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October 2001
Dear Friends,
There just aren’t words to express the joy I feel on returning
to the American Hospital in Tanta, Egypt, after an absence of
fifty years. Many things have led me here, starting when we began
to sing "Here Am I, Lord" in church on a regular basis.
Then PC(USA) missionary Dorothy Corona came home, leaving no American
at the hospital. Then Jean Stultz engineered a Tanta reunion.
Then, when things in my life left me free to come, I finally got
God’s message, applied to the Worldwide Ministries Division
of the PC(USA), went through three weeks of missionary orientation,
and boarded a plane along with fellow missionary Emily Schornstein,
arriving in Cairo on August 22.
Cairo is a very busy city with traffic, but not as noisy as it
used to be since laws have been passed regarding horn blowing.
I enjoyed my ten days there, meeting others stationed there, going
to the embassy to register and to accept the post of "warden"
in Tanta, with the responsibility of keeping the other U.S. citizens
here aware of any problems. There is one American here (me!) And
I had a wonderful trip to the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx.
Emily and I caught a cab to go to the Nile Hilton and an American
Express tour, but the driver took us all over Cairo, taking over
an hour for a 25-minute ride. We were late for the tour, but the
clerk called the tour bus, and it came back for us. It had only
one other passenger.
And from then on, I was on Cloud 9! There, as they’ve been
for over 4,000 years, were the pyramids and sphinx. A spring of
happiness welled up inside of me. Memories from over half a century
ago sprang to life. Now I have new ones to add to them.
Dr. Mamdouh Saweris, the head of the hospital, sent a car for
me on September 3, and now at long last, I’m back in Tanta.
Half a century makes a big difference in a place. What was a big
village is now a city of over 200,000 people. The hospital where
I lived and worked is no longer, destroyed by an earthquake in
1996 and another a year later. While I was here, we had built
a large addition, which was nearly complete but not occupied when
I left. They have since added another floor to this and built
the other buildings to house the staff, one of which I live in.
The hospital was originally started to treat women and children,
the only facility of its kind in Egypt. Later another wing was
added to include men. Always this has been the only Christian
hospital in this area, and always the aim has been to take care
of the people, regardless of race or religion and to bring the
message of Jesus. Miss Linda, who was the Bible woman when I was
here before, is still making her rounds every day.
My day starts at 9:00 when I attend chapel service. This is in
Arabic, of course, but a hymn book is available in English, and
usually at least one song is with a tune that is in both Arabic
and English, so I can sing along. They also let me know the Scripture
book, chapter, and verse.
Then I come to my office, which I share with the personnel director,
Mr. Ramses. Early on, Dr. Mamdouh took me on a tour of the hospital.
We came to two rooms together in which there was an entire family.
Police Officer Amyn, his mother, wife and two children were returning
from their vacation when their car was struck by a large truck
and was completely destroyed. The entire family was brought to
our hospital. They all were injured, some more than others.
The grandmother had a bad cut on her left cheek, which had to
be stitched. The father had a fracture of his left leg, which
had to be immobilized with a cast. Mohamed, the 4-year-old son,
escaped with only bruises and contusions, but had nightmares every
night for weeks. Ragad, the 5½-year-old daughter, had a
bad head wound requiring a skin graft. She also had a fractured
left leg. The mother, who is a teacher, had the worst injuries—she
had a bad fracture of her right leg, which required eight screws.
Her right arm was fractured, and she had contusions.
This has been a very traumatic experience for the family. They
were in the hospital for about five weeks and were just discharged
a few days ago. They told me they considered themselves lucky
to have been in our hospital and to receive such good, loving,
kind care.
Then came September 11, and all Americans, both at home and abroad,
were in a state of shock. I, for one, felt very lonesome. We all
prayed for comfort for the thousands who lost loved ones. How
could anyone do such a terrible thing?
Last Monday, I finally went to the store by myself. I got almost
there when my cell phone rang. I slipped out of the crowded sidewalk
into an alleyway to answer, and it was my niece calling from Switzerland.
I couldn’t believe it—here I was on a crowded street
in Tanta, Egypt, talking with my dear niece in Zurich, Switzerland.
Unbelievable!
I thank all of you for your prayers and support. I am safe.
Grace to you and peace,
Shirley Birth
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