...on my legs during my long run last Saturday
...on my face as I finished lunch at Rock Canyon Park
...keeping me warm as I walked home from school yesterday
...when it brings back memories of long runs and quiet hikes
...on a hot rock I'm climbing
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Remembering Sayed Saif
A dear friend of mine, Dr. Sayed Saif, passed away February 16, 2009. I met Dr. Saif last summer when I traveled to Egypt to help out a US NGO. I'll never forget the first time I met Dr. Saif. I was taken to his home and they sat me in a room to wait for him to come home. When he entered the room he graciously shook my hand and then told me that this was my home and that I was his son and that if there was anything that I needed to just ask. I felt his sincerity and the love that he had for me instantly. Over the next few weeks I had many opportunities to sit and talk with him about the my beliefs, Muslim beliefs, and life in general--those were very special moments for me. Dr. Saif will not only be missed by but by thousand if not millions of people around the world. To honor him I am reposting a post that I wrote about him:
Dr. Saif is a man that I deeply, deeply respect. He is the head of the school of Opthalmology at Cairo University. He is a devout Muslim who is constantly seeking to do what is right as well as to serve others, especially those who cannot afford eye care. He spends at least 40% (my own guesstimate) of his time checking the eyes for those who cannot afford it. He often will see a patient and learn that they cannot afford the medicine, eye glasses, or surgery that he prescribes. Instead of telling them good-luck with a pat on the shoulder, he absorbs the cost himself so that all that come to him can have proper eye care.
For over 40 years he has traveled to the poor areas of Egypt and with other doctors he exams hundred of people per visit, pays for their surgeries, and at times glasses. All of these visits are on his or his son's dime (not to mention time, which is the most valuable commodity).
Currently there is a rampant endemic of trachoma in Egypt. Years ago Dr. Saif engineered a solution that helps eliminate this disease from the person who uses the eye drops. Trachoma in many places has now been eradicated. Dr. Saif is well known in Egypt. He is respected and revered amongst many, many people, including myself. His son is now a wit behind him.
Dr. Saif is a man that I deeply, deeply respect. He is the head of the school of Opthalmology at Cairo University. He is a devout Muslim who is constantly seeking to do what is right as well as to serve others, especially those who cannot afford eye care. He spends at least 40% (my own guesstimate) of his time checking the eyes for those who cannot afford it. He often will see a patient and learn that they cannot afford the medicine, eye glasses, or surgery that he prescribes. Instead of telling them good-luck with a pat on the shoulder, he absorbs the cost himself so that all that come to him can have proper eye care.
For over 40 years he has traveled to the poor areas of Egypt and with other doctors he exams hundred of people per visit, pays for their surgeries, and at times glasses. All of these visits are on his or his son's dime (not to mention time, which is the most valuable commodity).
Currently there is a rampant endemic of trachoma in Egypt. Years ago Dr. Saif engineered a solution that helps eliminate this disease from the person who uses the eye drops. Trachoma in many places has now been eradicated. Dr. Saif is well known in Egypt. He is respected and revered amongst many, many people, including myself. His son is now a wit behind him.
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