[Dialogue] Visit to Bayad

[William Alerding]

> Wayne:

Barb and I really enjoyed your detailed report on El Bayad. Maryiln 
Crocker, the McCleskeys and both of us lead the Consult in 1976-77. We 
came from Kreuzberg Ost in Bertlin to El Bayad and out into the desert 
100 miles south of Cairo. The picture you painted of the place is a 
planet away from the way it was when we were there 30 years ago. It's 
great to hear of the progress of the community projects we spent two 
years setting up in 16 countries.

Barb fell in love with the women of Bayad. I remember that about 25% of 
our staff was in bed seriously sick most of our time there, including 
the many medical doctors who came from Europe and the U.S. to help us. 
The people of Bayad were so sick of Bilharsia, a disease gotten from 
the liver flukes that lived in the shallow water (due to the new Aswam 
Dam stopping the seasonal flow of the Nile) and they kept re-infecting 
themselves. The people crowded  into a small building every dat to get 
all the doctors to treat them and there were long lines every day, It 
was wonderful to hear how Gene Boivin figured out  how to let the 
desert be a natural filtration system itself and got the first clean 
water tap into the village. That was the only way to break the Bilhasia 
syndrome.

We also remember the discussions we had with the major and the men of 
Bayad to allow the women to participate in the Consult. How eerie it 
was to hear them ululate (?) after every session, their sharp piercing 
yell that was an expression of true joy. Barb worked on the education 
team which prepared their first pre-school and I worked on the 
agricultural team. Still wonder what happened to the tilapia fish we 
put into the community pond. We had some Coptic professors from the 
University in Cairo on my team helping us. When Bishop Samuel had a big 
meeting in the midst of the Consult to talk about seriously closing 
down the Consult, the two professors, both good friends of his, told 
him how important it was to improve the agriculture there and how it 
could be done. When you talked about the dramatic changes in Bayad, I 
thought back to that conversation and wondered what would have happened 
if our two professors didn't convince Bishop Samuel and we never 
finished the Consult. Scary, isn't it? Thank God it finally went the 
way it did.

Wayne, thanks once again for your marvelous update. We  really 
performed some miracles didn't we?

Bill and Barb Alerding
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