GordonMoyes.com

Salima Ikram, a professor of Egyptology at the American University in Cairo and co-director of the North Kharga Oasis Survey, has written a fascinating account of the work she conducts at several sites in Egypt. Following is an extract from her full article, which appears in Archaeology Magazine for November 2008.

Cairo’s garbage dump is a city in its own right and the population is predominately Coptic Christian, driven there by the Muslim majority decades ago. They subsist by working as Cairo’s garbage collectors, the people with carts and other makeshift conveyances that collect the city’s garbage and haul it home to the dump where they then do the recycling, reclaiming anything of value.

This years marks the 20th Anniversary of Coptic Orphans, an award winning international Christian development organisation that works with vulnerable children in Egypt to transform their local communities by breaking the cycle of poverty and injustice through literacy, education, advocacy, mentoring and providing basic needs. It works with vulnerable children in Egypt regardless of their religion.

This month, in the NSW Parliament House Fountain Court area, the Honourable Tony Stewart MP, Member for Bankstown, hosted an Art Exhibition presented by the Australian Egyptian Council Forum, from 2nd through the 26th of September. This art exhibit was made possible by the generous sponsorship of the Arab Bank Australia.

Australian writer Jackie French is an award-winning author of dozens of children’s books over the past 20 years. She has also written radio programs, as well as newspaper and magazine columns, and various books for adults.

The United Nations Children’s Fund, better known as “UNICEF”, is concerned about the welfare and future of all the world’s children. It affirms the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and seeks equality for all who are discriminated against. It has recently conducted studies that found there are up to one million children living on the streets in the cities of Egypt, although it is a social problem that is difficult to quantify. Whatever the actual number, it is known to be vast and growing. Most of these abandoned children are in Cairo and Alexandria.

The independent, non-governmental organisation “Human Rights Watch” has documented and published reports on its website regarding violence against women in Egypt, in which they maintain that women in custody are subjected to official mistreatment that ranges from humiliation to torture.

A report entitled “Discrimination at work in the Middle East and North Africa” by the International Labor Organization (ILO) found that Copts in Egypt are continually targeted by discrimination, and are also denied access to education and equal opportunities in recruitment and promotion. The report further highlighted that very few are appointed to key positions in the Government, police academies, military schools, and universities.

Some good friends of mine in Broken Hill NSW have a close relative involved in missionary work in the Middle East. The relative reports in her latest prayer letter some good news concerning an Arabic Bible translation project.

In the early 1980’s I studied the archaeological discoveries at Qumran on the northwestern shores of the Dead Sea. Because I had been doing a proper academic study of the Essene community and the Dead Sea Scrolls, I was granted permission to film inside the caves where the scrolls were discovered in 1947. This was a privilege rarely granted and gave me, and our film crew, incredible access for the film I was making. The resulting film was ultimately seen in countries throughout the world.