Apologies in advance – I feel I am bordering on a serious case of verbal diarrhea which could last at least 3 – 4 days depending on outside contagious or infectious circumstances…..former English speaking guests of Mara House will have had to suffer through some bouts of this, happens when I have not had a good english conversation for some time 🙁
However, presently my disease is stemming from the political events unfolding around me and it is a case of ‘write or burst’
Most of you reading this are not from Egypt – where I am currently living, for anyone whose attention this might have escaped. I can quite easily put myself in your shoes. You are not the slightest bit interested in what is going on here…unless perhaps you have visited and acquired some kind of liking, loathing or acceptance of Egyptians and the country. I can put myself in your shoes because, for the most part and for most of the time, I’m not interested in what is going on anywhere else in the world myself. At least most of me is not – but there is a little part of me taking notes and feeling for the plight of the unfortunate and underdogs wherever they are
But, you know what? You should be interested. You should be – sorry, WE should ALL be interested in what is going on in the world because it is not a big place and the pebble in the pond in Africa affects us all one way or another. YEARS ago I remember a TV documentary; actually I think I may only have been in my early 20’s at the time. The closing line was “One day the people of Africa will come to you across the sea – what will you say to them?” And hasn’t that prediction come through! Wow! Hasn’t it come through! Do you know how many millions in aid all the refugees from Africa are costing the EU?
The fact is these people should not be costing you a cent! They should not be costing you a cent because they should not AND do not want to be refugees on your doorstep. They want to go back home and live normal lives – just like you.
International trade, greed, political ambition, self-serving interests and bull-shit is responsible for ever humanitarian ongoing disaster on the face of this earth! Our lack of interest, our lack of compassion and our lack of sending good will and expressing that intent of goodwill is to some degree responsible for you now seeing so many of your Euros supporting these people – you want an example? Subsidised sugar means that it is cheaper for African countries to import our sugar (shit) and many other commodities than it is for the growers in Africa to grow the sugar. Imagine that every time you spoon your sugar into your cuppa! We are drinking the misery of millions.
I hope, I sincerely hope I am wrong when I say that the same international intrigue and self-serving interests are probably at work in Egypt. Here in Egypt the USA and Europe – your elected representatives are silently supporting an unjust and undemocratic regime oppressing, silencing it’s people and bankrupting it’s economy. Ok, the Egyptians asked for it when they ousted Mubarak – but that was then and this is now.
On 30th June Egyptians are calling for the President to step down. You don’t know what 30th June is about? It’s about normal people wanting their lives back. Most likely many will die. Unless the army steps in to keep the peace and unless it puts severe pressure on the ruling party a period of civil war will result.
Remember Syria? It started like this. 100,000 are dead. Now the US wants to arm the rebels – trouble is that we don’t know who they are any more because they have been added to by extremists – and please don’t think that borders are going to stop those extremists.
Problem about extremists is…. what can you do with them? Lock them up? Kill them? I don’t know.
But before you go to bed tonight and every night from now on – how about taking a few seconds, just a few seconds to make a prayer, a wish of Light…..“I wish that in Egypt and every other troubled country around the world enlightement will dawn, love descend, hearts will open and life be preserved”.
As we left Luxor, a couple of weeks ago, for our summer holiday in England, our Muslim neighbours were asking us (Christians) to pray for Egypt. Doesn’t that fact alone give us some impression of just how desperate the populace are becoming?