Egypt
After making previous ongoing contact with several youth & community groups listed in the FCO/Euromed Connect Youth website, we met face-to-face at the Orouba Youth & Community Centre in Cairo (the largest in Egypt) to discuss exchange visit possibilities within the Youth Exchange programme. Diminishing funding opportunities has delayed developing an exchange programme to date but plans to continue relevant dialogue await funding.
Two subsequent visits to Egypt were then aimed at making personal face-to-face contact with the elusive & reserved Bedouin tribes of Sinai. We did this with the support of our Egyptology Guide, Mr Sherif Abdel Salem Atiya of Tanta in the Nile Delta, who subsequently & currently acts as CCE's Egypt Consultant on an ongoing basis and particularly during the 3 trips. His immense local knowledge and understanding throughout all Egypt is invaluable in order for CCE to truly pass beyond the world of tourism into the daily life of Islamic culture. We did this with the Al-Muzeina Bedouin Tribe who reside throughout southern Sinai, originally nomadic Bedouin from Saudi Arabia.
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| Sherif, CCE's Egypt Consultant, at St. Catherine's Monastery... | ...built at the base of 'Moses Mountain', where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God. | The Monastery houses and protects the continued existence of "Moses Burning Bush" |
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| Moses Mountain and St. Catherine's Monastery with belltower and mosque tower to the right. | Ancient iconic artwork |
Egypt Consultant's Report
To read Sherif's Report in Arabic or in an English translation, please download it from our Media page. We express our sincerest gratitude to the staff and Imam of the Aberdeen Mosque (the closest to CCE) for speedily, kindly and generously responding to our request for assistance in translation, and plan to develop further dialogue between us. The following captioned photographs and travellers' reports from Catriona and Warren highlight experiences with personal awareness & understanding in mind and particularly based on themes of common understanding at family and community levels by participating in daily life. These post-trip reports, photographs and products obtained at source (ie, bead jewellery made by Bedouin women) are then included in CCE's UK post-trip exhibitions "Window into the World of Islam & Arabs" held in community venues to invite interest, interaction and dialogue to learn about and engage with CCE and Egypt, in this case, in whatever ways appropriate. For further visuals & information on Exhibitions please see separate section in this website. Egypt's role is also further explained in CCE's Report to the U.N.'s Alliance of Civilizations located elsewhere in the website."
CCE invited Catriona on its first trip to Egypt as a family friend and as 1 of 2 travellers representing a local youth group, and who was willing to participate in CCE activities, in particular to visit the Orouba Community & Youth Centre in Cairo (see photo). From this trip Catriona wrote post-trip reports for inclusion in post-trip Exhibitions, which she, and other young people, helped create and operate. Here are a few of Catriona's words.
> Click here for the full version (PDF).
"Going to Egypt opened my eyes and broadened my horizons because their culture is so different from ours. I believe it's very important for young people today to get together & network as much as possible to discuss & explore ways to make the changes we want to make. This is particularly important with children in the Middle East, to break down stereotypes which are an after-effect of the war on Iraq and 9/11 etc. I want my children & grandchildren & great grandchildren to grow up in a better world. It may be difficult to be forgiving, but if we find ways to understand 'differences', even if we don't agree with it, find ways to tolerate it. It's vital to deepen our understanding of different cultures and build a future that doesn't include wars. Having now visited an Arab and predominantly Muslim nation myself has enabled me to make my own views of their life & culture, which you can't experience anywhere in Britain as all talk of Arabs and Muslims is tainted by the war on terror! "
Warren Hastie was recruited by CCE in response to our "Male Wanted" notice, to join CCE on its 3rd trip to Southern Sinai for the purpose of investigating and recording his experience of the male perspective and role in Islam, as well as presenting his role as a Western/UK male, and respond to opportunities towards furthering mutual cross cultural understanding, even without a common language. Warren and his report/s would also be a centrepiece in the post-trip UK community exhibitions "Window into the World of Islam".
[Picture: Warren Hastie (middle left) in appropriate Arab dress to mark Eid El-Fitr (breaking of the fast), an important Islamic festival celebrating the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan and fasting, and the Islamic New Year.]
