The very first SA meeting in Egypt was held over Zoom in 2014 by a few members. Later on, in 2015, the first face-to-face meeting was held in Cairo. Today, there are seven weekly face-to-face meetings all over Egypt and six weekly online meetings including two women-only meetings, joined by members from different countries like Sudan, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, UAE, Canada, USA, and Oman. Any Arabic-speaking member can attend the meetings from practically any part of the world.

Our Intergroup was first formed on March 5, 2017. It joined the EMER region later in June 2020.

Many members have been coming over the years and have been welcomed into the rooms. More than 470 members have registered on the Egyptian SA Online Zoom meetings since its creation last year (the meetings are allowed only for registered fellows to avoid harassment). More than 20 members are sober for one year or more, including two who celebrated more than four years of SA sobriety this year.

The local fellowship participated in translating two recent online events from English to Arabic. The translation committee has translated the three PI videos into Arabic. We have hosted several conventions and workshops, and, since the pandemic, have had many local and international speakers on our Zoom meetings.

Some challenges are lack of experience in service and/or how to apply the Traditions in service; lack of By-Laws for our IG; service rotation in the IG as well as in local meetings.

Dealing with harassment has been an issue as well. A local committee of long-term sober recovering members has been formed and is being active in dealing with harassment. Announcements are made in the local WhatsApp groups to guide members on how to deal with such problems.

The Arabic version of the SA White Book is in the final stages of finishing the first review after completing the translation of the whole book. However, a draft version is available for printing and distribution to be used temporarily. SA in Egypt is still growing, however, we’re trusting that the power that flared the spark at Akron, Ohio in 1935 and did once more over the past 40 years in SA, will lead us to another sexaholic who will want to hear our story.