Trek Update: News! From the Outside! (July 18, 2006)

out-of-context verse of the day:
"...My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge..."
Hosea 4:6


We don't really have access to any kind of news here. We don't have a
TV, we don't know enough Arabic to keep track of local news, and we
haven't tapped into the international news.

Our mid-trek retreat was to the Sinai peninsula, which was pretty
awesome. It was very refreshing to get out of the city and into the
middle of nowhere, surrounded by mountains. Charles realized that we
were only 6 hours away from Israel, and we began plotting ways to get
there. Good thing we failed.

We got to climb "Mt. Sinai" (there are many mountains in the area, so
apparently we're not sure which one Moses actually climbed, but there
had to be Israelites around here somewhere), and visit St. Catherine's
monastary which has many pictures of St. George and what is supposedly
the formerly-burning bush that got Moses' attention. It was huge. it
was growing out of this, like, brick and wire bush enclosure and
looked kind of like a raspberry bush. Ted, Anna, and I walked the 5
miles to St. Catherine's (rather than pay the outlandish taxi fees)
and got ourselves invited over to the house Nura's family. Nura is a
little girl, 8 years old and an accomplished beggar. She met us on
the road and asked us for money going to and from St. Catherine's. On
the way back, we went to visit her house. None of them spoke any
English and we quickly ran out of Arabic phrases. Nevertheless, their
hospitality was outstanding. The women, Fatma and Lila invited us in
to sit on cushions on the floor of what was perhaps a 2 or 3-room
house. They served us the best tea I've had here yet and we all
stared at each other and smiled because we were out of conversational
Arabic. The kids were a good distraction: Nura, Kareema, and three
others (I'm really terrible with names). I was saved from a lot of
awkwardness by drawing pictures in my sketchbook of all the family
members, writing a message in English and Thankyou in Arabic, and
giving them the pictures. They found this highly amusing. I don't
think they have pictures of themselves. Jamal, the father, came home
while we were there. He spoke pretty good English, so Ted asked him
about his home and work. He works offering camel rides to tourists
climbing Mt. Sinai, and also works as a military guard at the pyramids
in Giza. He doesn't get to come home to see his wife and children
very often, and life is hard for them because in a tourist area,
everything is more expensive. But then it was time to go. I was sad
to leave them and we all wished we'd brought some of our little gifts
to give to the children. Instead, we gave them some money for them to
share and perhaps to buy something special for themselves with, since
we had no other gifts.

When we returned on Monday, the teachers at my school (Central) asked
how the trip was and told us they'd been praying for us because last
year, a car bomb went off near the trek retreat. Later that day, we
met Melanie, a professor from George Washington University who is
collecting material for a book on different American Christian
interactions with various global issues in the Middle East and Africa
(Reed students: Melanie is one of the two professors who suggested
that Kate Lofton take the visiting professor job at Reed! Crazy!).
She brought news of bombing in Lebanon and Israel. We were all very
suprised and made her tell us what was going on at least three times
over.

Tiff, Brian, Kristin and I went to James' house for dinner today.
James is a Sudanese teacher at Central. He is 28, awesome, and lives
with his brother Steven and 6 other people in a small apartment-like
space on ... maybe the fifth floor of an unfinished, tall brick
building (if the buildings are ever finished, the become subject to
more taxes). We watched the news on his TV while we ate. It looks
like a horrible situation all around. If Lebanon resists, Israel
might destroy them. If Lebanon complies, civil war may destroy them.
The bridges are destroyed, the airport was attacked, and a lot of
people are trapped. Food and water transportation is going to be very
difficult. We've only spoken about it with a few Sudanese, and no
Egyptians. But I think this will influence the ability of the
Sudanese to relocate to other countries: many of them go to Israel
since it is easier to fly to a different country out of Israel than it
is to fly out of Egypt. And remember how I wrote last week that Elia
wanted to go to school in Beirut in August? Beirut is being bombed
now.

Today, Tiff and I listened to Emmanuel, another Sudanese teacher at
Central, as he spoke about his family, his life in Cairo, and his
desire to return to Sudan. He asked us, "When you return to America,
what will you do for us?" I hope that when I come back to America, I
will be familiar enough with the actual situation of the refugees in
Cairo to accurately tell their story. And, as Emmanuel told us
earlier, we must all lift each other up by sharing the things we know.
Our hope is that as more people learn about the situation here and in
Sudan, they will be better equipped to help in the ways that they can.
I've been working on an update to explain the situation of the
refugees in Cairo, but I think it is becoming much too long. I'll try
to work it into stages and get it up here.

For now, here are some websites with information about the Lost Boys,
a title given to the refugees working to adapt and advance themselves
in American schools.
http://www.lostboysfilm.com/see.html
http://www.lostboysofsudan.com/

Two of our friends here, Richard and Selina, moved to South Dakota last week.
By the way, one of the limiting factors on how many Sudanese can get
out of Africa is lack of places to go. I found out that somewhere it
is possible for people or churches to sign up to receive refugees from
Sudan. But I don't know yet where this can be done. I encourage
looking into it.

suggested reading:
Slave: My True Story by Mende Nazer
Emma's War by Deborah Scroggins
They Poured Fire on us from the Sky by Alphonsion Deng, Benson Deng,
and Benjamin Ajak, with Judy A. Berstein

The book of Amos is bothering us a lot. I will try to write to you
about that, too.

Peace, Peace
there is no Peace
-Tracy

P.S. This week's full hack count: 1 At the Red Sea (Ted and myself)
0 On Mt. Sinai (a whole bunch of people)

P.P.S. I saw Dr. Phil for the first time today at James' apartment.
I am disgusted.
There are children at our schools who were traumatized by seeing
people killed in the attack on the Refugee Protests last December.
There are children who speak only their tribal languages trying to
attend school in Arabic or English. There are teachers (and I'm sure
children, too) who have lost over half of their family in the war.
And the American TV show of Dr. Phil had a mom whose daughter was
embarassed because her mom dropped her off at school barefoot. Ok,
ok. and in pajamas. A major component of the response included
giving the mom a makeover.

P^3.S.
Prayer:
Israel and Lebanon
Nura's family
Richard and Selina
The city of Cairo and the country of Egypt
South Sudan
the Refugees