For many born and raised in America, it’s sometimes difficult to fully understand the rigid societal structure of oppression that goes on in Egypt. Although America has its fair share of systemic racism, this oppression has substantially been reduced since the 1960’s.
There aren’t many places left in America where a white mob will kill a black man for sleeping with a white woman. However, in Egypt last year, the 70-year-old mother of a Christian man who was rumored to be dating a Muslim girl was stripped naked and dragged throughout the city.
Although many of us hear these stories from a world away and shake our heads at them, many of us are not really able to fully grasp them.
Until you’re in the middle of it.
In 2015, we went on a church service trip to Sohag, Egypt, a conservative city located smack dab in the middle of Upper Egypt. We went to give toys, candy, water filters, and other goodies to the kids in Coptic churches.
When we were there, we saw “underground” churches that were banned by the government. We met a little girl who had hid in the bathroom of her church with her dad covering her mouth while their church was being raided. We met hundreds of Coptic children orphaned by death and disease in the region.
As difficult as that was to see, one of the things that impacted me the most during that trip were images of people that I couldn’t help- that I wasn’t allowed to help — Muslims.
The Coptic Egyptian Diaspora is booming, with 1.5 million Copts living abroad. These are people who are, or whose children grow up to be, doctors, engineers, lawyers, inventors, politicians, community leaders, etc., who then send money or services back to Egypt.
However, because of the strict systematic oppression of Copts, the Coptic diaspora is limited in who it can help. Not only are many Copts in Egypt stricken by poverty, oppressed socially and by the government, they are even limited in who they can provide charity to. For example, despite the brutality that some 12,000 orphans in Egypt face, Copts are not allowed to adopt children due to Sharia law, and face jail if they attempt to do so.
For example, during our trip, we were at a church in a village handing out chocolates like Kitkat and Snickers to the little kids. Meanwhile, right outside the entrance of the church stood little boys with emaciated faces, dirty bare feet, and a look of longing in their eyes for the chocolate we were handing out. Their mothers stood outside of their homes looking at the Americans coming all the way into boondocks of Egypt to hand out chocolate bars, and I just knew they wouldn’t mind if we gave their kids some chocolate too.
In fact, most of the Americans we were with really, really wanted to give them candy, but we were specifically told not to. We were planning to sneak it to them when our coordinators weren’t looking.
However, our coordinator found out and took us aside to explain the reason why we couldn’t give those kids chocolate…or anything for that matter. The reason, they told us, was that if anyone spoke up about it, the church could lose its license to operate at best, and at worst, a massacre could happen against the congregation for “trying to proselytize” children in the village.
So, out of fear, we didn’t give them the chocolate, and I felt like my hands were tied. However, I couldn’t bear the guilt of strutting in as a privileged American, handing some kids some candy, and leaving on my merry way with a trail of death caused by ignorance behind me. I was stuck not knowing what to do.
A week later, my friend broke down sobbing in the middle of the Egyptian streets when she saw a little boy sleep under a car for cover right next to the orphanage we were staying at, which was serving hot delicious koshery to its kids.
I decided to go to the orphanage’s coordinator, named Mina, to see if there was anything we could do about it.
We had to be really careful, because if it turned out that this boy was Muslim and someone caught wind that a Coptic orphanage was giving him food, the same consequence would apply: either the orphanage could lose its license and a hundred kids would be homeless, or everyone could be killed or imprisoned.
He was against it at first, but seeing the earnestness in our faces, he devised a plan.
My friend and I stayed guard while he approached the little boy with a plate full of koshery hidden in a box. First, he asked what the boy’s name was. As it turned out, his name was Mohammed. Mina took a quick look around, and gave the boy the food and wished him a Happy Ramadan, then slowly made his way back into the orphanage.
Back inside, the coordinator kept telling us “thank you,” and I felt like we helped Mina more that night then we could have ever helped Mohammed.
Still, if Copts and Muslims were allowed to stay in the same orphanage, if Copts and Muslims were allowed to help each other without fear of reprimand, we could have done so much more for that boy than give him food for the night. If Copts were allowed to give charity to Muslims, we could have given those emaciated boys a little chocolate to brighten their day. But because of oppression, and because of fear, we were stuck.
When I came back to America to my worried parents, I found out that while we were there, some Coptic youth were arrested and thrown into prison for handing out bags of dates to Muslims to break their Ramadan fasts and build solidarity. The Egyptian government claimed that these men were trying to convert Muslims, and were imprisoned because of it.
I realized then that those fears we had all along were rational. It might be to different degrees; but whether it’s Coptic youth being imprisoned, children sleeping under cars, or little kids denied a piece of chocolate, as long as injustice and oppression exists and discrimination is legitimized into law, everyone will suffer.
Marianne M. Boules is a policy analyst living in Riverside, California, where she received both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Public Policy. Marianne enjoys rock climbing, writing, and hanging out with her husband Tony.
Christine Ibrahim is a 4th year Sociology student at the University of California, Riverside. She is an aspiring English teacher who wishes to serve in low-income schools. If you ever want to have a thought-provoking discussion about stars, sushi and how cute her dog is, she is your gal!
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