It's been around ten days here in Egypt. I'm not sure where to begin. To all who care to read on and to all who have reached out to me recently, I love you guys. It truly matters to me to know there is an army of "encouragement warriors" behind my back. No matter what, I know I got trusted folks in my life, so thank you.
I've been going through an intense twenty day human rights program with the Cairo Institute of Human Rights (it will end August 30th, every day from 9 am to 6:30 pm, no days off). At first, I was scared my (bad) Arabic skills would cause a deficiency in my ability to mix well with the group of 50 other young people, along with discussing and giving input during lectures and workshops. What I have realized is, most people really like you if you've lived abroad, and most Egyptians, no matter what, will always encourage you. I've witnessed a huge amount of love from this group of 50 people, maybe it's cause they all care about humanity and human rights, or maybe it's cause God's just blessing me. Either way, we have become a good family here. We are all so different. We have a Syrian girl, a man from Afghanistan, a Bahaai, a Nubian (southern Egypt), liberals, conservatives, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, homosexuals all sorts of people. But we all learn to respect and love one another, it feels like a bit of goodness in a land full of what many like to call "hopeless misery". At first, I was so hesitant and shy, but I forced myself to play guitar/sing "how He loves us" at an Open Mic session, and I feel since then (along with all the love and encouragement I receive here), I've opened up more and started speaking up :)
Our lectures include topics on refugee rights, housing rights, education, women, children, suspect/victim rights, police brutality, death penalty, poverty, and so much more. I'm learning so much!
Aside from that I've had the chance of visiting the orphanage once, along with visiting another nonprofit I'll be volunteering for. Currently, I live with my aunt and grandma in downtown Cairo. I'm looking for other places to continue my stay till mid December. It's been nothing but a joy. But a different kind of joy. The kind where you feel like you're in a dirty pit, but you can look up and see a light, and you get excited because you feel there is hope.
I was walking down the street with my music on. The sun's heat (it's only 101 degrees...) was hitting my skin, my sweat was dripping, but heart was glad I was in my country. A car was parked on the side of the road with a pleasantly plump woman inside it devouring a cake. She took the wrapper and threw it out the window on the ground. I picked up the piece of trash and said "we are trying to make our country clean, ma'am." Surprisingly, instead of cursing at me, she apologized. Here I was proud of myself for "saving the world", and ready to find a trash can. My spirit soon felt sad as I realized, there are no trash cans, and even more so, I found piles and loads of trash on the side screaming at me "Lydia, we are here, you didn't do anything by picking up one piece of trash". I had a choice at that moment, I believe. Do I just throw away the wrapper in my sweaty hand to join it's other buddies on the ground, or do I stick through and try and find a trash can? Stubborn Lydia waited and after 20 minutes of walking, finally found a trash can. This whole story for me goes so much deeper than what simply happened on the surface. It feels that in the coming four months I'll have to face the choice of sticking with an extremely small and seemingly non-influencing action, or give in to the darkness and corruption that oozes out of every corner in this country.
I hope I make the right decision each time. It will come with strength and your prayers.
That should be all for now. Though I have so many more stories to share, I think I wouldn't be able to fit them all here. I plan on updating each week, but that may not happen, given how busy I am these days. Either way, I appreciate you all for following and caring :)
I've been going through an intense twenty day human rights program with the Cairo Institute of Human Rights (it will end August 30th, every day from 9 am to 6:30 pm, no days off). At first, I was scared my (bad) Arabic skills would cause a deficiency in my ability to mix well with the group of 50 other young people, along with discussing and giving input during lectures and workshops. What I have realized is, most people really like you if you've lived abroad, and most Egyptians, no matter what, will always encourage you. I've witnessed a huge amount of love from this group of 50 people, maybe it's cause they all care about humanity and human rights, or maybe it's cause God's just blessing me. Either way, we have become a good family here. We are all so different. We have a Syrian girl, a man from Afghanistan, a Bahaai, a Nubian (southern Egypt), liberals, conservatives, Muslims, Christians, Atheists, homosexuals all sorts of people. But we all learn to respect and love one another, it feels like a bit of goodness in a land full of what many like to call "hopeless misery". At first, I was so hesitant and shy, but I forced myself to play guitar/sing "how He loves us" at an Open Mic session, and I feel since then (along with all the love and encouragement I receive here), I've opened up more and started speaking up :)
Our lectures include topics on refugee rights, housing rights, education, women, children, suspect/victim rights, police brutality, death penalty, poverty, and so much more. I'm learning so much!
Aside from that I've had the chance of visiting the orphanage once, along with visiting another nonprofit I'll be volunteering for. Currently, I live with my aunt and grandma in downtown Cairo. I'm looking for other places to continue my stay till mid December. It's been nothing but a joy. But a different kind of joy. The kind where you feel like you're in a dirty pit, but you can look up and see a light, and you get excited because you feel there is hope.
I was walking down the street with my music on. The sun's heat (it's only 101 degrees...) was hitting my skin, my sweat was dripping, but heart was glad I was in my country. A car was parked on the side of the road with a pleasantly plump woman inside it devouring a cake. She took the wrapper and threw it out the window on the ground. I picked up the piece of trash and said "we are trying to make our country clean, ma'am." Surprisingly, instead of cursing at me, she apologized. Here I was proud of myself for "saving the world", and ready to find a trash can. My spirit soon felt sad as I realized, there are no trash cans, and even more so, I found piles and loads of trash on the side screaming at me "Lydia, we are here, you didn't do anything by picking up one piece of trash". I had a choice at that moment, I believe. Do I just throw away the wrapper in my sweaty hand to join it's other buddies on the ground, or do I stick through and try and find a trash can? Stubborn Lydia waited and after 20 minutes of walking, finally found a trash can. This whole story for me goes so much deeper than what simply happened on the surface. It feels that in the coming four months I'll have to face the choice of sticking with an extremely small and seemingly non-influencing action, or give in to the darkness and corruption that oozes out of every corner in this country.
I hope I make the right decision each time. It will come with strength and your prayers.
That should be all for now. Though I have so many more stories to share, I think I wouldn't be able to fit them all here. I plan on updating each week, but that may not happen, given how busy I am these days. Either way, I appreciate you all for following and caring :)
This is lovely. God is blessing you and all you do there.
ReplyDeleteCan you post the documentary you and other volunteers made?