A coarse-ground wheat bread is subsidized by the government of Cairo and sold through state-approved bakeries that get subsidized flour.

Like most countries, the subsidy system is a means of money-making for the greedy who don't care about anyone else's starving babies while they provide their obese offsprings with the latest gadgets and too much food.

There is much abuse in the system.

As the cost of living spirals up and wages stay ridiculously low, the lines for purchasing bread gets longer and longer.

Many housewives devote almost the entire day waiting in a queue to purchase this subsidized bread to feed their families if they have no man to buy for them.

Tempers flare, unusually so in this gentle and polite society, and there have been some killings while waiting to purchase bread.

Many times the bakeries run out before the queue has ended, and people sometimes get their bread stolen, snatched from their triumphant hands right after purchasing.

The bread lines and killings have been a painful situation for me to see and hear of.

I try to send email material that can uplift and create understanding, not add to the feelings of despair in our world. I am of the firm opinion that we create our reality based on the images we carry around in our minds. Yes, corny, but true, I want to create a better world.

I did not think it would be helpful to anyone to share my pain around this issue.

I took it to my canvas. I have begun painting scenes from life on the streets of Cairo interwoven with iconic images from the pharonic past.

Yesterday I began adding the winged scarab to the painting.

Today's newspaper headlines made me cheer! The president is mobilizing the army to bake bread.

Several times in my life I am amazed at the synchronicity between my painting and what happens in reality.

I wonder if somehow I absorb the information and put it on canvas? No wonder the ancient Egyptians see painting and creating images as a sacred activity.

I am gratified that the president is finally taking an active stance on this touchy issue.

Now I can finish my painting with a lighter heart.

Lucilda Dassardo-Cooper is a Boston-based artist who is living temporarily in Cairo, Egypt. Her husband, Ken Cooper, is a senior advisor to New England Ethnic News.

This commentary is the first of an occasional series in NEWz's "New Englanders Around the World" blog beat.

Source: EthnicNewz.org

Copyright 2008 New England Ethnic News, EthnicNewz.org. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the express permission of the source. Contact Newz for more information.

SEE ALSO:

"VIDEO: Egypt Acts Over Bread Prices [1]," BBC News, April 19. 2008

"Q&A: Rising Food Prices [2]," BBC News, April 11, 2008

"Global Rice Supply: Video Snapshots [3]," BBC News, April 11, 2008

painting below by Lucilda Dassardo-Cooper:
Detail: Our Daily Bread, oil/canvas, ©2008, Lucilda Dassardo-Cooper