Countdown to Egypt '08

Salam ‘alaykum (Hello, I think),

My name is Chip Roth and I am a pediatric urology fellow at the Children’s Hospital of Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. I have the privilege of being the resident scholar on the 2008 Tanta, Egypt IVUmed trip. Josh has asked me to be the trip blogger for our group. I guess he was impressed with my writing skills on the personal statement portion of the application. I must disclose now that I’m a terrible speller and novice blooger.

We are scheduled to leave for Egypt in two days and will be in Tanta until we return home on the 12th. Our trip is being coordinated by Tom Flood, a RN from Houston, who seems to be a veteran of international medical missions. My mentor for the trip will be Dr. Carlos Angel from Knoxville, TN. He is a pediatric surgeon who specializes in pediatric urology and has been on several IVU trips including Tanta last year. Tom tells me that we will be joined by several pediatric anesthesiologists, OR nurses, and several other people who are generally interested in urology and foreign countries. I’m looking forward to meeting all of the trip participants and hope to be able profile each of them on my daily blog entries.

When I tell other urologists that I’m going to Egypt all they can think about is schistosomiasis. I’ve assured them I will wear shoes whenever I wade in stagnant water. Seriously, they do ask why we would go to Egypt for a medical mission. Egypt is generally recognized as a country that practices medicine, particularly urology, at level similar to that in the United States. Anyone familiar with urologic literature should have seen at least one manuscript from Egypt, likely from the University of Mansoura. That being said, I do look forward to learning more about how our trip helps meet the needs of the citizens of Tanta.

Non-urologists most often ask if we are going to Cairo (like myself prior to this trip, most people are only familiar with Alexandria and Cairo). This has given me an opportunity to review my geography, and I now have a better understanding of where we are heading.

Tanta, no thanks to Wikipedia, is Egypt's fifth largest city (the largest in the Delta) and is located 94 km (59 miles) north of Cairo and 130 km (81 miles) southeast of Alexandria, in the heart of the Gharbiya province. (Here is a map, Tanta) It is that governorate's capital. There are about 335,000 people in Tanta, and a major university is located here. Tanta is reached by the Damietta branch of the Nile and northwest and by way of Birket el-Sab.

Tanta has cotton ginning factories and textile industries and is also a university town with an institute attached to the El-Azhar University in Cairo and a medical school associated with Alexandria University, as well as the seat of a Metropolitan of the Coptic Church.

This city comes to life in late October at the end of the cotton harvest. About two million people from around the Delta and other parts of the Arab world come for the Moulid of Sayid Ahmed el-Badawi, which is an eight day celebration. Unfortunately, I think we will be gone before the festivities begin.

Thus far, my preparation has consisted of gathering some OR supplies and buying Imodium and pepto. That being said, I need to go pack. I hope that the internet connection in Tanta will allow for me to reliably post my updates as well as post pictures from out trip.

Maas salaama (Goodbye) for now,

Chip

~Croth