Finally, El Harumatt!!

"Whats your opinion of Egypt?? How about those pyramids!!" Egyptians are always curious as to my thoughts of Egypt--its cities, its foods, its people, its monuments. And for the first three I've of course responded of my love for 'everything Egypt,' but of the last I have had to shamefully disclose that I had yet to visit its magnificent and world-renown monuments, the Harumatt. Yes, we really hit the ground running here. That, and the desert during a summer day isn't exactly pleasant. So I waited nearly three months and though it was still blazing saddles on November 26, my visit to the pyramids ect. today was truly an incredible experience. It is certainly true that there are some things that can never be captured in books and photos...

We started in Memphis, the original capital of Egypt and in fact one of the earliest settlements of humanity. Today it lies about 40 minutes south of Cairo by bus, and is nothing more than an agrarian community. Our bus took us on dirt roads past donkeys carrying loads of sugar cane, horse-drawn carts filled with tomatoes, and women gracefully (and amazingly) carrying today's water on their heads. Since the capital moved north closer to Cairo when the Roman's came around the turn of the millenium, Memphis gradually disappeared until all that remained were buried monuments of a time long past. When in the middle and late 1800's the Europeans began their Egyptology expeditions, they unearthed in Memphis a plethora of large sculptures, tablets, and sarcofaguses of ancient Egypt. The most notable were hauled away (and put in trophy cases in the British Museum and the Louvre), but many were left behind where they can be found in a small fenced in area about the size of a football field at the end of a dusty road 30 miles south of Cairo. We truly had a wonderful tour guide today who enlightened us naive westerners as to ancient Egypt.

As very similar to the concept of the emperor in China, the pharaoh in Egypt was the absolute link between God ('Rah' in hieroglyphics) and the people as his subjects. The famous pharaonic name of 'Ramses' actually comes from a combination of 'Rah' and 'masis,' which in hieroglyphics meant 'beloved son.' Therefore, the pharaoh was revered not simply as the iron-fisted ruler of the people, but as one who was the intermediary between heaven and earth. And so many monuments discovered and unearthed in the last one hundred years bear the images of rulers, along with the numerous dieties of ancient Egypt. Ongoing excavations will surely reveal many more artifacts like the ones on display in the Memphis.

From Memphis we made our way to the pyramid park. It is true that on a rare day of little pollution, one can see the pyramids from many spots in Cairo. I had seen them a couple of times from bus and taxi windows, and remember feeling as if I had greatly underestimated the magnitude of these famous structures. They are really huge. And they are even bigger when you stand at the bottom of them. Its like looking up at a magnificent and perfectly symmetrical mountain. How could humans have built this 137m tall mass of square blocks--precise to even the millimeter--and 5000 years ago?? Originally, a limestone casting coated the bulk of blocks that provided the structure of the pyramids making a smooth, tidy, and sheen covering to the pyramids. The top of the pyramid of Khafre still contains a little of this to convey the original completed project. As funerary complexes visible from great distances away, the pyramids allowed the pharaohs to be worshiped long after their death, reminding his subjects both of the eternal power of the gods and the absolute power of the pharoah. And I can truly say that even amongst the scores of tourists and hawkers peddling their wares and camel men begging you to take a ride, you really feel small at the foot of something so enormous and beautiful, even 5000 years later. Both the pyramids themselves and the work of those so long ago that struggled for 20 years to build these pyramids (fyi-new research is showing that it was probably not slaves that built the pyramids, but a highly organized class of Egyptian farmers working in the 4-month flood season for which they were idle) demands respect, necessarily drawing one into that ancient world of spirituality, honour, and remarkable achievement in the name of something much greater than human-kind.

"Fraternity Day"

I met a group of people in October who have established what they call the “Dialogue Forum,” a grassroots organization here in Cairo that organizes events to stimulate inter-group dialogue. So it was in this group that I met Janique, a Swiss Christian, and Nagy, an Egyptian Christian, and Sharin, an Egyptian Muslim, and David, a Sudanese Christian, and Essam, a Muslim Egyptian, and Sarah, an American Christian, examples of the incredible diversity within the group. And what a joy its been to meet with open-minded people with such eagerness to live for and learn from the ‘other.’ As I understand the origins of the ‘Dialogue Forum,’ two years ago a group of people working in the same office decided it would be good to organize events to bring diverse groups together for the simple purpose of breaking down the walls that commonly divide people here in Egypt. A number of events are generally planned each month for all ages. For example, just last week the group took a tour together of Islamic Cairo, an area dense in the Islamic beginnings here in Cairo. And next week we will take a tour to Coptic Cairo to learn about the origins of Christianity here. From time to time the members also work together to provide “Fraternity Days” for children of diverse backgrounds here in Cairo. As it was still three weeks before the first fraternity when I first met these people, I was able to step right into the planning process for October’s Fraternity Day.

