FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  April 15, 2008

Contact:          Chuck Sturms, Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies, 684-7257

Pat Walsh, The Ulum Group, 434-7021; 513-1236 (cell)

NCC STUDENT STUDYING ABROAD IN EGYPT

Daniel Streckfuss, a Northwest Christian College (NCC) junior, has spent the 2007-08 school year studying in Cairo, Egypt, a city of approximately 18 million.  After applying to programs in Morocco, Jordan, and Egypt, global studies major Streckfuss chose the Middle East Studies Program (MESP), a BestSemester Program based in Cairo. 

Streckfuss is taking classes in Arabic, Islam, Peoples & Cultures of the Middle East, and Conflict and Peace Studies.  While MESP students attend regular class periods for some of the courses, a large part of the curriculum is experiencing the culture of Egypt.  One aspect of the program that sets it apart from others in the region is that students are able to speak weekly with people of various occupations and positions in Cairo, from the typical Egyptian populace to high ranking government officials, diplomats and authors.  Streckfuss has met with a chief diplomat at the United States Embassy and an ambassador with the Arab League. 

Students with the MESP stay with host families in Cairo, and part of their cultural experience is to navigate the city using public transportation.  In addition to their coursework, they are involved in various service projects throughout the city, such as teaching English for seven weeks to Sudanese refugees at the Refuge Egypt in Zamelek. 

MESP students also are able to partake in numerous recreational activities.  Streckfuss has had the opportunity to sail the Nile River from Aswan to Luxor, sip Turkish coffee on the Mediterranean in Alexandria, and go snorkeling in the Gulf of Aqaba in Dahab, Sinai Peninsula.  Members of the MESP group will spend a month touring Turkey, Jordan, Syria and Israel/Palestine.

“What excited me most about MESP was how they integrate cultural, political and linguistic aspects into one program while traveling throughout the region,” says Streckfuss.  “I am learning and experiencing more than I ever thought possible.  I am being challenged on so many different levels and my worldview seems to be taking on a new shape every day. It is essential that we attempt to understand what it is like to be part of another society and culture.  It is part of being an ethical human being in the world today.”