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| Egypt |
19 May 2007
14 May 2007
Egypt 14 May 2007
Before coming to Egypt we had no fixed plan. My principal contact was with Sekem. Before leaving New Zealand I thought perhaps we might spend some time in different parts of the Nile River and Delta. The Nile River is the life blood of Egypt, supporting the vast majority of the population. Instead, after visiting Sekem, I was compelled to travel into the Western Desert.
We spent 4 days and 3 nights in the desert. With our relatively limited time we only traveled to Bahariya Oasis, the closest of the oases to Cairo ... 360km and a 4 ½ hour drive. People at Sekem assisted by providing names of two people to visit. Being in the deserts of Egypt was such a powerful contrast to the mountains of Nepal ... but in some way there was also a connection, in the grandeur of the landscape and power of nature that both places conveyed.
At Bahariya Oasis we first met Ahmed Shawky and Corien Elstgeest from Elysium (see www.elysium.nu). Corien is from the Netherlands and moved to Bahariya 10 years ago. She is there is on a mission, working together with Ahmed and her partners in the Netherlands.
Ahmed Shawky and Corien Elstgeest, working together with a future vision for Bahariya Oasis.
A view of Elysium where Ahmed, Corien and others are working to realise their vision.
We were very grateful to meet these people who provided a welcome home for us in between our various activities and very kindly took us around Bahariya one afternoon.
Lena and Alice, enjoying some true relaxation time for one of the first times in the last 3 months.
Elysium is a relatively small initiative at present, but with a clear vision. They have developed a retreat where people can come and stay and experience the quiet and power of the desert environment. They also have aims to develop an educational and training facility to help develop sustainable future pathways for people living in the desert.
Another view of Elysium.
Life in the desert can't exist without water. At Bahariya Oasis we learned that there has been relatively little rain in the last 20 years, insufficient to recharge the groundwater that everyone relies on. At the same time there has been increased development and demand for water. In many places people are using pumps where they weren't needed in the past. People are digging deeper to get their water.
Ten years ago water was running freely from this well at Bahariya, as it had been for a long time before. Now this well is dry and has been replaced nearby by a much deeper well with a pumping station.
We also met We also met Mr Mohamed Rafaat, from Mendisha village, the son of ......... who have supplied Sekem with dates for the last 16 years. As he said, the desert is their home, it is their life. But everything they have depends on water. There is a very delicate balance here and evidence that it has tipped towards a situation of future water crises. In our short time with Ahmed and Corien we talked about the importance of acting now for the future and working to engage the community. This was a very good exchange, adding to our stories from different places, but also an opportunity to share ideas and encourage them in their work.
Views of one of the villages that comprise Bahariya Oasis.
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Date palms are the main agricultural product from Bahariya.
On Saturday, our third day, we drove out from Bahariya to spend a night camping in the desert. We stopped in the Black Desert, where I climbed a peak to view an amazing scene of extinct volcanoes.
The Black Desert
Then on to a small oasis where we had lunch and a rest in the midday heat.
On the edge of the Black Desert, here your understand the true power and importance of water to life.
A modern 'mummy'!
In mid afternoon we drove on to a place called Crystal Mountain and then to the White Desert, where we set up camp for the night. Stunning, silent, beautiful starlit night. Marred slightly by obvious signs of human presence... plastic bottles thoughtlessly left in the desert sand... but a great experience to sleep in the desert under the stars. It was hard next day, driving back to Bahariya and then to the noise and pollution of Cairo.
How much do we care, with signs of our rubbish left everywhere?
Sunset in the White Desert.
A desert star!
A simple camp for sleeping under the stars.
In the end our time in Egypt seemed too short. There is a lot more that we need to know about changes happening in the desert, as much as in the mountains, with our rivers, our forests.
The greatest reward is the increased power we feel in sharing stories from other places and encouraging the people we meet to keep doing the good things they are engaged in. Making them aware that there are others in other places doing similar work is very rewarding.
