When Jonathan McCullum left last summer to spend a school year as an exchange student in Egypt, little did he knew that he'd also undergo an extreme weight loss / starvation diet too!
Jonathan McCullum was in perfect health at 70kg (154 lb) 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 1.75-metre teenager weighed a mere 44kg (97 lb) 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.
The host family had a different take on what happened:
The host father, Shaker Hanna, rejected McCullum's story as "a lie," suggesting that he made it up because his parents were hoping to recover some of the money they paid for his stay as compensation.
"The truth is, the boy we hosted for nearly six months was eating for an hour and a half at every meal. The amount of food he ate at each meal was equal to six people," Hanna said.
Oh dear.
Seriously, how obvious can a lie be?
(notice that he didn't specify the frequency of the meals either.. 'each meal' could have been weeks apart)
Two words:
TUBE
WORM
Ew. Sorry I said that.
I think this guy's story isn't all it's cracking up to be. For one thing, it was HIS CHOICE to stay with the host family even though he could have left and went somewhere else. And perhaps he had some sort of eating disorder, look at the picture of him almost proudly showing off his "physique."
I'm not saying it's his fault but at least I'll wait and see the whole story before going off on an anti-Middle Eastern rant.
Are you sure you're not in the pay of Big Coptic?
I'm not sure how much more of the whole story you can expect. It seems pretty straight-forward to me, but if you want to believe this guy starved himself to the point of illness so he could blame some Egyptians, go right ahead.
@Geekazoid
He does not appear to be showing off anything, no one shows off with a feeding-tube in them.
Egypt is in northern Africa.
So what, every dark-skinned person that comes from a country with a fancy name is a Middle-Easterner for you Americans now?
And if it wasn't a worm, why on earth didn't he contact someone back home and let them know he wanted the hell out of there because he was being starved?
I think if you really need to eat then you are going to find a way to eat.
I was also a teenager. My host family, who my parents paid to feed me and let me stay in their home, forced me to sleep on the floor, and eat meager meals separately in the kitchen. They also expected me to be a maid for the family and a caregiver for an elderly family member.
When I didn't perform well, they cut my food. They held my money, credit cards, passport, and plane ticket "for safe keeping."
The host family monitored my phone calls and mail, so I couldn't say anything to my parents -- who I also didn't want to disappoint -- because I had asked to go on exchange, and it cost them a fortune.
This was a powerful and affluent family, and the daughter went to school with me. I didn't know anyone who I thought would believe me and help me.
I was so, so relieved to be back on American soil. I never admitted how bad it was to my parents; I was ashamed that I wasted their hard-earned money, while I let myself be abused.
also, one might take into consideration the difference in food portions in different cultures...just a thought.
Another thing. That guy looks like he wasn't allowed to eat AT ALL!
In the introductory paragraph for the wikipedia article, it states: "Egypt is widely regarded as an important political and cultural nation of the Middle East."
sparge basically covered the point I was going to make. You have a pretty blatant anti-American streak, though. We don't all fit one mold, asshat.
Finally ther are at least 10 McDonalds in Alexandria alone and 10 KFC's and big mac meal will cost that lier not more than $3!!! so don't tell me this crab about starving him!!! plus Egyptian are so genuros specially when it comes to food!!
be more educated and look up Alexandria on line it's one of the most amazing city in the world.
I doubt this is a one sided affair.
When people undergo different eating habits, especally while in a new unknown environment, you can mentally adapt and change without being aware of it. Maybe this boy took on a eating disorder without consciously realizing it right away. I mean, he is young, impressionable, and surrounded by people who are in the process of a religious fast.
Darwin was so close with this one.
Even a student should have enough COMMON SENSE to know how to feed himself.
And what type of a parent lets their "slow child" go off to a foreign land and NOT keep in touch - or give them enough money so that they could buy themselves food or fly home if they got stuck with a host family still living in the dark ages.
leslie, where on Globalvoicesonline.org can i find the article? i'd be really interested to hear another angle on the situation.
McCullum: you should say the truth.
Will you link my blog?
http://diet-method-blog.blogspot.com/