Eveline Shaker is a social work pioneer, and the founder of The Right to Life Association. She received the French high-school diploma from a Christian school in al-Minya, and was always interested in working with low-income people, and people with special needs. She published a book entitled My Son’s Right to Life, and came to be known as “Egypt’s Patron of Mental Disability.” In the interview, Eveline talked about her education, her social work, and her family’s activism against the British occupation in Egypt.

Eveline was born in al-Minya governorate in Upper Egypt to a father, Dr. Mostafa Shaker, who worked as a dermatologist. She recounted that her father and his brothers participated in the 1917 protests against the British occupation, and as a result, got arrested and detained at the Citadel Prison. They were barred from completing their university education at any university in Egypt, so Eveline’s father had to travel abroad to earn his bachelor’s degree. He traveled to Germany, where he met Eveline’s mother -a German citizen who converted to Islam, and changed her name from “Kitchilf ” to “Nadia Mustafa Shakir.” They got married in Berlin, then Eveline’s father returned to Egypt alone to settle his affairs, before being reunited with his wife again in Egypt in 1925. They settled in al-Minya where he worked, and had their daughter, Eveline, there. Eveline recalled that her parents’ marriage was based on mutual love and companionship, and that her mother loved her in-laws, and passed down her good memories with them to Eveline. For Eveline, her parents embodied the perfect encounter between the East and the West, and the mutual respect between the two cultures.

Eveline lived for a long time in al-Minya, and described it as a beautiful and cultured city, where she had many memories of the sports club activities, the tennis tournaments, and the costume parties her mother used to attend. Eveline also shared her childhood memories at the family house where she grew up, and the other house overlooking the Nile River to which her family later moved, and where Eveline acquired a strong affection for the Nile.

Eveline attended kindergarten at a public primary school, where she took part in different activities, especially gardening.  She then moved to Saint Joseph’s Sisters School for Girls in al-Minya, where she received a French education. Her father hired a sheikh to tutor Eveline at home, and teach her the Arabic language and the Quran. Despite the effort, Eveline’s knowledge of the French history and culture remained stronger than her knowledge of Egypt’s history and culture, due to her school education. She recalled that her teachers were mostly French nuns, while only a small number of her teachers were Egyptians. The school imposed a tight control system on the students, and taught them discipline and common decency when dealing with society, in addition to teaching them the academic school subjects. The school also hosted various activities, such as singing, acting, and school events and parties.

Eveline stated that her school had the greatest impact on her, crediting the school with her constant keenness on social giving and community service, which stayed with her throughout her life. She recounted that her school encouraged the students to take part in volunteer work, raise donations, and provide food for the poor, and even for the disadvantaged students at the other schools. By the age of eleven, Eveline would gather the underprivileged children in her neighborhood, and teach them to read, write, and sew.  She graduated school at the age of 16, after earning her French high-school diploma.

When World War II erupted in 1939, Eveline was in Germany with her mother. She recalled her mother’s attempts to get them out of Germany at the beginning of the war, and how she and her mother managed to arrive to Cairo before the time they were due to return. In Egypt, Eveline and her mother followed the events of the War, day by day, on the radio and paid close attention to all the news, because her mother was worried about her family and friends in Germany. Eveline recalled the empathy Egyptian people displayed towards her mother, and their support for the Germans in general against the British.

Upon graduating high school, Eveline refused to attend university because she generally did not like studying, despite her father’s desire for her to pursue a college education. When she later decided to learn the English language, she attended the boarding division of the American College at Ramses in Cairo for two years, before getting married. For Eveline, her time at this school was the best period of her life. She participated in many of the school trips, in addition to visiting different places and sites in Cairo with her colleagues. She recounted that leaving the boarding school for a vacation required a permit from a family member, and that her uncle was the one with the permit. Her uncle used to come on vacation days to pick her up from school, and take her to his house in Heliopolis.

However, when Eveline expressed her desire to see different places in Cairo and to get to know the city, her father requested that the school would give Eveline herself the permit. As a result, she would leave the school on her own, and return at the end of the day to her uncle’s house.  According to Eveline, what her   father did was a reflection of his great trust in her, and such trust and confidence made her very careful with the freedom granted to her.