Comments on: Longing For Literacy

By: Romani sergyos

Romani sergyos — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:34:58 +0000

Our culture from the old days and since their children started to be able to access freely” no fees ” higher education at university level that there main dream that their sons and daughters to enter the medical and engineering fields …since early 1960 and that was the main dream of a lot of parents ….i remember when i got a scholarship in early 1970 to study anything overseas and when i chose what i liked to spend the rest of my life in it , my parents were jumping up and down because i did not choose Human medicine !! it happened also with my brother when he chose to study chemical engineering , oh what a day ???!! i believe our parents as a sample of our culture struggled a lot in their life like other parents at that time with a bit of education , poverty and they saw the only way for their children not suffer as they suffered by putting them to study prestigious type of professions !! their mentality was like that and the market needed that at that time ….those humanitarians jobs like psychology, social worker , councilor , art , teaching , trades , law , accounting used to be non prestigious as well as can not give the person a decent life !!! life evolve and we evolve with it and life continues and now nearly fifty years and the whole culture with the same mentality … the consequences of that a lot of our children go under high pressure in the high school certificate , most of them they get depressed because they did not achieved their parents high expectations goals and get no where , however if some achieve those prestigious professions goals you find them not enjoying what they do ??!! the other factor which our cultural parents are not realizing that it started to be the supply more than the demand in those prestigious professions all over the world ..the market is saturated and you find one or two persons in almost every family now holder of those prestigious stuff with less demands and interests …the crucial factor and consequences that those who studied those humanitarians field of study most of them got the tools and life skills of successful relationships with their families and others around them …i believe they have got more rewarding and meaningful life than those who got some only knowledge on those branches of those prestigious jobs at the time of our parents ….oh mate life is not the life today ???!!mate choose what you like to do most and you feel you be successful in it …make sure if not God there in every thing you do you will never be successful …i believe it is time to educate ourselves and our children with those sandwich courses in communications , problem solving etc. and integrate them with our christian values in order to be semiskilled and improve our relationships at all levels… we have to be positive and remember there is always room for improvement ….we have to go the extra mile as the good Samaritan ….Jesus Christ our lord is our great councilor , amen …

By: Nate

Nate — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 03:50:03 +0000

I am not one to speak, having studied engineering, however I think our community’s desire to push its children into career paths of one of the ‘big four’ stems from the high societal status these professions have in the mother country; where doctors, dentists, pharmacists and engineers sit at the top of the table of society. I would actually like to add another one…lawyers…

Although I think this attitude is beginning to change in Diasporic Copts, or those of our country anyway, what our parents fail to realise sometimes is that professional status has very little importance in our society, and that sometimes professions with the lowest status in Egyptian society, such as accounting and/or economics, are sometimes those which will make their children the most successful and most wealthy in this country.

Let’s be realistic, everyone wants to be wealthy, financially secure and comfortable.
You can still be all those things and a genuine Christian at the same time.
It is no doubt that doctors, dentists, pharmacists and lawyers have the potential to make a lot of money (I deliberately did not say engineers…I think everyone thinks their work is worth more than they make…hahaha)…however, be smart and you can be financially successful, whatever your pay packet and whatever your profession (Tony Robbins eat your heart out..hahaha). I think this is slowly becoming understood in our community, and more of our children are venturing out of the ‘big four’ (or five) and thinking outside the square.

The change in attitude and the moving away from the perception of high societal and professional status may not happen in the next generation, but I believe we can have hope that it will happen in generations to come, particularly with our children’s move from an Egyptian identity to a more Australian one. Maybe then, literature will be given the weight it deserves, and we will have more writers, journalists, historians and politians among us.

I am also of the opinion that our Church has lacked in providing sufficient faith-based literature in languages other than Arabic. Being one who has a high interest in history and politics, particularly Church related history and politics, I would love to see more ‘Coptic material’ out there, instead of having to resort to other Christian or secular writings.

Maybe, hopefully one day…there is light at the end of the tunnel…

Nate
My apologies for blabbing on…I like to write…is it obvious?…hahaha..

By: s.m.

s.m. — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:53:29 +0000

It’s funny that you say that Abouna. I think it’s the Coptic community as a whole. I had one uncle at church ask me what I was studying, so I replied that I was studying psychology. His response: “Oh… well… are you thinking of switching programs?” Ummm, no.
There’s a Facebook group that was created by one of the youth called “U can be anything u want…as long as its a doctor, engineer, or pharmacist” hahaha.