dialogue and seed for collaborative projects; this will elevate the level of mutual understanding and will increase cooperation among the Nile communities. 

The project currently serves 5 community hubs in 3 different countries of the Nile. We are also in contact with 3 hubs in probation phase 3 other countries. The communities needs differ from one another but the key elements of their needs are spaces for healing of trauma and community building. The well-being of these communities really depend on how they heal from their pas experience. We engage with each of those hubs in a probing period of a year to visit them and identify their needs and also for them to know how our vision resonate with them. The project invests in upgrading their infrastructure, livelihood, skills and capacities to be inspiration spaces for healing and dialogue in their localities. 

The main other group we are serving are people interested in connecting with people form other countries, even if this is manifested in a sort of a release of anger. Their needs are to be acknowledged, understood and to tell their story. We are creating the online platform specifically for these stories to be told and shared. We are trained to facilitate dialogue so that we can create a safe space for people to share these stories. 

The separation and lack of trust that characterize relationships among the Nile countries are shaped by historically-based assumptions that haven't yet been healed. These assumptions are the lenses by which each society looks at ‘the other’ Nile countries. By healing these trauma through dialogue and raising awareness about each other in the Nile basin, we aspire to change people’s attitude and create more collaboration initiatives. Doing so on the grass-roots level, we hope to create a model that can inspire economists, politicians, media and decision makers to follow through and create a ripple effect in the Nile basin. 

Growing at the Nile river banks and connecting with the nature of the Nile through my studies in environment and development, as well as with my background in dialogue facilitation and conflict resolution, the idea of this project combined all my passion and expertise areas.

I started working on the idea concretely in 2013 by writing a concept note on how to address the Nile basin conflict; it turned out to be also the basis of my PhD proposal and the first proposal for during for this project. But even before that date, whenever I was in a conference or event or when I was meeting someone that I saw could have a potential interest in the idea, I kept a spreadsheet where I was putting these names.

I referred to this list when inviting people to the first seed camp that launched the idea in April 2016. This date was the date when 45 people from across the Nile Basin were invited to have the idea of the Nile Forum be presented to them. On September 2017 we got our first official registration of the Nile Forum, and finally in June 2018 we got the approval for core funding.

This project is the culmination of all my life experiences and a manifestation of my calling in life.

I am passionate about connecting people across Africa since my early age. Simply, because the Nile, the African soil and continent are my reasons for living.

My calling in life is to enable people in Africa and particularly Egyptians to excavate the roots of their “Africanity”. I believe that Africa holds the solution for human problems and holds keys to heal traumas of humanity.

This project requires a lot of understanding of the local context across the Nile countries. I have been raised in one of those countries, speak fluently three languages spoken in the region and have traveled and lived in almost all countries of the region and across Africa (22 countries of the 54 African countries). 

I am an Art of Hosting dialogue practitioner (a school of thought in dialogue facilitation) and I am certified in conflict resolution and mediation. I have been practicing dialogue facilitation and conflict mediation for nearly 15 years. This is an essential background to have. 

I have manifested previously leadership skills with teams I worked with. One leadership award in AIESEC (Largest youth exchange organization), president of AIESEC Egypt and Director of AIESEC International. In addition to being an Ashoka affiliate is a strong indication of my capacity to lead and manage teams. 

My PhD that I am currently pursuing is on the same subject addressed by the project. This means that I have the awareness and academic background to understand the dynamics of the region. 

There were many adverse situations that were faced in this project. Actually until today. 

Addressing the Nile issue by default is of high concern because the matter of Nile water is a national security in many Nile countries. We live it by the day, from having to report to the intelligence when we hosted the first gathering in Egypt to trying to register the entity in its baby steps. We ended up registering in Belgium as a temporary solution, then we are now opening offices in Egypt, Kenya and Ethiopia one by one. We still need to be very watchful for the agitated political climate as the risks can be detrimental not only to personal security but sometimes to lives, if it exacerbates. 

Finding funding that work with this bio-region that is not fitting the development organizations funding schemes is problematic. This problem is compounded with a team across different nations and the transfer of salaries and legal contracts are always an issue. We will overcome that by creating regional offices and employing as much as possible locals in each of those offices. 

There are more issue and more details that I can happily share with more space and words. 

The one I would choose is actually the way things were handled in this project. In highly militarized societies, imagining and dreaming of an unprecedented endeavor that transcends the reality of the very core subject that is securitized requires strong leadership. 

Leadership in overcoming challenges; from strategic ones of high risk working on Nile water, to finding a way to set up an entity in environments where it is literally impossible to have a legal set-up. The was daring to dream and envision the impossible. 

Managing to deal with taboo subject in almost most of the Nile countries, fundraising for a region that is not officially recognized, communicating the idea to communities with the time and effort that this takes; Today we have partners and projects in place in 6 community hubs. Leadership in tactical awareness. How today the team turned to be a system capable to see itself. Managing all of that and surviving strong are signs of leadership. 

