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Sunday, February 10, 2019
Update 34
Another food distribution day...
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Sometimes someone speaks broken English to us, telling us a little bit about them.
Jakob is from Ethiopia. He says he is not safe at home because there is so much violence. He says he is also not safe in Egypt because Egyptians hate Ethiopians because of Ethiopia is building a dam on the Nile. He is proud to wear a cross and prayer before each meal even though he's been told not to. He recited Matthew 10:39 to me:
He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.
A young Mom holding a child about 18 months old told me so is struggling . Her husband was killed in Sudan.
A lady with tears running down her cheeks looked so tired. She let me hug her for a long time but said nothing.
I did some research on their home countries and the current political state:
Eritrea: dictator/no media allowed/all must join & remain in the army...forced labor/imprisonments for any whim of disagreement/no religious freedom.
Sudan & Syria: still war zone with many random killings
Ethiopia: violence especially against certain ethnic groups
These are the refugees we meet.
That is what they are running from. Who leaves their home & all they've known? People who are desperate to find safety...a better life. Wouldn't you??
Update 35
We visited a school, St. Raphael
Center about an hour drive from here that is for Sudan refugee students. We drove through the recently developed and rather nice area called New Cairo....wider roads, cleaner but still tall & close together housing & many nice shops...it's where the government buildings have relocated...therefore no need to fix up the old Cairo. And then we turned off that new road and onto a muddy alley crowded with people, small stands, and a variety of trash. Two 6-8 story buildings with laundry hanging out every window meant we had dot squeeze through. I felt sorrow for our driver...he drives the bishop around & has a nice car...one of the very few without scrapes, dings & smashed corners. It was hard to locate & our driver had to ask many times to find it.
Finally, found the principal waiting for us at the bottom of a stairway only partially broken. We climbed up a few flights to his neat office. He was so delighted to have us there & explained that all 210 students (1st-8th) were from Sudan and had very little education due to the war. They could not attend Egyptian schools. UN and some donors were funding the school. He asked us to please observe and make suggestions.
How do you make suggestions to a teacher whose classroom is crammed with rowdy displaced kids & only a white board? We observed two English classes—2nd & 6th grade. You could immediately tell both teachers loved their students & were passionate about teaching. They used the repeat method where teacher says it, kids repeat it. Over & over. The 6th graders were learning about treasures...seemed appropriate here in Egypt. He had examples of aluminum & steel. He was trying to explain gold & diamonds so I handed him my wedding ring. His eyes popped out & he held it up like it was the Hope Diamond. He asked if the students could hold it as they'd never seen real gold or a diamond. It was a dazzling time! In the 2nd grade, I read aloud, Leo, the Late Bloomer to attentive, wide-eyed students. We played Doggie Doggie Where's your Bone & 7 Up.
After class we met with the teachers and made a few suggestions which they were excited to get. It felt wrong but we did try to suggest only things we thought feasible in their situation. Example: pointer, don't talk until students quiet, have students come up to whiteboard & point out words/answers to comprehensive questions, reward good behavior by leaving a few minutes to play one of the game we taught at the end of the day. The teachers were overwhelmingly thankful and excited to use our suggestions.
We will go back to this school next week & see other classrooms. Sure wish we could take them loads of teaching materials that were so readily available to us when we were teaching!!!
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Center about an hour drive from here that is for Sudan refugee students. We drove through the recently developed and rather nice area called New Cairo....wider roads, cleaner but still tall & close together housing & many nice shops...it's where the government buildings have relocated...therefore no need to fix up the old Cairo. And then we turned off that new road and onto a muddy alley crowded with people, small stands, and a variety of trash. Two 6-8 story buildings with laundry hanging out every window meant we had dot squeeze through. I felt sorrow for our driver...he drives the bishop around & has a nice car...one of the very few without scrapes, dings & smashed corners. It was hard to locate & our driver had to ask many times to find it.
Finally, found the principal waiting for us at the bottom of a stairway only partially broken. We climbed up a few flights to his neat office. He was so delighted to have us there & explained that all 210 students (1st-8th) were from Sudan and had very little education due to the war. They could not attend Egyptian schools. UN and some donors were funding the school. He asked us to please observe and make suggestions.
How do you make suggestions to a teacher whose classroom is crammed with rowdy displaced kids & only a white board? We observed two English classes—2nd & 6th grade. You could immediately tell both teachers loved their students & were passionate about teaching. They used the repeat method where teacher says it, kids repeat it. Over & over. The 6th graders were learning about treasures...seemed appropriate here in Egypt. He had examples of aluminum & steel. He was trying to explain gold & diamonds so I handed him my wedding ring. His eyes popped out & he held it up like it was the Hope Diamond. He asked if the students could hold it as they'd never seen real gold or a diamond. It was a dazzling time! In the 2nd grade, I read aloud, Leo, the Late Bloomer to attentive, wide-eyed students. We played Doggie Doggie Where's your Bone & 7 Up.
