Egypt is a country with a famous past and a vibrant future. The old and the new coexist in the bustling
markets and busy streets of its many cities. Egypt is a land that has captivated schoolchildren for
generations and has even inspired a career – Egyptologist – to study its illustrious past. However, the
Egypt of today is not the legendary land of pharaohs, sphinxes, and pyramids. It’s the land of a people
who are deeply invested in their future, a land of changes and revolutions, and, unfortunately, a land
where sustenance is just out of the reach of some people. A well-known story in Greek mythology is the
tale of Tantalus, the man who was condemned to an eternity of standing in a chin-deep pool of water that
lay underneath a fruit tree. Though his prison had bountiful water and food, he was thirsty and starving.
Each time he reached for a bite of fruit or a drink of water it retracted, keeping him in reach of sustenance
but unable to grasp it. This is much like the situation that many urban poor Egyptians face each day. They
live in a land that does not lack food, and indeed, most are not starving. Yet in this land of plenty,
malnutrition plays a negative role in the lives of these people that is significant enough to harm their wellbeing.
Like Tantalus’s curse, malnutrition keeps the urban poor of Egypt out of reach of adequate
nutrition and their highest potential as income-earners and members of society. In order to cast the demon
of malnutrition away and remove poor urban Egyptians from their own version of Tantalus’s torment,
initiatives must be taken to reduce malnutrition and poverty. This effort will require reform of existing
programs, implementation of new solutions, and cooperation between the everyday Egyptian and those in
the international community.