“The Story of Makanuna” Poem

"Welcome to 'Makanuna', our place … home of our inner spirit A trove of things crafted by our hands … is waiting for you to find inside this space." Malak Alaa Eldeen, 2023 Makanuna Al-Khalifa was a participatory placemaking project empowering adolescents in al-Khalifa neighbourhood in historic Cairo to redesign their local public spaces. Through 2021-2022 workshops, around 20 youth aged 13-18, including Malak Alaa Aldeen, upcycled solid and organic waste into outdoor furniture, games, and compost for al-Khalifa Park. A key output was Malak’s poem “The Story of Makanuna” with illustrations by her sister Fatma Alaa Eldeen, also a workshop participant. In vivid verses, the 17-year-old welcomes readers to “Makanuna” - Arabic for “Our Space” - home to their creativity and handcrafted items. She describes making a gazebo “formed from three triangles” of repurposed plastic bottles and rope, illuminated to resemble “a rainbow”, delighting all who see it. Inspired, they crafted five more lighting units “with bold colours and innocent hands.”The poem conveys their determined spirit driving this unique space’s creation through hard work “from our plans.” Malak radiates pride in resourceful designs like a recycling bin filled with bottles containing natural materials from the park. Her closing words capture their ownership: “Here is our place and our story. So, what do you think of our idea in all its glory?”Empowering youth to transform underutilized areas fostered creativity, environmental stewardship and belonging. Building on this, Malak, Fatma and other core team members launched “Makanuna Initiative” to pursue placemaking further. Malak now voices this youth-led initiative’s junior team, aiming to inspire wider involvement. Malak’s poem and Fatma’s illustrations powerfully capture their sustainable accomplishments. This highlights the initiative’s origins in the Al-Khalifa workshops through adolescent participants who helped catalyse Makanuna’s growth from a local project into a youth-led movement.