happy working in Cairo!

In school, I debate theoretical arguments such as the distinction between "inhumane and degrading treatment" v. "torture" and I read case studies about the gross lack of medical services available to refugees in Cairo. I walk the streets of Cairo harassed by macho comments, covered with dirt and sweat. I often ask myself, what am I doing here and why am I doing it here specifically. Today a few of collegues and I visited numerous non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community based organizations (CBOs), and schools in a predominatly poor and Sudanese area of town (one might say, the ghetto). These visits answered those questions and renewed my purpose and energy in Cairo.

The objective of the visits was to observe the organizations where the new psychosocial candidates will be hosted and what are there current activities, in addition to meeting other staff and board members of the organizations. Yet amongst the meetings, we walked through the streets, shook hands of random people, drank tea, avoided goats, horses, donkeys, dogs, cats and their remains. We saw real life.

While it’s great to understand the theories and case studies, for me, there is nothing more gratifying than working in communities, walking the streets and seeing/feeling the daily life of the people with whom I work. Today I got to see a side of Cairo that I have never seen. Granted it was a holiday thus, I’m not sure it will be the same the next time I return however it was fun to see daily life on a holiday!

One aspect of the visits that struck me was the discussion surrounding financial affairs. Some of the organizations survived essentially by volunteer staff, others sat around saying there was no funding thus no programming and others had international contacts that helped to secure external funding. One lady in particular who runs a nursery for babies and infants stuck in my mind. She talked in a very matter-of-fact way; she recognized the less than desirable conditions of the organization and families that frequent it, yet she spoke with such conviction and passion that re-instilled my faith that people are intrinsically good. She saw a need in her community and she does something about it, piece by piece, day-by-day, from the goodness of their heart, without renumeration and often at great expense, for the betterment of the community.

Then there were the ones that sat around waiting for funding. Frankly,they annoyed me and made me just want to push past and say, “excuse me, please get out of the way for people that are actually doing something!” It also reconfirmed how many of the daily activities and programs are initiated and maintained by women. Yes, we saw a lot of men at the heads of organizations and some were very effective and influential yet overall, I still have this feeling that women are the real movers and shakers.

During the site visits I also thought of Greg Mortenson’s comments in his book “Three Cups of Tea” when he speaks about how many cups of tea one must consume to get anything done. Sadly enough, as I’ve noticed in other developing countries, tea is frequently replaced by glass bottles of sugary soda. Do they think that all foreigners drink lots of soda? I can’t imagine it a question of access or price as tea is so easily available in Egypt. But I brushed my teeth three times when I arrived home.

Today, while a bit tired and dirty, I come home renewed. Last year I volunteered at the Refugee Legal Aid Project and lived in that community of people: staff, volunteers and clients. Today made me realize that 1) this year, I had been missing that sense of community and 2) that I where I might not get to work intimately with just one organization this year, it will be fun to mixed into a bunch of them!