On the 26th of March, SEKEM had planned to celebrate its 43rd Spring Festival and the anniversary of its founder Ibrahim Abouleish. And just like every year, SEKEM’s community was involved in the preparation of the festival, with each of its institutions already since months ago. Although, for the first time, SEKEM decided to postpone its celebration to keep everyone safe from the spread of the new virus, we want to share with you the highlights of their efforts.
Natural handmade soap
The students of special education have always played a beautiful role in the celebration, each year with a new innovative way. Inspired by this year’s SEKEM vision topic ‘integrative health’, the students alongside their teachers worked on making almost 2000 bars of soap as giveaways. From natural Organic materials, the team mixed, shaped and packed the gifts. The entire process was made by hand and the students put love, care and time in the making. As a final personal touch, each bar of soap was wrapped in hand drawn and colored paper, assuring that each present is unique.
The talented students and teachers have been working on the soap project for over a month, that’s why it was very important that their beautiful hard work reached everyone in the SEKEM family. Hence, SEKEM CEO Helmy Abouleish distributed the presents himself in the morning circle of each of SEKEM’s institutions and made sure to let everyone know the story of the people behind it.
Art for better health
The group of musicians from SEKEM and Heliopolis University also wanted to contribute on that day. Touring from one factory to the next, the group made sure to stop by each building on the SEKEM farm to play music for the employees and workers. “If they cannot go to the festival, the festival comes to them,” explains Sherif, the talented piano player. The workers got to take a few moments from their work time to enjoy and celebrate the SEKEM spirit, while staying healthy and safe.
In this time of “social distancing” the thoughtful hands and voices that the SEKEM community experienced had a very special meaning and echoed in a unique way.
Nadine Greiss