Trek Update: Leaving on a Jet Plane (July 31, 2006)

It's 1:44 am and we're getting ready to head for the airport in
another hour and a half. I have been blatantly not updating, mostly
because we've been trying to attend end-of-summer-school closing
ceremonies and dinners at friends' houses. I just realized that I
think I made it through this entire trek without actually telling you
what we've been doing.

I promise I'll write about that, even though I'm sure you'll get your
Cairo Trekkie back soon and they'll be able to tell you everything.


I think most of us are very sad to leave our African family, but
looking forward to coming back. We're going to attempt re-entry to
the United States, reconvening in Los Angeles with the Los Angeles
Urban Project and the Mexico Global Urban Trek for a few days of
debriefing to settle and process the experiences we've had here. One
of the things we'll have to think about is how to act on the
information that we've gained about the situation of the Sudanese in
Cairo. I'm not sure yet what form this will take, but I know that our
involvement here both is appreciated, and must continue to affect us.

Emmanuel, one of the teachers from Central came to visit us early in
the month to tell us how much he appreciated just the fact that we
were there and cared about the Sudanese people. He told us that
nobody had to care about the Sudanese people, yet we chose to come
from America to try to help. He said it was things like this which
gave him hope for his people and his country.
Tonight we went to his house for dinner, and as the taxi drove away,
he waved goodbye and called out to us,

Please do not forget about us

"[Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the
poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that
thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh"
-Isaiah 58:7

I will not forget