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Monday, February 18, 2019
Update 45 by Roger
Our class continues to go well and as we get to know our students better, their personalities are being revealed bit by bit. Many are quick to smile and those who come to class regularly show us that they have courage to try to do something that is very difficult. Alfadel is tall and is often smiling or laughing. Dalya is quiet and polite but also confident of her ability to speak English and would respond to every question if given the opportunity. Zebeb seemed a bit distant at first, but now appears to be comfortable and trusts us to help her learn. She is probably close to 40 and we noticed this week that she couldn't see the board very well even when she moved to the front row. Jane spoke to the director of Refuge Egypt and they plan to get her eyes checked and get her some glasses. When Jane told her she was so excited I thought she would cry. Rose has several children, Tayeba struggles to learn and is visibly shaken when her answer is wrong.
We recently gave them a quiz and have to admit we thought they'd do better. Many did not follow directions or understand what to do. So Jane & I gave them a big pep talk telling them if they are thinking this is too hard, it is. If they are telling themselves they can do it, they will. We passed out erasers and told them to fix their mistakes because the best way to learn is by studying their mistakes. We also gave them a copy of the test & the answers so they could keep practicing.
At the end of the class and actually each class most say, "Thank you, Teacher." and shake our hands as they leave.
We want them all to succeed and hope it will get them a better job...a better life!!
We recently gave them a quiz and have to admit we thought they'd do better. Many did not follow directions or understand what to do. So Jane & I gave them a big pep talk telling them if they are thinking this is too hard, it is. If they are telling themselves they can do it, they will. We passed out erasers and told them to fix their mistakes because the best way to learn is by studying their mistakes. We also gave them a copy of the test & the answers so they could keep practicing.
At the end of the class and actually each class most say, "Thank you, Teacher." and shake our hands as they leave.
We want them all to succeed and hope it will get them a better job...a better life!!
Update 44
Rog has been scouring the travel books & found a cultural show close by so off we went. It was in an old palace in the open air courtyard. It was packed so we were lucky to find a seat. The show started with a live band of flutes, drums, a type of violin & finger cymbals which made lively Egyptian music. Then the Suni dancers came on stage spinning wildly which made their heavy colorful skirts flare out. This went on for over 30 minutes!! Another set of spinners came out tossing their skirts in the air while still spinning...again for 30 minutes! We were dizzy watching! How those guys stopped on a dime, took a bow & walked off stage without staggering was beyond us!!
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Sunday, February 17, 2019
Update 43
Made a trip to Saqqarah. 4700 years!! That's how old the pyramids there are! Yup, you read that right. These pyramids, known as the Step Pyramids are a generation older than the famous Giza Pyramids. Prior to the Step pyramids, pharaohs just had a huge slab places over their graves...than someone suggested putting another one a bit smaller on top of that one...than 3...till it created steps to the top. Blows our minds how old these are..and we could walk right up & touch them. We could also walk down into their tomb chambers & see more incredible drawings.
Also nearby was the Serapeum...an underground tunnel where about 20 "sacred" bulls were mummified & buried in polished marble 80 ton caskets. Can't imagine how or why they did that! But it was fascinating.
The museum there housed the oldest known arch, pillar & door...also hands-on displays.
My appreciation for history has certainly deepened & heightened on this trip!
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Also nearby was the Serapeum...an underground tunnel where about 20 "sacred" bulls were mummified & buried in polished marble 80 ton caskets. Can't imagine how or why they did that! But it was fascinating.
The museum there housed the oldest known arch, pillar & door...also hands-on displays.
My appreciation for history has certainly deepened & heightened on this trip!
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Update 42 by Roger
I joined about eight women and two men today for another visit to the prison for foreigners here in Cairo. Men's prison this time.
I first met John, a man who came from the Seychelles Islands by boat. He came to Egypt for a better life. Someone had told him to carry something for them and then threatened to kill him. He seemed confused about reasons why, but the final outcome was his imprisonment. He has a life sentence and has been here for 16 years. He was calm and our conversation was easy. His belief in God gives him peace.
Hisham also has a life sentence. He told me about loving to be out in the wilderness off-roading....always far from other people. He described himself as having been a young man who would often get into fights and had been in a gang. After his sentence he found himself in solitary confinement (for fighting).
A woman visited him and left a Bible for him. He had never before taken any interest in religion but remembered his mother reading some verses from Psalms. His tiny cell had no light but for a faint glow entering under the door. It was just enough so that by putting the Bible on the floor he could read some verses from Psalms. It gave him hope. The light of the world opened up to him and changed him. He thanked me for visiting and listening to his story.
Metardo has been in the prison for 30 years. He has studied and now is a priest/minister. At the end of our visit he had all visitors and prisoners join hands and sing-giving thanks to God. He then thanked all of the visitors who "humbled" themselves by giving up their comforts and time with their families to visit the prisoners.