We spent 4 days and 3 nights in the desert. With our relatively limited time we only traveled to Bahariya Oasis, the closest of the oases to Cairo ... 360km and a 4 ½ hour drive. People at Sekem assisted by providing names of two people to visit. Being in the deserts of Egypt was such a powerful contrast to the mountains of Nepal ... but in some way there was also a connection, in the grandeur of the landscape and power of nature that both places conveyed.
At Bahariya Oasis we first met Ahmed Shawky and Corien Elstgeest from Elysium (see www.elysium.nu). Corien is from the Netherlands and moved to Bahariya 10 years ago. She is there is on a mission, working together with Ahmed and her partners in the Netherlands.
Ahmed Shawky and Corien Elstgeest, working together with a future vision for Bahariya Oasis.
A view of Elysium where Ahmed, Corien and others are working to realise their vision.
We were very grateful to meet these people who provided a welcome home for us in between our various activities and very kindly took us around Bahariya one afternoon.
Lena and Alice, enjoying some true relaxation time for one of the first times in the last 3 months.
Elysium is a relatively small initiative at present, but with a clear vision. They have developed a retreat where people can come and stay and experience the quiet and power of the desert environment. They also have aims to develop an educational and training facility to help develop sustainable future pathways for people living in the desert.
Another view of Elysium.
Life in the desert can't exist without water. At Bahariya Oasis we learned that there has been relatively little rain in the last 20 years, insufficient to recharge the groundwater that everyone relies on. At the same time there has been increased development and demand for water. In many places people are using pumps where they weren't needed in the past. People are digging deeper to get their water.
Ten years ago water was running freely from this well at Bahariya, as it had been for a long time before. Now this well is dry and has been replaced nearby by a much deeper well with a pumping station.
We also met We also met Mr Mohamed Rafaat, from Mendisha village, the son of ......... who have supplied Sekem with dates for the last 16 years. As he said, the desert is their home, it is their life. But everything they have depends on water. There is a very delicate balance here and evidence that it has tipped towards a situation of future water crises. In our short time with Ahmed and Corien we talked about the importance of acting now for the future and working to engage the community. This was a very good exchange, adding to our stories from different places, but also an opportunity to share ideas and encourage them in their work.
Views of one of the villages that comprise Bahariya Oasis.
.jpg)
Date palms are the main agricultural product from Bahariya.
On Saturday, our third day, we drove out from Bahariya to spend a night camping in the desert. We stopped in the Black Desert, where I climbed a peak to view an amazing scene of extinct volcanoes.
The Black Desert
Then on to a small oasis where we had lunch and a rest in the midday heat.
On the edge of the Black Desert, here your understand the true power and importance of water to life.
A modern 'mummy'!
In mid afternoon we drove on to a place called Crystal Mountain and then to the White Desert, where we set up camp for the night. Stunning, silent, beautiful starlit night. Marred slightly by obvious signs of human presence... plastic bottles thoughtlessly left in the desert sand... but a great experience to sleep in the desert under the stars. It was hard next day, driving back to Bahariya and then to the noise and pollution of Cairo.
How much do we care, with signs of our rubbish left everywhere?
Sunset in the White Desert.
A desert star!
A simple camp for sleeping under the stars.
In the end our time in Egypt seemed too short. There is a lot more that we need to know about changes happening in the desert, as much as in the mountains, with our rivers, our forests.
The greatest reward is the increased power we feel in sharing stories from other places and encouraging the people we meet to keep doing the good things they are engaged in. Making them aware that there are others in other places doing similar work is very rewarding.
10 May 2007
Eygpt 9 May 2007
We arrived in Egypt last Thursday and discovered that the next two days were the Egyptian weekend. So we spent time getting orientated on Thursday, took a taxi and walked around Islamic Cairo on Friday and visited the Pyramids on Saturday.
