When renowned Egyptian-Lebanese maestro Selim Sahab passes a street child selling tissues or when he visits orphanages in Cairo and elsewhere in Egypt, he reminds himself, “If this boy has an opportunity, he could live a better life than me.” Sahab's experiences on the streets and in children's care homes inspired him to reach out to help some of the young people he saw in his own special way. He continues to do so, offering them a place in Egypt’s Children's Choir, which he established two years ago.
“When I first met these children, they were in desperate states of mind and had no idea how to think of tomorrow,” Sahab told Al-Monitor. “They hated society and the family as a concept.” According to Sahab, these children did not need a psychologist to help them, however.