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