Babies

Sent from my iPhone

The courtyard

Sent from my iPhone

Food supplies

Sent from my iPhone

Update 23

The longer we're here...the more jobs RE has for us...which gives me less time to write! We've done lots of teaching, editing for staff who need to write reports in English (which most have no training in), book binding, sorting & distributing clothing, registering new refugees and whatever else comes us. In between jobs, we've been filling rice & lentil bags. We start with a grain sack full, scoop about 5 cups of rice/beans into a bag & tie & repeat. We get about 25 bags per grain sack. There's piles of grain bags pilled up to the ceiling—job security!! After we get a huge pile of both rice & bean bags—we put one of each along with prepackaged bags of macaroni & sugar and a bottle of oil into a large bag. That's what each family will get when they are approved.
Yesterday was distribution day and we had the privilege to hand a bag to each of the 175 or so refugees families who qualified...so many appreciative smiles!! It only took 2 hours but I still feel the glow!
We'll need to start bagging more for the next round...but those smiles will make the job so satisfying!

Sent from my iPhone

Update 22

We've moved onto the RE campus and are now even more accessible to the RE staff, our students and the many refugees who sit in the courtyard in front...waiting for interviews, food, clothing, classes, rides or just waiting. It's a safe spot to sit and enjoy each other's company and the sun.
When I see babies...which is almost always...I make a beeline to them. The Mom's are happy to let me hold their babies. I play patty cake, peek-a-boo, make silly faces and always manage to get toothless smiles and sweet coos. And I can understand everything they say...they speak the same language as the American babies!!
Yesterday I met a young man with a 20 day old baby. She'd only been in Egypt for 3 months...do the math...she was 7 months pregnant when she journey here from Eritrea . How desperate was she to leave home then??
Usually I hand out several balloons to the older kids which makes their faces light up...their parents also give me a huge smile. Hours later I see them still playing with their balloon ...such a satisfying feeling.
Rog is usually hanging out with the older young adults who mill around here and love practicing their English.
We've seen a few of them a number of time. A young 16 year old from South Sudan using a crutch told us his back was injured in the war...and his whole family killed. Somehow he's gotten passage to the UK where he'l get an operation & then hopefully find a job. He spoke with a lilt in his voice & his eyes shone with excitement. He asked for our email so he could write & practice his English. I so wanted to hand him lots of $$ to ease his path...but have to respect RE rules to let them make the $ decision.
Another young man eager to find work has talked to us almost daily. He was a teacher in his home village...now a war zone.
If we new Arabic...the stories would be endless.
A large stone shaped like a book sits in the middle of the courtyard. It reads " Out of Egypt Have I called My Son." Truly this church embodies Jesus' command to care for the vulnerable! Perhaps His words sunk in more here where He spent part of His life. We feel so humbled to be a small part of it.

Sent from my iPhone

Mosque pics

Sent from my iPhone

Update 21 by Roger

The Iraqi
We had been wandering the Egyptian National Museum for almost three hours. Mummy after mummy, King Tut's treasures, and display cases filled with toy size replicas of people and tools which were placed in the tombs to serve the pharaoh in the afterlife.
We were in an enclosed area when he came up and asked if we were Americans. He was from Iraq and he had lost three family members during U.S. military action there.
He asked, Why does a country that has everything continue to kill millions of people all over the world? He listed country after country along with huge numbers killed in each. Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan just to start.
As we listened I thought about the reasons / justifcations for each conflict and also how grateful I have been for our soldiers who put their lives on the line to serve our country.
He said that the Americans he meets are good people but our government is out of control. His opinion...but how many people around the the world also think this is true?

Ottoman museum pics

Sent from my iPhone

market pictures

Sent from my iPhone

Egyptian museum pics

Sent from my iPhone

Egyptian museum pictures

Sent from my iPhone

Update 20

Here's a few juxtapositions we've seen recently:
-A huge CAT dirt mover passed by a donkey pulled cart
-A Christian church with a Muslim security guard
-A Muslim woman wearing a hijab walking by a stall selling sexy Cleopatra outfits
-Looking out our airport window: the green rich Nile delta next to the barren desert...you could almost draw a straight line to divide the two

