Playing the Menno Game

For the most part, as I go about my day here in Aswan I don't expect to have many conversations in English, never mind meet people who know my grandparents or who went to high school with my parents and their siblings.  But, as I'm learning to anticipate here in Egypt, you have to expect the unexpected and the unexpected happened last Friday when the MEDA tour group came to town.  The fact that it was a MEDA tour group kind of takes away from what would otherwise have been a chance encounter but it was somewhat ironic anyway. And, as always happens when you discover you're in the company of another Mennonite from the same city, you have to find out whether you know any of the same people or if you might even be related.  I found no relatives but the rest played out as it usually does.  One of the couples knew my grandparents, and the tour leader went to school with my Uncle Herb and knew both my parents.  It's a small world after all!

The MEDA tour is an opportunity for MEDA supporters and friends to experience another country while visiting MEDA supported projects around the world.  The group that arrived last Friday morning to visit the EACID office and meet some of the children involved in programing were a combination of first time and repeat visitors to Egypt.  The children presented some of what they have been learning and the key components of the program, followed by a Q&A time for tour members to have their questions answered by both the kids and staff.  At that point all but two of the group headed off to get some sleep.  The couple who had been on the tour last year stayed for another hour or so to share some photography skills with the kids who have really taken to using the cameras that were donated with funds brought along with them during the previous tour.  The kids had a blast, including Mohamed who had the chance to use Delmar's professional quality camera.  Hopefully they will be just as excited when we start trying to help them document their stories through pictures in the coming weeks.