After class we met with the teachers and made a few suggestions which they were excited to get. It felt wrong but we did try to suggest only things we thought feasible in their situation. Example: pointer, don't talk until students quiet, have students come up to whiteboard & point out words/answers to comprehensive questions, reward good behavior by leaving a few minutes to play one of the game we taught at the end of the day. The teachers were overwhelmingly thankful and excited to use our suggestions.
We will go back to this school next week & see other classrooms. Sure wish we could take them loads of teaching materials that were so readily available to us when we were teaching!!!
Sent from my iPhone
Update 33
We've been jam packing our days with so much that I've not taken time to write...so I'll try to catch up.
Our English class is going well and since we pass out candy to students that get there on time, we have been able to cover more material. Today we gave our first quiz—haven't checked it yet—but most students were working hard on it.
We bagged up almost 300 bags of rice & beans for another distribution day...and again it felt so rewarding to hand out the food bags...only wish there was more in it! A grain bag of beans & rice is about $18...it fills 25 family size bags...so they get 70 cents worth of each.
I went to the prison again this time with the agenda of writing a first person story. I accomplished that and will post it later...but it was a bit scary as there was a fracas about my coat with a zipper. The wardens there are toughened, hard women. What if I'd left a candy in my pocket?? They might think it's drugs. So I'm not going back. The thought of getting put in there is too scary...even though I've heard the US ambassador would get me right out.
Fridays (Muslim's holy day) & Sunday are our days off so off we go. We went to Aisha Fahmy Museum which was the former home of King Farouk, the last king of Egypt who went to exile on his yacht. When Nasser took over, most previous statues, bust, paintings & belongings of the previous Kings were destroyed...but a few were saved & now are prominently displayed in this lavish home.
We visited the Hanging Church...called that as it is built above the gatehouse of the Babylon fortress...3rd century. Next to it is the Coptic Museum that is filled with the remains of many of the Cairo churches & monasteries over the last 18 centuries. They actually have a Book of Psalms from the 4th century. Both were exquisite!
Not so exquisite was a puppet show we went to. Granted it was geared for children...but let's just say it was entertaining for them! Really thought the puppet making & movements was quite simple.
That same afternoon, we went to the Cairo Aquarium...and we thought the puppet show was "simple!" Inside a crudely cave formation, dirty glassed boxes displayed stuffed, dusty fish, turtles, alligators & coral...or pickled jars of them! There were a few 10 gallon tanks with small fish...goldfish being the most predominant. Really!!
Finally the local cinemas was showing a Hollywood movie, A Star is Born so of course, we went and munching popcorn & sitting in that elegant setting felt like home.
There's no place like home...or Cairo!!
Sent from my iPhone
Our English class is going well and since we pass out candy to students that get there on time, we have been able to cover more material. Today we gave our first quiz—haven't checked it yet—but most students were working hard on it.
We bagged up almost 300 bags of rice & beans for another distribution day...and again it felt so rewarding to hand out the food bags...only wish there was more in it! A grain bag of beans & rice is about $18...it fills 25 family size bags...so they get 70 cents worth of each.
I went to the prison again this time with the agenda of writing a first person story. I accomplished that and will post it later...but it was a bit scary as there was a fracas about my coat with a zipper. The wardens there are toughened, hard women. What if I'd left a candy in my pocket?? They might think it's drugs. So I'm not going back. The thought of getting put in there is too scary...even though I've heard the US ambassador would get me right out.
Fridays (Muslim's holy day) & Sunday are our days off so off we go. We went to Aisha Fahmy Museum which was the former home of King Farouk, the last king of Egypt who went to exile on his yacht. When Nasser took over, most previous statues, bust, paintings & belongings of the previous Kings were destroyed...but a few were saved & now are prominently displayed in this lavish home.
We visited the Hanging Church...called that as it is built above the gatehouse of the Babylon fortress...3rd century. Next to it is the Coptic Museum that is filled with the remains of many of the Cairo churches & monasteries over the last 18 centuries. They actually have a Book of Psalms from the 4th century. Both were exquisite!
Not so exquisite was a puppet show we went to. Granted it was geared for children...but let's just say it was entertaining for them! Really thought the puppet making & movements was quite simple.
That same afternoon, we went to the Cairo Aquarium...and we thought the puppet show was "simple!" Inside a crudely cave formation, dirty glassed boxes displayed stuffed, dusty fish, turtles, alligators & coral...or pickled jars of them! There were a few 10 gallon tanks with small fish...goldfish being the most predominant. Really!!
Finally the local cinemas was showing a Hollywood movie, A Star is Born so of course, we went and munching popcorn & sitting in that elegant setting felt like home.
There's no place like home...or Cairo!!
Sent from my iPhone
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