Scenes from Islamic Cairo
On Sunday morning we went to the Sekem (www.sekem.com) complex on the edge of Cairo. They are developing a University on this site. Here I met with Dr Zakaria El-Haddad, Professor of Agricultural Engineering and Executive Manager of the Egyptian Bio Dynamic Association. This was a very good meeting, with Dr El- Haddad recommending that I go to the Western Desert to meet some people there. While I was in this meeting Karen and the girls went to the Sekem shop and bought some very delicious, fresh, organic milk. The first real milk we had drunk in about 12 weeks, and a very welcome treat.
On Monday and Tuesday we went out to the Sekem farm. We arrived at 10.00am and went straight to a group of senior students and staff from the Sekem school. I gave a presentation on climate change and adaptation, including sharing some of the stories and lessons from our journey so far. Later in the day Angela, our principal host, suggested that we be at the main entrance to Sekem just before 5pm. She told us to imagine this place as desert, which is was 30 years ago and to reflect on the transformation. What was 70ha of desert has been transformed to an environment with trees, fields, a school, and several Sekem factories. In all there are about 1600 people who pass through the Sekem gates each day, students, teaching staff, Sekem factory workers. It is a remarkable transformation and clear proof of what human beings are capable of with clear vision and a strong will to turn the vision into reality.
On Monday and Tuesday we went out to the Sekem farm. We arrived at 10.00am and went straight to a group of senior students and staff from the Sekem school. I gave a presentation on climate change and adaptation, including sharing some of the stories and lessons from our journey so far. Later in the day Angela, our principal host, suggested that we be at the main entrance to Sekem just before 5pm. She told us to imagine this place as desert, which is was 30 years ago and to reflect on the transformation. What was 70ha of desert has been transformed to an environment with trees, fields, a school, and several Sekem factories. In all there are about 1600 people who pass through the Sekem gates each day, students, teaching staff, Sekem factory workers. It is a remarkable transformation and clear proof of what human beings are capable of with clear vision and a strong will to turn the vision into reality.
Below: Scenes from Sekem showing the remarkable transformation of desert land to an environment that supports an abundance of life and positive human activity.
Here at Sekem I was talking to people who are already thinking and acting with a long-term future in mind. On Tuesday we filmed interviews with Angela and Gamal, both of whom have been at Sekem for about 20 years. These were both very good interviews that in many ways drew together different threads from the last 12 weeks. The clear lesson from Sekem is that we don't need crisis to change. Human beings have abundant capacity to develop positive, strong relationships with the natural environment. The choice is ours.
Below: Interviews with Angela and Gamal at Sekem provided a very strong and positive 'bringing together' of important threads from our journey so far.
04 May 2007
In Cairo
(from an email to Emma and Michael)
It's good to be here.... adjusting to a totally new environment, but we're liking it.
Last night we met one of my contacts... we went to this very "hip" place by the Nile river, under this huge sort-of Bedouin tent, wind blowing through, lights of Cairo around us, near full moon rising, lots of people smoking "hubble & bubble" pipes.... and some of the best food we've had in weeks.
Salim is coming back today, which is like Sunday here, and we're going into old Cairo with him to look around. Tomorrow we're meeting more people, Sunday probably to see the Pyramids of Giza, and then out to Sekem on Monday, probably Tuesday as well.
There'll be more meetings, including giving a talk to senior school students, and later on Sekem staff, on Monday.
Last night we met one of my contacts... we went to this very "hip" place by the Nile river, under this huge sort-of Bedouin tent, wind blowing through, lights of Cairo around us, near full moon rising, lots of people smoking "hubble & bubble" pipes.... and some of the best food we've had in weeks.
Salim is coming back today, which is like Sunday here, and we're going into old Cairo with him to look around. Tomorrow we're meeting more people, Sunday probably to see the Pyramids of Giza, and then out to Sekem on Monday, probably Tuesday as well.
There'll be more meetings, including giving a talk to senior school students, and later on Sekem staff, on Monday.
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