Sent from my iPhone

Update 19

RE was closed for the next two days to celebrate Revolutionary Day (1954 independence from British). We headed to the Egyptian Museum...and we're overwhelmed! All those tombs we saw had been loaded with jewelry, furniture, miniature weapons & servants, pottery, food, clothing, sarcophagus & mummies...and all these treasures filled the museum....and we heard only 15% were on display. One area alone held about 120 sarcophaguses!! Two temperature controlled rooms were the "tomb" for about 20 mummies.
We were both feeling like it was just sooo wrong that all this was taken out of their tombs...and the mummies out of their personal caskets...just so we could gawk at them! But then we read the display describing how the tombs were being robbed*, plundered & destroyed for years before the Egyptian gov't decided to protect them by housing them in this museum built in 1858. (*Gurda was named in particular...we wondered if related to our guest house family???)
After about 3 hours, we couldn't digest any more. We grabbed a sandwich & Cheetos ...love a taste from home :). Then to market-to-market to buy...a sweater & that's it. But we did see anything & everything including butchered meats, veges, spices, raw wool, breads, bedding, clothing, kitchen stuff, water pipes & every known trinket there is!! Khan el Khalili filled narrow & winding streets crammed with stalls & customers but still motorcycles raced through the cracks of space. Totally crazy.
Our second day off, we headed to RE to the English church service & enjoyed visiting with others from many other countries. Then we crawled into a Tuk Tuk & headed for the Ottoman museum & a mosque built in 263AD and ended up at the Citadel which included the Muhammad Ali Mosque & the Police Museum. It was a delightful to see many young families enjoying the open space...and it made us grin to be asked a couple times to have us in their pictures.
It was a perfect way to spend the Egyptian Revolutionary Day...much like our 4th of July...and we even got to watch fireworks from our hotel room!

Sent from my iPhone

Update 18

My birthday! Sun shone brightly into our room...a birthday treat for me! Ate breakfast at our hotel...impressive buffet..then off to RE. Rog did some one on one teaching with a priest, Joshua. For 1 1/2 hours he pronounced & explained the meaning of words Joshua didn't know from the Bible! Imagine that...Rog teaching a priest about the Bible. Cracked me up! I copied & stapled English midterm test and then both of us edited an English power point presentation the Doctor here prepared & is going to give. She needed help with the grammar & spelling.
While we were eating lunch, a young boy selling flowers kept giving me pleading eyes as he sat on the curb with cars rushing by within inches. I couldn't resist so I got flowers for my birthday. :)
We got our lesson plans for the class we're teaching later when we got back so we spent some time prepping. It's a beginners class of 20 some students. We practiced introductions, saying the letters names & the correct way to use Mr., Mrs. and Miss. The students were engaged & freely participated. It was fun & easy for us!
On our way back to our room, we stopped to buy rich desserts which we thoroughly enjoyed. The miracle of Messenger made it possible for me to get birthday wishes from most of my kids & grandkids!! I stayed up late reading the Facebook birthday wishes & felling very special.
So another birthday in another country...lucky me!!

Sent from my iPhone

Update 17

Moving on up!! That's been our experience here in Cairo—from a horrid first night, to a much better room ($40) though cold & we had to swat flies on a regular basis—to a fabulous 16th floor room with a view of the Nile and a heater!! It's ironic how it all worked out. When the reservations for one ran out, we had to move and for $15 more, we got this luxurious room. If only we'd known!! In 4 days we'll be moving again to the room right on the All Saints campus—for just $20 a night...wondering if we'll be moving up or down?
Our walk to RE is about the same. It's funny how quickly it feels like home when you walk the same streets two or more times a day...see the same store keepers, shoe shiners, street sweepers, boys parking cars, etc...The man who sells Coke Lite is my buddy & waves even when I don't stop for a 30cent can.
This morning we worked on our lesson plans before heading to RE. Once there we both worked on sorting & distributing clothes. Not sure where it all comes from but comes in 100 lb grain bags which we dump on a table, let the refugees dig through as we try to sort a bit.
At 3, we went to our classrooms to make sure we could play the soundtrack that goes with our lesson & set up for class. At 3:30 class started...with 1 student on time. By 3:45 about 10 & by 4 we had 12. We spent some time learning a bit about each. Four of the boys had let their home country alone...family still there...probably avoiding being forced to join the military. Now they told us they hope be be a teach, chef, doctor & a salesman. I pray they can!!
Lesson went well as the kids were anxious to learn & felt free to ask questions. The 1 1/2 hour raced by & so many thanked us as they left. Ahh...we both love teaching. We celebrated eating at Pizza Hut!

Sent from my iPhone

Update 16 by Roger

Every time we are out on the street we see some unfortunate people who are in need.
Old men or ladies sit on a piece of cardboard waiting for a passerby to give something to them. Some have a package of tissue that they hold out to us hoping for a bit more than they paid for it. Others just hold out their hand in the the universal gesture, or if hungry they put their hand to their mouth to make it clear.
I notice a boy walking from person to person with his hand out, then a man reaches into his pocket and nonchalantly passes a small bill to the boy.
A child sits in a broken plastic chair blocking a parking space until someone needs it, then he collects some baksheesh for "saving" the spot for the driver.
I am approached by a man speaking in Arabic asking me something. I don't understand...then he says in English, "Give me dollar." I don't want to encourage him to beg so I keep walking but I think about him a lot. Soon after that another man is crawling across the road on his hands and knees. His bare legs wave uselessly behind him. He has no feet. He can survive here only through the generosity of those around him.
I am not going to change the way that people get help here by any action I take or don't take. It seems so sad to us, but this is how it works here. And it has been this way for a very long time. The attitude is "you have some and I don't so share a bit of what you have". Baksheesh.
It's not hard to understand. It is just different from what we are accustomed to. Maybe we should rethink some of our customs.
I will be changing my ways and rather than trying to discourage them by ignoring their behavior I will offer what they want which is just a small amount. I will feel better and they will feel better about us, too.
Maybe travel does change us.