Originally, it seemed that as the children aged 7-12 only spoke Arabic, my ability to be of any great service was extremely limited. Basically, I thought that what the group was doing was incredibly cool and I wanted to be around to see it happen. I soon learned that there are no bystanders in this group. After the first meeting, somehow my interest in photography won me the position of ‘video man’ though I’d never in my life really handled a video camera. When word got out in the second meeting that I will be studying medicine (emphasis on future tense), I quickly became the ‘first aid man’ for the day. And when in the third meeting the group realized that the song session they had planned had no leader, I became the ‘song man’ for music in a language I can’t speak:> When all was said and done after the last meeting, we pretended we were ready and agreed to see each other on Friday, the day of the event.

This was the first Fraternity day of many planned (insha’allah—‘God-willing’). Something like 2.5 kids to every adult—on paper the ratio looked great but when bus loads of Sudanese kids and Garbage Collector kids and British International school kids started to unload, the realization of the incredible nature of the day began to sink in. Even the original plan of games in a giant circle was a challenge as kids kept exclusively to the groups with they arrived. And as finally a loose semblance of a fragmented circle was formed, and I began to realize that this was truly the first time for many that they had ever been in the common presence of ‘others.’ We had planned for three times of video interviews throughout the day—arrival, afternoon, and departure. “Are you happy to be here?” we asked. “Yes,” “Of course,” “Sure,” were the typical elementary school kid replies, mixed with a few “No—I don’t know anybody here” replies. They were young kids—so young I wondered if they saw black or white, rich or poor, Muslim or Christian so much as people they didn’t know. Yet, through mid-morning, it was clear that despite the laughter, fun, and joy had in just a few hours, there existed some deep-seated stereotypes, as one answered “These people aren’t like my friends at home.” During the morning there were some who outright refused to cooperate with the program, choosing to watch from the side.

For the children who chose to participate, they were learned quickly about the ‘other.’ Soon after arrival random groups of equal ratios of Sudanese, Egyptians, Christians, Muslims, rich, and poor were formed and activities arranged for each ‘team’ to engage in. As in any group, the individuals must learn to work together to find any success whether it was in a game of football or basketball or pictionary. Songs and artwork and inter-group discussion introduced real people with various talents, humor, and even frustrations. ‘Teams’ adapted creative names and anthems as they each fought, ironically enough, for the distinction of “Most Cooperative”—the ideology being that the team who best cooperated was the team to be the most successful (very true, but we are currently working on developing replacement games like low-ropes and group-building activities to replace games pitting one team against the other where there is always a loser). Since it was during Ramadan, in the evening was an iftar for everyone. After the meal was the last surprise of a show by the local Sudanese dance troupe. For me, the success of the day was most vivid as I watched the chairs cleared for the stage as hand-in-hand all danced together with the Sudanese. “Yes, I’d like to come back for I have made many friends today,” said one before leaving. Regardless of what each child thought about the ‘other’ before they left, they learned much of their similarities throughout the day. It was truly a delight to watch, with much due thanks to the incredible staff who worked with the kids—I was amazed at their ability to jump in and move amongst the kids in amazing ways that created a wonderful environment of safety, freedom, and friendship. And no one got hurt!! I think its definitely a sign we should have another. I want to leave with giving the words of the theme song that circled throughout the day, words that were on the lips of children as they left, words that will stick in all of our minds until next time, words that give us hope and direction for the future:

Ihna Kollena Marba
Hannayen Hagat Kibeera

All of Us Together
Will Do Great Things

Hitting home

So I got word from a friend of mine who is the director of the children's education program at the local refugee program that there was an artice written of the much ignored refugee situation here in Egypt. It appeared in Minneapolis's Star Tribune last week and contains a couple of photos of Isaac Thoks, a friend of mine I have met at St. Andrew's where he goes to school and church with me. His is a story of great hardship here in Cairo, a society generally unwelcoming to the Christian Africans of Sudan seeking the hope of a better life. He is a good man making incredible progress in his English in only a year of studying. He often shows up for tutoring on Tuesday afternoons with me, and through these sessions I have observed his determination and incredible drive to learn English. For these refugees, this is the one thing they can do here in Egypt to prepare for a potential future in another country. Their chance of obtaining asylum sharply increases with their level of English. And as I attempt to behold the story of Isaac alone, I am continually floored by the reality that beyond Isaac are at least 40,000 others like him. I encourage you to read the article--it presents some of the major problems for refugees here in Cairo from the perspective of a place and a people I encounter daily, like Isaac at St. Andrews.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/722/5717675.html