As a young man in a small village in Upper Egypt, Samuel Habib saw for the first time the desperate conditions of the Egyptian poor. He was profoundly affected by their crushing poverty and deplorable living conditions—contaminated water, endemic diseases, inadequate housing. His commitment to the poor and oppressed grew out of this experience, and in 1960 he established the Coptic Evangelical Organization for Social Services (CEOSS).

 

CEOSS, an Egyptian Christian development organization headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, is dedicated to social and cultural development, individual well-being, social justice, and inter-cultural harmony. It delivers its services regardless of gender, race, religion, or beliefs. As a Christian voice promoting pluralism and mutual respect in an Egyptian context, CEOSS encourages the participation of Egyptians from all segments of society—Muslim and Christian, rich and poor, educated and uneducated, powerful and powerless—to work together toward common goals.

 

CEOSS reaches out to more than 2 million Egyptians annually in more than 100 rural and urban communities.

 

A private voluntary organization, CEOSS is registered with the Egyptian Ministry of Social Affairs under number 468 of 1960 and reregistered as an association of public utility under number 468 of 1967.