Sent from my iPhone

Update 15 by Roger

We stopped to visit with four women refugees from Eritrea while they were eating lunch.
Mona proudly told us that she was the elder sister and that she will soon be graduating from the cleaning class. She was excited because she will now be able to get a job and earn about 3000 Egyptian Pounds each month (about $175). Because food and other necessities are cheap here she will be OK but she will live on the edge.
When I mentioned the refugees to a local man, he said that they will basically be slaves to the rich people who hire them.
I am hopeful that the women will continue to improve their skills and move on to better paying jobs.


Sent from my iPhone

Update 14

Mohammed took us to the airport by 8 & we felt like we were leaving a good friend. Back in Cairo, we soon headed out to Refuge Egypt & quickly got put to work. Rog registering new refugees & I passed out & sorted clothes. Next @200 students came to pay ($6) & be assigned classes based on the results of last week's testing. Kind of chaotic. It took 4 staff & 4 volunteers to get it done in 3 hours. What made it so rewarding was knowing many of these young, eager kids came from countries where there had been no education for years due to war. As one boy said, "We are so blessed to be here!" And so are we.

Sent from my iPhone

Update 13

Another day...another temple! But we'd save the best for last: Karnak. More & bigger pillars, statues, gateways, carvings, sphinx...and tourist. Really the first time we waited in a line. We lost the crowd by hiking to the end...about 900 Ft and slowly making our way back gaping at the quantity, quality & size. I have no more descriptive words to use after writing about the sights we've already seen these last 3 days. You know that savoring feeling you get when you eat the last bite..the moist center of a gooey warm cinnamon bun...maybe that describes how I felt.
In the nearby Luxor Museum we saw 2 mummies—one believed to be Ramses I. It had been lying around in some Niagara Falls Oddity spot, then purchased for $2M by U of Georgia, examined & ID'd and finally put to rest in the Luxor Museum...a good will offering!:). Also in the museum was a wooden box...totally decorated...a smaller box also decorated that fit inside it...believed to be the coffin of a wealthy African woman who died almost 4000 years ago. Dang that's old! Most of the stone statues in the museum were found in 1989 right on the Karnak grounds. (See Louise it's not too late!)
Our taxi driver (same one we've been with many times), Mohammed took us to "the best Egyptian food" in Luxor. We shared the meal and as usual, it was more than enough. Of all our travels, I think I've enjoyed Egyptian food the best...except desserts aren't offered.
Then we went to the hotel that Mohammed had arranged—he probably got a cut for it & the restaurant too. It was also a relic of the past...once elegant & a gem...now fading fast. A huge empty dining room with dusty table, a pool surrounded by worn out lounge chairs, many broken mirrors, etc...but adequate for one night.
After grabbing our jackets, we headed to the Nile malecon where we'd met a boat owner earlier who'd promised us a romantic sunset ride for $20..and it was. We admired the large sail boats & fancy huge cruise ships...but as usual, we were happy to travel more simply.
It's amazing what you can see in just 3 days!
Sent from my iPhone

Update 12

From our room I heard children chanting and so off I went to find the source. Under a cane stalked roof on a dusty floor covered particulate by mats, I found an older man with a long stick point to a chipped blackboard covered with Arabic & a mass of children chanting the words. Shortly, he cam over to see me & when I asked if I could stay, he grinned & said certainly. I watched as he moved among the grouped students...about 70...getting each group to recite or read from a book they held. Often 3 groups were reciting at the same time but different lessons. Kids not under his direct supervision were doing the what you'd expect...swatting each other, pulling hair, tossing paper wads...mostly the boys...made me smile.
At one point, the teacher brought 2 very young girls over & had them recite the ABC's & spell some words for me. He tenderly put his hand on the shoulder of one of them and said she is very smart & comes to school every day. Putting his hand on the other, he said she too was very smart but did not come to school as often...then shook his head.
After about 30 minutes, the teacher dismissed one group at a time having the last group clean up. Then the teacher came over sit by me (I was on a block of cement holding up a post.). When I told him I'd been a teacher, he grinned & said "Then you understand." As I'd suspected, he'd divided the kids by levels..not age...six mats...K-5. Pretty sure he didn't do a formal testing. If I understood him correctly, many of the kids go to another school maybe in the morning as he only taught in the afternoon.
He had been teaching 30 years. He grinned when I complimented him on the kindness he showed his students, the control he had over the large group & the respect the students had for him. I love being in classrooms..anywhere & everywhere!!

Sent from my iPhone