Real Life Stories from Egypt (2)

poverty and health... two things that do not mix..

two stories from real life, of course there are many more, but those are the recent ones that i go to know.

the first is in the country side, one of the peasants was telling my mum; how she has been suffering from constant headaches and she doesn't feel well.. so, the first question my mum asked her if she has checked her blood pressure??? she responded that she has never done it... so my mum offered her to go to the pharmacy to check it on mum's account...and after asking her some questions about frequency of peeing, feeling thirsty all the time and other few things, my mum told her that she has to check the level of the sugar in her blood. so the husband of the lady said.. oh no, she suffers from high level of minerals in the body, hence the idea of diabetes is ruled out.. A MYTH of course.. so anyways.. my mum sent her to check both, and they found out that she had diabetes! the poor lady had a sweet tooth and she loves sweets.. so she has been living her life without any clue why she was not feeling well.

i asked my mum, why didn't she go and check in the local clinic.. i know that they had a local health unit in the village that was government run and for free.. so my mum responded that is the main problem, the unit is not working anymore and these poor people don't have any healthcare.. and they can't afford going to the centre of the governorate to a private clinic to get real health care.. it felt so bad to know that in one of the most developed governorates in the delta, this is what the people have to face when they get sick...

the other story is related to a taxi driver, who is of course struggling to make a living and his wife is a cleaning lady found out that he has to undergo cataract operation for his eyes. before, when rules were lax, he could pay few hundred pounds and renew his driver's license.. but now, the attempt failed and in order to get his license back he has to undergo the operation. they are afraid to go anywhere for the operation.. it is the eyes after all.. if he loses his sight.. he loses everything.. so, the outcome, with the assistance of a nurse .. one of their family members .. a Dr. checked his condition and told him that he has to buy the lens, which will cost nearly 3000 pounds and around 3000 more for the hospital and administrative fees. the oculist confirmed that he will perform the operation for free.

how would a poor family struggling to survive pay 6000 pounds? how long will it take them to save such money? when we had free health care, it was poor but at least many of the people were able to receive any health care.. we inherited a rotten system from the previous era which totally disregarded the poor and the deprived... so where are we now? the current house of the parliament is only concerned about the political process to consolidate power, the ministry of finance is squeezing the rich and the poor by lifting subsidies and increasing taxes.. and the president is roaming around the globe on the account of the tax payers.. i.e. the citizens again... what is left? why no one is paying any attention to the problems of the poor people in this country? is it normal that a government in place after an uprising for social justice work again in an isolated island of its own and not paying attention to anything that is taking place in the country?

if you talk to any of those individuals, why would they care about democracy? or about what is going on with regard to political struggles between those elites who reside in cairo and come out to talk to us in suits? would they care if x or y is in power? if their conditions is deteriorating and no one is paying attention to them.. why would they pay attention to us when we ask them to go vote and to whom will they vote for.. for them .. all are the same.. their lives are the same.. their poverty level is the same and their health will keep deteriorating!