In two weeks the men will again have the chance for a visit and I expect that the same group of dedicated visitors will be there for them.
Jane adds: I also made another visit...kind of scary this time as the warden is such a tough cookie. While waiting I talked with a regular visitor from the church and asked him if he thought arresting drug carriers was helping Egypt clean up the drug scene. Nope, he said. They don't catch the drug lords...just the peons that are easily and quickly replaced.
These prisoners made a bad decision...they are not bad people.
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Friday, February 15, 2019
Update 41
Our buddy at the gas station downloaded A Private War for us. It was the story of Marie Colton, a war zone reporter. Her story touched a chord in me. When someone asked her why she goes into such terrible places, she answered, "I come to see for myself. And so that people know." The movie vividly showed why these refugees fled from their homes in the middle of war zones. Horrid & unsafe conditions. No food. They flee for their lives & the lives of their children.
Here I see for myself these refugees. Their pain & their frustration as they wait in endless lines to get a small handout or to get an interview for a cleaning job. They search through their purses for legal papers. They sit or stand for hours holding babies who are uncommonly quiet.
Yet they smile at me and are kind to each other. I see them pick up fallen items for others and offer their chair to an older or crippled person. There's no pushing. I wonder how they manage to get up each morning, find & cook food, wash clothings & get to this center on time for an appointment??
The enormity of the situation...5 million...baffles my mind and I have to force myself to concentrate on what I can do for the moment to make things a tiny bit better for them.
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Here I see for myself these refugees. Their pain & their frustration as they wait in endless lines to get a small handout or to get an interview for a cleaning job. They search through their purses for legal papers. They sit or stand for hours holding babies who are uncommonly quiet.
Yet they smile at me and are kind to each other. I see them pick up fallen items for others and offer their chair to an older or crippled person. There's no pushing. I wonder how they manage to get up each morning, find & cook food, wash clothings & get to this center on time for an appointment??
The enormity of the situation...5 million...baffles my mind and I have to force myself to concentrate on what I can do for the moment to make things a tiny bit better for them.
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Update 40
Cairo has what seems like an endless number of blah brown brick 5 to 20+ story buildings where the 20 million live. On the outside of these giants are so many balconies and at first I thought, how nice to have someplace to get fresh air, see the sky & feel the sun. But after being here over a month, I 've only seen people on their balconies 3 times...my favorites was a young man tenderly holding a small baby. It's funny how moments like that can glow in your memory.
Another warm time was while we were in a taxi...traffic was heavy, as usual & the driver spoke more English than most (usually less than 10 words). While we waited in a traffic jam, we asked our driver about his family. His face lit up instantly as he said several times, "I love my children!" He pulled out his phone and showed us pictures of his six kids...until he had to drive on...but at the next traffic jam...he repeated "I love my children..and I will have one more soon" and showed us more pictures.
We asked him about how much of the day he had to drive—7 am to 9 or 10 pm. And how many days—-oh, everyday...everyday.
We'd arrived at our destination, tipped him heavily & handed him balloons for his children as he drove off.
A loving dad...who worked 14+ hours every day. We wondered when he had time to give his kids all the love he had for them?!?
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Another warm time was while we were in a taxi...traffic was heavy, as usual & the driver spoke more English than most (usually less than 10 words). While we waited in a traffic jam, we asked our driver about his family. His face lit up instantly as he said several times, "I love my children!" He pulled out his phone and showed us pictures of his six kids...until he had to drive on...but at the next traffic jam...he repeated "I love my children..and I will have one more soon" and showed us more pictures.
We asked him about how much of the day he had to drive—7 am to 9 or 10 pm. And how many days—-oh, everyday...everyday.
We'd arrived at our destination, tipped him heavily & handed him balloons for his children as he drove off.
A loving dad...who worked 14+ hours every day. We wondered when he had time to give his kids all the love he had for them?!?
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Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Update 39
Since we were planning to be at a school in Menof on Valentine's Day, we decided to take a day off & celebrate it early. Unfortunately, the night before, Microsoft decided to shut down our email...really, hadn't they figured out we were in Egypt??? So instead of heading out for an adventure, we headed to an Apple Store that luckily we'd spotted earlier. It wasn't an easy fix so we were told to come back later...when the tech was in. So we stopped in to visit with Jo's relatives which delighted them...especially Granny.
Back at the Apple store, more bad news. The tech had to delete my account & wait for 24 hours. (Meanwhile back home, Bekah logged into our account & reported that all the activities were ours. Fast forward: it worked!!)
Finally, about 3 pm, we climbed aboard a felucca...just the two of us & the captain. As a gentle breeze caught the sail, we glided away from the chaos & noice of Cairo. So peaceful and relaxing!
The sun slowly slipped toward the horizon and a glorious sunset painted the sky and the Nile River. How's that for a romantic scene??