First of all, there is no other citizens’ network or platform in the Nile Basin that is not political or affiliated to a political entity. It is the first platform for citizens’ dialogue in the Nile region, by default this is unique enough.

Second, it is a completely grassroot, citizens’ initiative. It takes the connection through the Nile in its pure sense, without any associated political or stereotypical preconceptions, which makes it disruptive as any issue addressing the Nile on a trans-boundary level is either from purely political or hydrological solutions put forward, but never grassroot or civil society dimensions are integrated in its full sense. We call our connection is trans-local as opposed to trans-national, to emphasize the community aspect of this connection.

Third, it is founded on the principles of ‘biomimicry’ meaning the observation of nature -here the Nile- and developing the principles and mode of operation inside the organization and with partners in a way that resembles and mimics the Nile flow. This approach is founded on the deep ecology principles put forward by Joanna Macy and the permaculture of Bill Mollison and David Holmgren. This makes the entity grounded and rooted in the ecological and cultural heritage of the whole Nile region, without being fixated on anthropogenic drawn borders.

Finally, our approach of co-creation brings people and communities together and facilitates the connection based on their needs, and not based on pre-determined agenda; this is disruptive because not many organizations are trained to work with emergence.

Our Theory of change is inspired by the theory U, a theory put by Otto Scharmer and the Ubuntu Lab through the precensing institute of MIT. We flow with the U through a series of guiding principles represented below:

We start by connecting and being with the land, to understand the wisdom of the sacredness of life and the wisdom of our ancestors. This will allow the collective to witness the subtle and hear the voices and signals form the land that holds us together, here the river Nile. When the subtle is surfaced, we are able to listen loudly with an open mind and heart. We allow ourselves to engage in authentic relationships with each other and our surrounding. We are present to what is and approach each other and life with curiosity and humbleness. It is then that we can celebrating diversity; we embrace the African concept of Ubuntu: the belief in a deep universal bond of sharing that connects all beings.

With this diversity we cultivating deep trust, which is the defining moment of transformation in the Nile region. We realize then that our human soil is rich in stories and experiences, so we illuminate multiple stories that shaped the history and heritage of a land, a person a community or an entire ecosystem. This allows us to gain multiple perspectives, also being mindful of what we might not be aware of.

Connecting trans-locally by weaving across existing and perceived boundaries we strengthen our shared resilience and enable new narratives to emerge and new stories to be lived. We reconnect with each other and come into our shared humanity. Transitioning collectively we believe that the challenges we face can only be met with joint efforts. In order to transition regeneratively together we enable each other to be present, hold space for healing to emerge, welcoming the not knowing and tap into our collective wisdom.

Our project currently serves in 2020 (Around 290 people)

• Staff: 5
• Consultants/part-time: 10
• Volunteers: 0
• Community Hubs coordinators: 5
• Community Hubs members: 250
• Online space: 0
• Face to face spaces: 20

Our project will serve in 2021 (Around 20,640 people)

• Staff 8 (in two different offices)
• Consultants/part-time: 12
• Volunteers: 6 to 12
• Community Hubs coordinators: 8
• Community Hubs members: 500
• Online space: 20,000
• Face to face spaces: 100

Our project will serve in 2026 (Around 211,115 people)

• Staff 25 (in four different offices)
• Consultants/part-time: 15
• Volunteers: 100
• Community Hubs coordinators: 15
• Community Hubs members: 1000
• Online space: 200,000
• Face to face spaces: 10,000 

2021:

1. Establish an office in Egypt. 

2. Launch the online platform. 

3. Finalize the dialogue spaces of three community hubs.

4. Implement the project of Permaculture Across the Nile with three different hubs. 

5. Develop a strong Community Hubs model and recruit 2 new hubs. 

2026:

1. Establish 3 offices across the Nile Basin. 

2. At least 15 Community Hubs (CH), active dialogue spaces reaching to at least  presence and representation of the NJ in all 11 countries (CH or other), at least 1 active project per CH, at least 10 collaborative initiatives between CH, at least 1 monthly online exchange space available for CH who need it.

3. Create and curate publications that illuminates the indigenous knowledge, and addresses the regional (Nile and Africa) dynamics : at least 5 articles, 2 books, one game, monthly blog stories, one practice guide, a set of learning curiculas

4. To have 7 main contributors creating and curating content of online platform, Content available in 3 languages, a strong database of information about the Nile, indigenous knowledge and regenerative practices, 2000 + subscribers and 200,000 followers.

5. 2 yearly dialogue project projects in one of the following areas: Youth exchange program, Culture and art, Trans-local research, Diversity Dialogue and conflict transcendence, Water innovation,land regeneration. With an outreach of 10,000 people from face to face dialogue activities. 

6. 2 products that promote better understanding of the Nile region and enhance the connection among societies in the region are sold across Africa and worldwide. 

1. Lack of awareness of conversations happening within the NILE Basin (issues of relevance at local and trans-regional level)

2. Securitization of the Nile water issues. 

3. Wide instability and turmoil in the region – it both invites dialogue and can hinder it.

4. Political and government interference in hubs.

5. Securitization of dialogue. Dialogue is a taboo word – impact on ability to operate.

6. COVID-19 in terms of travel, f2f meetings, possibly funding due to global economic crisis. 

7. Fundraising and financial resources acquisition. We are not officially present where the sources of grants are allocated. 

