Book 6: My Expedition 2022 – From the Sources to the Mouth
Chapter 23: Gish Abbay (Source of Blue Nile), Lake Tana, and the GERD
My grandfather is a farmer in Egypt. He gets 100% of his water from the Nile. I promised him when I go to the river source, I will bring him a bottle of holy water.
– Dr. Mohammed Megaed, an Egyptian Hydrologist and scientist.
GERD … Having reached the end of our tour, we said our thanks and goodbyes to the GERD team and prepared for our return trip back to Addis. From the window of the plane, I took one last peak at the dam and reservoir from a distance and felt something that I could not quite explain … I was torn between happiness and sadness, anxiety and ease. Mighty and graceful at the same time, it was impossible to see it as an object of contention. The showdown of powers, the flurry of financial sanctions, and the continued pressure on the country to halt its construction had no weight in that moment. The commanding thought was its being a symbol of determination, people’s power, national identity, pride, and hopefully, a gateway to prosperity.
Chapter 24: Jinja, Uganda: Source of the White Nile and Khartoum the Meeting Place of the Blue and White Niles
…Like the source of the Blue Nile, the White Nile also originates from a spring. In the case of the White Nile, however, the spring bubbles up directly in the middle of the lake. One can clearly distinguish the spring water, which bubbles up in a small circle, from the surrounding water that flows by quietly…
…Wherever two rivers meet, one often renames the other. In Paris, the Seine takes in the Marne. In Allahabad, the Ganges subsumes the Yamuna. In St. Louis, the Mississippi swallows the Missouri. But in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, the Blue Nile and the White Nile arrive as equals in stature and equivalents in name, so at their confluence they both change their names as they become, for the next 3,000 kilometers to the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile or, in Arabic, bahr al-nil, the Nile Sea…
Louis Werner, a Writer in Aramco World
Chapter 25: Cairo and the Delta Region of Egypt
…On the 285 km drive back to Cairo, I opened the Notes app on my iPhone where I had saved Hymn to the Nile (below). It is believed to have been written around 2100 BCE and was sung by the ancient Egyptian people to welcome the annual flooding of the Nile. The poem expresses the gratitude they felt when they saw the flood reach the delta. I thought of the many different ways the Nile is praised and thanked during its journey from spring to sea by the many different communities that dwell along it.
Adoration to the Nile!
Hail to thee, O Nile!
Who manifests thyself over this land,
Who cometh to give life to Egypt!
…If the river, its appearance and generosity, have been consistent, and the population living in the basin understands the oneness of the river, what, then, is the problem with using it for the common good?
My view is summarized by a few factors: external pressure from countries far away from the river who may have their own interests that take priority over the half-billion people living in its basin (this number is expected to grow), and politicians who want to score political points for their country and deny the change in geo-politics, population, and demands for the equitable utilization of the Nile waters.