Steve Posted February 28, 2008 Report Share Posted February 28, 2008 HALLOWELL, Maine - Jonathan McCullum was in perfect health at 155 pounds when he left last summer to spend the school year as an exchange student in Egypt. But when he returned home to Maine just four months later, the 5-foot-9 teenager weighed a mere 97 pounds and was so weak that he struggled to carry his baggage or climb a flight of stairs. Doctors said he was at risk for a heart attack. McCullum says he was denied sufficient food while staying with a family of Coptic Christians, who fast for more than 200 days a year, a regimen unmatched by other Christians... Link Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bangkoktraveler Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Fasting for 200 days must be a hard feat to accomplish. Surrprise he made it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayjann Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 so he couldn't go out and buy food?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 He only had a small amount of cash.... Parents: We weren't told of fasting Jonathan McCullum's parents said the exchange program should have warned them that students placed with Coptic families would be subject to dietary restrictions. Marlene Baker, communications director at AFS headquarters in New York, declined to discuss McCullum's experience. She referred calls to the program's lawyer in Portland, Patricia Peard, who said she could not comment on McCullum's case because of the potential for a lawsuit. Interesting one for the legal system... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Egyptian take aways? I would imagine the fast would be like Ramadan, limited food only at certain times of the day. The Copts, the Christians of Egypt, who belong mostly to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, observe fasting periods according to the Coptic calendar. These fasting periods are matched by no other Christian community. Out of the 365 days of the year, the Copts fast over 210 days. There are spiritual, symbolic, and even practical reasons for fasting. In the fall from Paradise man became possessed of a carnal nature; he adopted carnal practices. Through fasting, the Orthodox Christians attempt to recapture Paradise in their lives by refraining from those carnal practices. In general, fasting means becoming vegan, thus abstaining from meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and other animal products. Wiki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Egyptian take aways? I would imagine the fast would be like Ramadan, limited food only at certain times of the day. Very limited...by the look of him.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sayjann Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 you may laugh about takeaways but surely this guy could have bought a loaf of bread every few Days and made a sandwich whenever hungry?. and i bet they have McD's and the like in Egypt............better than nothing. only has himself to blame of he did not eat when the Family were observing their religious beliefs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 He had "language problems". I've taught former AFS students who went to places like Denmark, Germany or Guatemala not speaking a word of the language used there. They came home at the end of the year more or less fluent. Admittedly, Arabic is a bit harder than Indo-European languages, but it's not that hard. AFS does give them some survival level lessons on their arrival. I had a friend who didn't speak a word of Thai when he came here. After a couple of years teaching at Silpakorn University in Nakhorn Pathom, he had mastered the basic level of Thai - say Level 1 on a scale of 0 to 4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 The article should have included a picture of him before he went to Egypt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted February 29, 2008 Report Share Posted February 29, 2008 Fasting for 200 days must be a hard feat to accomplish. Surrprise he made it. He didn't, he only stayed for 120 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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