8. Connectivity and electricity very variable – impact on online spaces. Daily impacts.

9. Dominant cultures tend to be patriarchal and ageist – which don’t invite dialogue btw different people (excluding women and youth?)

10. External impact on topics of dialogue – out of place with regional issues. 

11. Impact of international media stories. 

12. Languages that are different across the region limits the ability to have a dialogue. 

The barriers number 1, 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 & 12 are the reasons why this project exists, so by default of this project we are working on them. 

We are establishing multiple offices in 3 different countries to be better located and legally established to fundraise. We will recruit a professional fundraiser. 

We are equipping our community hubs with internet facilities and also upgrading the internet of our staff to be able to work online. 

We are already trained on dialogue facilitation and we will receive advanced training on online dialogue facilitation in order to be prepared to host dialogue online. 

Our online platform will profile positive stories about Nile countries. We already collected stories from different communities to have a head start when we launch. 

We partner with:

• NOVO Foundation: they provide us with funding and believe in our cause.
• Ashoka: currently they contribute to my salary and support on different fields.
• Swiss Development Cooperation: they funded our first gathering in 2016. We are no longer partnering with them. We will restart the partnership once we have an office in Egypt. 
• BMW Foundation: we are part of their responsible leaders framework.
• Collective transitions: we partner in research and writing articles. 

I cannot say we have an explicitly articulated business model. So I would not like to write something that is not yet formulated or thought through. 

Our financial sustainability model is three fold:

• First: grants and donation
• Second: products
• Third: income generating services

For the time being the first element of grants and donations constitute 99.9% of our finances. This is mainly through two key partnerships; one with Ashoka for 1 year and extendable to 3 years through the fellowship and the second with NOVO foundation through their Radical Hope program that covered all our budget last two years and 30% of our budget for the coming two years.

We aim that by 2026 to have the percentage contribution to be as follow: Grants & donations 60%, products 30% and services 10%.

Within the grants section, we want to diversify our partnerships by having program based partnerships; our permaculture program with GAIA Education for example, our youth dialogue program with Water Youth Network possibly and our Water Innovation program with Waterlution. We also want to establish an office in Egypt, one in Kenya and a third in Ethiopia, in addition to our current office in Belgium to allow access to diverse funding schemes. We also want to open for individual donations through our online platform in development progress.

As for the products, we have in the pipeline (2021 & 2022) three Nile awareness products to develop and sell; a board game, a phone app and African wisdom cards.

Finally the services aspect is consultancy in dialogue, mediation, conflict resolution, community building and permaculture. This will start only in 2025. 

Yes.

Over the last 12 months we were supported by NOVO Foundation with an amount of 324,600 USD from June 2019 to June 2020 and 345,650 USD for June 2020 to June 2021.  

We seek to raise 830,000 USD in 2020 and the beginning of 2021 for the following three years:

YEAR 2021: 195,000 USD

• - Annual gathering: 0 USD
• - Online platform and communication: 0 USD
• - Community Hubs dialogue spaces foundation: 40,000 USD (Grants)
• - Dialogue gaming & tools: 20,000 USD (Grants)
• - Youth dialogue camps: 50,000 USD (Grants + participation fees)
• - Pemaculture and water dialogues program: 50,000 USD (Grants + participation fees)
• - Administration & personnel: 35,000 USD (Grants)

YEAR 2022: 290,000 USD

• - Annual gathering: 65,000 USD (Grants)
• - Online platform and communication: 25,000 USD (Grants + individual contribution)
• - Community Hubs dialogue spaces: 20,000 USD (Grants)
• - Dialogue gaming & tools: 45,000 USD (Grants)
• - Youth dialogue camps: 50,000 USD (Grants + participation fees)
• - Pemaculture and water dialogues program: 50,000 USD (Grants + participation fees)
• - Administration & personnel: 35,000 USD (Grants)

YEAR 2023: 345,000 USD

• - Annual gathering: 65,000 USD (Grants)
• - Online platform and communication: 25,000 USD (Grants + individual contribution)
• - Community Hubs dialogue spaces: 20,000 USD (Grants)
• - Dialogue gaming & tools: 0 USD
• - Youth dialogue camps: 50,000 USD (Grants + participation fees)
• - Pemaculture and water dialogues program: 50,000 USD (Grants + participation fees)
• - Administration & personnel: 135,000 USD (Grants)

Here is our budget for 2020:

• Annual gathering: 61,950 USD (Grants)
• Online platform and communication: 50,100 USD 
• Community Hubs dialogue spaces: 40,000 USD
• Dialogue gaming & tools: 23,450 USD
• Youth dialogue camps (volunteers exchange): 14,850 USD 
• Pemaculture and water dialogues program: 54,500 USD 
• Administration & personnel: 100,800 USD