Dear Family and Friends,

The evenings are becoming cool and the mornings are still very dark at 6:30 a.m., so summer is over. The sound of buses revving at 4:30 a.m. is also a definite clue that the new school year has begun.

This summer was one of my busiest since I came to Egypt. I returned in mid-June from the States in a mood of celebration from the graduation festivities for Mark and Jessica, plus the fun of visiting everyone. Within a week, a new pleasure came with the arrival of five university students, all global interns through PC(USA). Rebecca, Keriann, Adam, Kerri, and Jody were all extraordinary young people at the start of a remarkable experience.

They spent their first couple of weeks in the Joint Relief Ministries (JRM) of St. Andrew’s Church, working in the summer school for Sudanese refugee children. The school is a joint effort of the JRM, the Cairo All Saints Cathedral of the Anglican Church, and the African New Hope School. (The JRM, by the way, is jointly supported by three U.S. churches: PC(USA), the ELCA (Lutheran), and the RCA (Dutch Reformed).) The summer school is located around the corner from Ramses College for Girls at the Sakakini Roman Catholic Church in Abbasaiya. This summer, school is truly an ecumenical and intercultural effort.

That the war in the Sudan lingers is reflected by the continuous stream of new refugees in Cairo. The summer interns found working with these young children, who have been exposed to the many horrors of an especially long and nasty civil war, both emotionally wrenching and also gratifying. They found that the amazing aspect was the still-shining, smiling faces and warm responses of the children. Processing this experience of looking into the faces of need and hope arising from children’s former lives of fear and flight may take a very long time.

In July the interns moved out to El Arish in the North Sinai—near the border with Israel—where the Synod of the Nile Evangelical Schools have built a conference and training center. In fact, the carpenters and plumbers were still on the job when PC(USA) volunteers Pat and Helen Bachman arrived with the five global interns to get the center ready for the first group to arrive in just two days. The plan was for the interns to help with teacher training and student groups in activities such as music, sports, and handicrafts. Instead, they found their main activity was building maintenance, i.e., scrubbing and sweeping. The main pleasure was the late afternoon walk to the Mediterranean Sea for a swim (when the jellyfish left) and to watch the sun set over the sea.

The two teacher-training conferences in Al Arish went very well. Pat and Helen Bachman and the interns had the center looking good and running smoothly after just one conference group had been there. The first teacher-training conference was for subject-matter specialists. This is training for teachers who have been with the Synod schools at least one year and who teach a specialty such as language, math, or science, but have had no training in education. They were an eager and enthusiastic group, and the trainers were excellent. The second conference was for kindergarten teachers. Again it was a good group and the presenters did a wonderful job. We all enjoyed the wonderful sea breezes and side-trips to the Israeli border city of Rafah and the Bedouin markets. The global interns were an important part of the success of the summer program. They also had an opportunity to interact with many of the school students and teachers. They were loved by all.

August was the time of goodbyes. After trips to Mt. Sinai, Jerusalem, Sharm El Shiekh, and other interesting sites, the interns starting returning to the States for school. Helen and Pat Bachman went to Colorado for a family wedding. Then, toward the end of August, Jack and Ella Banton returned from their summer of travel and family visits. Now they are assigned in Alexandria, which is a wonderful excuse for me to visit that lovely city. I did give them a couple of weeks to get settled before I charged up for a long weekend before the start of the school year.

Mary Kamel has joined the Synod Schools office as an administrative assistant in the training department. She is already a tremendous help with language as we make arrangements with principals for the seminar trainings during the school year. It will also be enjoyable to have someone traveling with me as the school visits start in a couple of weeks. We have already scheduled regional trainings in Internet resources for teachers and topic trainings for school administration.

The fall volunteer retreat/orientation will be the weekend of October 6-7. The Reverend Dave Grafton of St. Andrew’s has mapped out a guided visit to Mt. Sinai and St. Catherine’s Monastery based on passages in Exodus. The sunrise on top of the mountain is very special. I’m hoping to make it at least this one more time—the 2:00 a.m. wake-up and the grueling pace up the mountain makes me shudder just to think of it. Visiting the monastery library with many of the very oldest biblical texts is a treasured opportunity that is not be missed.

Concern is growing in the region about increased tensions within Israel/Palestine and also with Israel’s border neighbors to the north. True peace and real justice seem so long in coming. Pray that the diplomatic activity is swift enough for reason and humanity to gain control.

Salaam,

Carole Landess