Warren wrote three separate reports which we condensed into a one-page "Warren's Snippets", and which we believe offers you a personal glimpse of Islam today at community and family levels, which is our aim. Warren's poetic choice of words creates a rich, warm, vivid and intriguing picture of daily life and whose Conclusion is worthy of a gold star and serious consideration.
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| Manshed (referred to in Warren's Snippets) with his grandson | CCE learns how to make butter with Salheh's mother and relative in Sinai desert in traditional Bedouin nomadic tent | CCE meets youth & community leaders at the Orouba Community Centre in Cairo, the largest in Egypt, with a representative of Egypt's Euromed Exchange Youth programme. |
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| Bedouin Princess Salheh with her two neices of the Al-Muzeina Bedouin tribe, the largest in Southern Sinai & with whom CCE stayed on 2 occasions in Dahab and Ras Abu-Gholoum | |
Manshed's family welcomed us into their homes and taught us much about their beliefs, traditions, rituals and daily activities. From camel riding to bread making, or simply sitting and enjoying tea or a meal shared together, our family was encouraged to feel part of theirs. In particular, the warmth & hospitality we received on a daily basis were not what I had expected. No, this was a genuine building of friendships.
This typical Bedouin and Arab hospitality of 'my home is your home' was even further extended to us as we were invited to spend the Eid El-Fitr festival with them. This important celebration marks the end of the Ramadan month of fasting and the start of the Islamic new year. The two male members of the group were invited by one of Manshed's sons, Sabah, to dress appropriately for the first day of Eid.
A Wise and Wonderful Man:
Sheikh Mohammed of Dahab
"One of the most profound encounters with anyone I've possibly ever had was with Sheikh Mohamed. We had asked the family if we could meet with a local mosque Sheikh/Immam in order to learn about the Islamic world view from Dahab, and we were assured that he was the right man to talk to, and that he certainly was! Manshed's son arranged for us to visit him inbetween a busy schedule of Eid El-Fitr prayers & activities and mosque duties.
He is humble yet light-hearted and jovial in his halting English and perfect French and a man who was led to teach Islam after a soul searching personal quest. In simple terms and with the support of visiting males passing by along the beach, he spoke of global humankind stressing a need to find a higher purpose not based on materialism or ego emphasising a need to simplify our lives busy with clutter and demands of global technology' and that we all need to be in service to others; to teach and help others less able or fortunate than ourselves. (This we witnessed for ourselves in Manshed's tribal family). Through this we unite ourselves as a common humanity where joy and sorrow are shared and no-one is better than the other.
As we left his simple abode that evening he invited our return any time with the words 'my home is your home' as the sea lapped quietly closeby and the true meaning of ISLAM becoming apparent....."
Warren's Conclusion
It is within the climate of this newly-created global village that our different cultures and belief systems have emerged as possibly the most powerful forces able to unite or divide us, and it seems that currently we are dangerously divided. With gross lack of understanding and the accompanying fear, mistrust and suspicion of the others particularly after recent terrorist and counter-terrorist global activities, we find ourselves unwittingly in conflict against our new global neighbours!
It is time for us all to make necessary changes by creating commonages of understanding to continue reinforcing the foundation bridges already laid by CCE of face-to-face personal contact and growing trust with our neighbours in southern Sinai.
> A precis of Warrens report is available here as a PDF file.
CCE's activities in Egypt will soon be available in association with Sharm-Club.com, a locally based Egyptian tour & excursion company with which our Egypt Consultant, Sherif, is involved. The website covers a wide range of relevant, concise & interesting information about Egypt and Sinai, and offers numerous opportunities throughout both.
We recommend www.sharm-club.com for all your excursion needs throughout the whole of Egypt, and look out for CCE programmes to be based soon in Sharm El-Sheikh!
The photo on the right was taken in the desert, showing Salheh & Imad with their children Farouja, Zohra and Mahmoud.
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| Bedouin camp on The Red
Sea, S. Sinai
with shores of Saudi Arabia opposite |
In the desert, CCE's youngest member learns how to make Bedouin bread |
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| Washing up in the desert at sunrise | Bedouin children show CCE desert flora |
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| Manshed with his wealth of camels | Bedouin men making dinner |
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| Before & After... | Jumiya covers her face after remembering about the camera! |
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| Floor Show of traditional dance accompanied by Sherif | Having fun with Egyptian culture! |