Back on land, we went to a lovely Lebanese restaurant and each ordered a meal (we usually share) and then to top off the evening, we stopped for dessert in the oldest bakery in town. My pie was like eating pure fudge & Roger's like caramel walnuts.
I hadn't eaten that much in a long time...and my stomach was overwhelmed! Thank good this glutton had some Pepto Bismol!
Rog, of course, had no problem & slept like a well fed baby!
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Back at the Apple store, more bad news. The tech had to delete my account & wait for 24 hours. (Meanwhile back home, Bekah logged into our account & reported that all the activities were ours. Fast forward: it worked!!)
Finally, about 3 pm, we climbed aboard a felucca...just the two of us & the captain. As a gentle breeze caught the sail, we glided away from the chaos & noice of Cairo. So peaceful and relaxing!
The sun slowly slipped toward the horizon and a glorious sunset painted the sky and the Nile River. How's that for a romantic scene??
Back on land, we went to a lovely Lebanese restaurant and each ordered a meal (we usually share) and then to top off the evening, we stopped for dessert in the oldest bakery in town. My pie was like eating pure fudge & Roger's like caramel walnuts.
I hadn't eaten that much in a long time...and my stomach was overwhelmed! Thank good this glutton had some Pepto Bismol!
Rog, of course, had no problem & slept like a well fed baby!
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Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Update 37
Mainer Anis is the Bishop of the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa & the Horn of Africa. Bishop Mainer honored us with a private visit. He spoke to us about his hope that all denominations of Christians (10%) & Muslim (90%) would work together to improve Egypt. Perhaps someday all religions, atheist, races & tribes in this world would accept each other and see that we are all the same. Couldn't agree more.
When he heard that we were Methodist, he told us that John Wesley was part of the Anglican Church. (Same as his.). He was proud of that.
The Bishop gave us a brief history of the Coptic Christian church (called Coptic Orthodox) in Egypt. It was founded by St. Mark, the writer of one of the books of the Bible who had come to Egypt as a refugee from Libya by walking along the Mediterranean Sea. He started the church in Alexandria in about 60 AD.
Maybe that's why this church, All Saints Church embraces the refugees today!!
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When he heard that we were Methodist, he told us that John Wesley was part of the Anglican Church. (Same as his.). He was proud of that.
The Bishop gave us a brief history of the Coptic Christian church (called Coptic Orthodox) in Egypt. It was founded by St. Mark, the writer of one of the books of the Bible who had come to Egypt as a refugee from Libya by walking along the Mediterranean Sea. He started the church in Alexandria in about 60 AD.
Maybe that's why this church, All Saints Church embraces the refugees today!!
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Update 36
Probably the spark that lit our fire to come to Egypt was a chance conversation with a most caring lady, Jo Penzien McDonald who attends our church. I think of these random coincidences as nudges from God.
Jo had had a terrible fall & we were there to take her a meal when in spite of her pain, she asked us about our winter plans. Having not really made any, we rattled of several possibilities. When we said Egypt, she excitedly told us that her late husband's cousin & family lived in Cairo. Jo looked up his contact info for us right then and there. So I did contact him. He replied, "Come...there's lots of volunteer work here!" So after quite a bit more internet search & prayers, I hit the jackpot...Refuge Egypt. Working with refugees just seemed to be the right thing to do this year.
So tonight we got to meet Jo's Egyptian family...who turned out to live just 2 minutes from where we are. Jo's cousin in law-they called Granny, her son Cherif & wife, Sharine and their two darling daughters who put on their fancy red dresses just for us.
We sat in their lovely living room nibbling on decadent desserts and had a lively conversation ranging from the old family homestead in Michigan to the current political scene in Egypt & USA.
Though I'm sure we could have talked for hours, we knew Cherif had to be at the hospital early (he's a pediatrician) so we said our good byes. Cherif insisted on walking us home & genuinely invited us to come back again soon!
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Jo had had a terrible fall & we were there to take her a meal when in spite of her pain, she asked us about our winter plans. Having not really made any, we rattled of several possibilities. When we said Egypt, she excitedly told us that her late husband's cousin & family lived in Cairo. Jo looked up his contact info for us right then and there. So I did contact him. He replied, "Come...there's lots of volunteer work here!" So after quite a bit more internet search & prayers, I hit the jackpot...Refuge Egypt. Working with refugees just seemed to be the right thing to do this year.
So tonight we got to meet Jo's Egyptian family...who turned out to live just 2 minutes from where we are. Jo's cousin in law-they called Granny, her son Cherif & wife, Sharine and their two darling daughters who put on their fancy red dresses just for us.
We sat in their lovely living room nibbling on decadent desserts and had a lively conversation ranging from the old family homestead in Michigan to the current political scene in Egypt & USA.
Though I'm sure we could have talked for hours, we knew Cherif had to be at the hospital early (he's a pediatrician) so we said our good byes. Cherif insisted on walking us home & genuinely invited us to come back again soon!
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Sunday, February 10, 2019
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