[Dialogue] Any info on El Bayad

Thu Feb 10 06:48:51 CST 2011

Great story that has obviously been adopted and adapted many times through the "oral tradition"--which, of course, is the way much, if not most, of our wisdom literature was, and is yet being, developed over the years.

So clarify for us, Marilyn, if you would.  Is this two different (although obviously related) stories--one of when the women arrived at the tent to participate and the other when Allah rearranged the room?

Randy

--- On Wed, 2/9/11, marilyncrocker at juno.com <marilyncrocker at juno.com> wrote:

From: marilyncrocker at juno.com <marilyncrocker at juno.com>
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Any info on El Bayad
To: dialogue at wedgeblade.net
Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 7:56 PM

Hi Randy et. al,

The event plus its significance became this story (as we often said).  I was leading the plenary (contradictions) in the morning.  The women participants, smaller by far in number than the men, were sitting in the back rows (benches) under the large tent, set up on the sands of the village.  A wind storm came up and blew against our 2 large boards (one for English, one for Arabic) that were propped up on chairs.  Several young men tried to secure the boards by holding them in place, but to no avail.  I suggested we take a break and got some folk to help me walk the boards around to the back of the tent so that the wind would help keep them in place.  The women simply swung around to the other side of their benches, as did all the men, resulting in the women now sitting up front.  I'm sure they dared do that because a woman was leading the session.  Only Bishop Samuel, who always positioned himself in the front row walked up and around to
 claim a seat once again in the "new" front row.  After the plenary each of the women came up to me and shook hands, with broad smiles, speaking the "international language" that goes beyond any particular tongue.  It was a moment of profound transparency.

Marilyn

On Wed, 9 Feb 2011 09:31:27 -0800 (PST) R Williams <rcwmbw at yahoo.com> writes:

Wayne,

There's a story that came out of the consult that one night during one of the plenaries there was a stirring at the back of the tent and all the Bayad women walked in en masse.  They sat together toward the back of the room instead of with their husbands who were up front, but nonetheless participated eargerly and actively in the work.

I was not there, but since I know the story frequently becomes the event, and since I myself as well as many others have told the story many times, I know it must be true.

Randy

--- On Wed, 2/9/11, Wayne Nelson <wnelson at ica-associates.ca> wrote:

From: Wayne Nelson <wnelson at ica-associates.ca>
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Any info on El Bayad
To: "Colleague Dialogue" <dialogue at wedgeblade.net>
Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 10:46 AM

I think you’re right, Randy.  It’s huge. Imagine how many people could fit in there. You can imagine all the side streets full as well. 

There was more likely more support for women’s participation than we thought at the time. There was no pattern for women’s involvement at the time, but as far as I know, no one who came was sent home. That we would have heard about. Some women didn’t come, simply because they did not go out of the home much at all. Thinking about it now, I suspect there was far more conversation about than we imagined.  There would have to have been.  That sort of cultural ripple could not have gone without notice. We just didn’t get to hear all of it. 

I see Yassin’s wife, Nagwa Abd El Moinem, on facebook too. Haven’t caught either her or Sabah for a chat yet.

\\/

"R Williams"  wrote:

Isn't that traffic circle near Tahrir Square the place where stands (or stood) the huge statue, attributed to Madam Sadat, of the Egyptian woman standing in traditional Muslim garb with her left had holding the veil away from her face and her right hand on the head of the Lion of Egypt which was kneeling at her feet?  I remember seeing this statue in some traffic circle in Cairo, if not the one at Tahrir Square.  A depiction of the statue also appeared on some Egyptian paper currency.  At the time some people referred to the statue as "the new Egypt," and others as "the new Egyptian woman."  It certainly reflected the spirit of the women of Bayad who participated in the HDP consult, as I recall without the approval of their husbands.

Randy

--- On Wed, 2/9/11, Wayne Nelson <wnelson at ica-associates.ca> wrote:

From: Wayne Nelson <wnelson at ica-associates.ca>
Subject: Re: [Dialogue] Any info on El Bayad
To: "Colleague Dialogue" <dialogue at wedgeblade.net>
Date: Wednesday, February 9, 2011, 9:45 AM

We have not had any direct contact.  Sabah Khalifa, ICA's ED, is back on her
Facebook account.  She lives in Beni Suef with her husband, Mohammed Gorrany
Ali.  Gorrany was the guy who ran the health clinic in the 70's. He and
Mohammed Hassan Oais are both on ICA's staff. We knew these guys as kids and
their parents were good friends.

Another friend in Minia, about an hour's drive from Bayad said nothing is
happening there. I don't think demonstrations have spread to the regional
cities.  They all seem to be watching.  He announced the anticipated birth
of triplets in September by saying, "My children will be born in the new
Egypt."   

My guess is that nothing at all is happening around Bayad and Beni Suef of
any magnitude.  

The demonstration is spreading throughout Cairo, beyond Tahrir Square.
That's the huge area with a massive traffic circle.  The "Mogamma', the big
federal building is at the the south end, the Nile Hilton along the river
and the Egyptian Museum at the north.  It's probably a full kilometer from
north to south and at least that wide.

\\/

"George Holcombe"  wrote:

> Sarah Buss was in an auto accident recently and is presently not able to spend
> time to retrieve all our emails, but she did ask about El Bayad and if anyone
> has any contact with the people there.

Thanks.

George Holcombe
14900
> Yellowleaf Tr.
Austin, TX 78728
Mobile
> 512/252-2756
geowanda at earthlink.net <http://us.mc593.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=geowanda@earthlink.net> 

“...we have the choice: we can
> gratefully cultivate the relationships that make us part of a vast network, or
> we can take them for granted and allow them to wither and die.”  Brother David
> Steindl-Rast, Deeper than
> Words

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