A. Formal Education Program:
The Association’s schools belong to the private sector of education which represents 7.5% of the total educational sector in Egypt.
The Association’s specificity lies in its ownership and operation of 36 primary private schools that mostly targets children under the poverty line who represent 70% of all students enrolled, hence, the main resource of financing the schools’ budget is donations
Goal:
The school is meant to be the focal point and springboard of global community development. It aspires to provide a model of education for peace and tolerance, attempts to encourage critical thinking and instill positive attitudes within the children and young people of both sexes

B. Non-formal Education Program:
The Association started its non-formal schooling program known as the “Parallel School” in the eighties in Bayadeya, a village in Menya (240 km south of Cairo). This program targets the young who never joined a school, those who dropped without completing their basic education, or those who joined schools but can’t read or write.
According to official estimates, illiteracy rate on the national level is 54,4% and reaches 63% in rural areas and soars to above 80% among the female population of these areas.
Goal:
Providing children who dropped out of schools, or never had the opportunity of enrollment with the basic values, knowledge, skills and attitudes that develop their educational capabilities and hence develop their communities

1) Parallel Education Program
Goal :
Facilitating educational opportunities for children (9-14 years) who dropped out of schools or never had the opportunity of enrollment through providing them basic skills of reading, writing, arithmetic and general knowledge that would later enable them to enroll in the preparatory schools if they want to.
Program Content:
• Non-formal education program.
• Civic, health and environmental, educational and gender equity program.
• Cultural, artistic, sports and entertainment program.
• A program of providing technical and vocational skills.
• A program for training facilitators.

2) Literacy learning for girls and boys
(Above 15 years)
Goal :
Providing literacy learning for those who didn’t enroll in the formal school (above 15 years) by providing the basic skills of reading, writing, arithmetic, and general knowledge.
Program Content:
1.  “Learn and be free” program for illiteracy elimination.
2. “New horizons” program for girls and “New visions” program for boys.
3. A program for preparing the workers for the market and providing vocational training.
4. “Values for Life”, a life education program that explores different values in the society and filters the right from the wrong.
5. A program for training the facilitators

C. Women Empowerment Program:
The situation of women in rural Upper Egypt is one that calls for urgent action. Scoring high rates of illiteracy, male dependence, obliteration and complete self negation, women, as such, need an extended hand to help them become conscious and aware of their rights, and thereby duties, in order for any real development to happen. The female child in the family is born to bear the heavy duty of attending to the household, animals included, looking after her brothers, sharing in the house chores with her mother, and going to the fields in the harvest season  to earn an extra income for her family. If a choice is to be done on who will go to school, then definitely it is the boy, if the family can not afford to send all the children to school.
Goal:
The ultimate goal of the Association’s Women Empowerment Program is to facilitate the process for the women to assume their vital role in family and society on equal footing with the man.

D. Health Program:
One of the Association’s main concerns is the health conditions of the poor in Upper Egypt especially women and children. Hence, the Association has established a health program to serve the Upper Egyptian communities through 27 mother child health care centers, 4 medical analysis labs  and 7 clinics in addition to the health program in schools.
Goals:
The Reproductive Health Program focuses on the health of the pregnant and lactating mothers, and infants up to two years of age. The Child to Child Program aims at training the older children to educate their younger peers about health issues and take care of them. The goal of the School Health Program is to improve the health conditions of the children, teachers and workers of the Associations 36 schools

Program Content:
1) Maternal Health Program:
This activity focuses on the health of the pregnant and lactating mothers, and infants up to two years of age. The Association is supporting the government and local municipalities’ efforts to reduce mortality rates among pregnant women and children. The activity also aims at increasing the communities’ awareness of the problems related to pregnancy and delivery.  The beneficiaries of this health component are estimated at a total of 4000 mothers and infants through the Association’s 27 Mother and Child Health Care Centers  (MCH) all over Upper Egypt.

2) School Health Program:
The objective of this activity is to improve the health conditions of the children, teachers and workers of the Association’s 35 schools.  This component of the health program includes regular check–up of all the Associations’ school students totaling 8013 and developing a health history file for each student. The program also improves the nutritional level of 7000 children in the formal and parallel schools and nurseries suffering from Anemia. Trachoma is one major disease in Upper Egypt communities; the Association, through the health program, undertakes both preventive and curative measures among the children; thus treating almost 4000 suffering from Trachoma on an annual basis. A year. The Association capitalizes on the services provided by the state under the students’ health insurance program.
School heath also takes into consideration raising the awareness of health problems and general cleanliness among the students, teachers, schools workers and parents.

3) Child to Child Program:
The Child-to-Child program and approach aims at enabling children to make qualitative improvements in their own lives and act as change agents to bring about positive change in their communities. The program encourages school-age children to extend environmental, health and social awareness to their younger sisters, brothers and colleagues and help adults better understand their roles and responsibilities with regards to health care.
A special activity known as “child to child” was developed so that older children are trained to educate younger ones about health issues and take care of them.
Children members of these groups learn to observe symptoms of common diseases and report them to the health supervisor to take immediate action. They look over the personal hygiene of the younger children and participate in cleanliness campaigns inside and outside their schools
The Association organizes annual meetings between members of the group and pupils of the neighboring public schools to exchange their experiences

E. Revival of Cultural heritage:

1. The Akhmim Community Center:
This center was originally one of the Association’s schools. In 1960, upon an invitation from the Association, a small team belonging to an international woman’s movement, The Grail, settled at the center, working for community development.
 Aims:
1. Respond to the needs of girls and women of Akhmim, help them to develop their personalities, and achieve self satisfaction while learning to live within a group which has a common project.
2. Revive the authentic millennial weaving tradition.
3. Improve the economic situation of the participants.
4. Combine education and development in this pilot experience and promote women’s creativity.

2. Hagaza Woodwork:
Hagaza, a big village of 60,00 inhabitants, is 700 Km south of Cairo and 30 Km to the north east of Luxor. Listed among the most ancient villages of Egypt,., the village has blended a mixture of traditions with Egyptian, Arab and Islamic origins at its roots.
History:
The youth program in Hagaza developed from general formation and leisure into youth leadership training. Then a project of vocational training workshop on woodwork started in 1986.
The initiative succeeded and the workshop has become a productive center. This evaluation was only normal since carpentry is the traditional craft in Hagaza and still practiced by still about one hundred families producing looms, furniture, doors and windows, beside the traditional benches and low tables.

3. AUEED Choir:
This inspirational idea came from the association’s faith in the importance of the role of arts in our life and in the process of development.
It all started within the daily school activities in 1987 by Sister Celeste Khayat (a sister in the Sacred Heart School) in the Bayadeya village in Minya Governorate, as the music was not a main component of the schooling program of the AUEED.
The Choir started by a group of 15 students representing the schools of  Minya, the group then performed merely Christian Hymns and children school songs during religious and national holidays.
The Choir was initiated side by side with training a team of children on playing music, but this trial failed as it requested that each child obtain a musical instrument at home which was not financially possible.

F. Youth Program:
The youth in Egypt are facing serious problems related to the economic situation of the country. Among these problems are the high unemployment rates, lack of social mobility and unequal distribution of income. The Egyptian community is confronting a huge discrepancy between the per capita income of the upper economic classes and the middle and lower income brackets which creates a sense of anger among the young.
Goal:
Motivating young people to get integrated in their local communities and launch their own initiatives to promote and accelerate development.

Program Content:
• Political and cultural awareness for youth leaders to develop the local communities.
• Environmental program  
• Creative skills 
• Scouts program