International Schools and moving to egypt with children..

I noticed some members have children, sometimes visa issues make you worry about the future.. In our case, he has an excellent job with great prospects in egypt, and i am in turmoil wondering how it wil be for him here.. Will he find the same work in the area he works? If he doesnt, wil he blame me for his sacrafice and resent me for it?? ... He really loves his work and the thoughts of him not being able to work in his field of training and the thoughts of what he would potentially give up fills me with fear.. I know my qualifications would be recognised in egypt and many demand a good level of english.. His qualifications may not be recognised in his field of work (avionics engineer) I would give up my life here in a heartbeat, if it were not for my children..He tells me we could manage the cost of an international school and tries to find solution... International schools seem expensive and lets face it, my children only have english and their eduacation would suffer - they would not know how to speak arabic. Imagine the strain on his finances. we are both in turmoil trying to find a solution.. We need a future and we need it with each other!!!!!!!

Has anyone ever moved to egypt with children?? Did the children adjust to the difference in culture??? Did anyone use international schools and in reality were the costs of these schools difficult to manage??? I hear they can range anything upwards of 15000 EGP per year.. Are jobs difficult to find for an english speaker with european recognised Honours degree???
I am thinking to go by myself to egypt for 6 months after marraige to see the reality of things there and if its possible to set things up, without subjecting my girls to any upset....

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Yes, i feel a bit strange about unsettling the kids... I just want everything to be ok for him also..He wil make a huge sacrafice for me... Economically things are difficult here in ireland.. I was made redundant a few months ago... He mentioned getting his easa licence through distance learning and i spoke to a man whow knew an egyptian man who came here and who was a civil engineer and he said he went to the relevant engineer association, where they gave him an exam to assess his knowledge and on passing he was made of member of the engineers institute.. i really feel my other half needs to find a way to get his EASA 66 licence... My half has a mans dream job.. He works with airplanes.. OOoh i wud hate if he had to give up on his dreams.. I wish we could find a solution.. Its not easy is it...

Your child has autism?? My youngest was born with Choanal Atresia.. Rare condition. Her nose looks completely normal on the outside but internally the bone was completely fused, so she had no airholes in the bone to be able to breathe at birth.. She had stents inserted to make holes twice but they closed (like when a bone mend on a broken leg). She has had five operations to dialate the holes but she has been open a long time now, so i think this issue is behind me now... Autism has been associated with Choanal Atresia and also Charge symtoms but so far she has not displayed any symtoms of each...

I remember well what got me through my difficult time... I would think to myself, amanda, god would never give you such a precious child if he did not think you were a great mother, and had the skills to cope.. God wil never send you to a place where he wont help you..

In all our problems (like the one regarding the issues of my better half coming here) , i sincerely believe that god will make a solution appear... I really have faith in this.. This is why we continue in our situations right?? no matter how hopeless and difficult it seems..

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no he is not crazy, he loves you and all that comes with you... Unlike MOST men he wont run if he finds someone he loves because she has children, or children with issues.. Children are gifts from god, no matter what they are diagnosed with... For your information I have 4 girls.. Hossan wil only see what a wonderful mother you are and your amazing abilities as a mother.. It wil please him that you wil be the same with his children.. He will see your eyes and your features in the face of your child.. He is not crazy.. He is a wonderful man.. Cherish him..

I refer to Islam's prophet Mohamed, his first wife, she was divorced and had children.. He married her because he thought she was a good woman.. He never took another wife while married to her.. He grieved for her for a long time when she died.. He truly loved her..

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HolleeBerree wrote:

missirish wrote:

no he is not crazy, he loves you and all that comes with you... Unlike MOST men he wont run if he finds someone he loves because she has children, or children with issues.. Children are gifts from god, no matter what they are diagnosed with... For your information I have 4 girls.. Hossan wil only see what a wonderful mother you are and your amazing abilities as a mother.. It wil please him that you wil be the same with his children.. He will see your eyes and your features in the face of your child.. He is not crazy.. He is a wonderful man.. Cherish him..

I refer to Islam's prophet Mohamed, his first wife, she was divorced and had children.. He married her because he thought she was a good woman.. He never took another wife while married to her.. He grieved for her for a long time when she died.. He truly loved her..

So true and yes that's why I love him!

Ladies,

Miss Irish,
Thank you for your sweet comment. and it is true that Hollee and the kids are a whole one package i need to be with... without any missing parts because they are my family and they will make my life complete..
For schools,I do agree with Hollee on the matter of education here in Egypt, it's still not quite the learning process you want your kids to go through, especially we still have a lot of teachers breaking the law by beating the children in some schools and/or just ignoring their need to be educated... and i can also say that being enrolled in a school that's in the EU or the Americas or pretty much any country would be somehow better... i had to go through school in Saudi when i was a kid until i turned 14 and it wasn't a very pleasant experience. they shoved their religious and racist views in my head... but somehow i grew up ok :-D and in Egypt, i went to a public school and i don't recall having teachers who actually cared about any of us students, we were jammed in classes... but then again, when i went to college i met a lot off people who actually graduated from private language schools and they don't know how to make a decent conversation... neither in Arabic nor in English.... BUT every rule has its exceptions, and if you wanted to find quality education in Egypt you will probably be able to find a few good accredited schools in Egypt, key is finding schools with international references, and you can guarantee a good level of education.... The tuition for those schools is somewhat high for the income of the majority in Egypt... and as you said it can be within the average of 15,000 EGP a year, i have my oldest kid, he's still 4 and i pay about 10,000 EGP a year for his school, or around 1700$...
I wish you the best of luch with everything


My Hollee,
Thank you for believing in me and trusting me because you know it means so much to me that you trust me around Rylee and Evan... I love you because you have faith in me as always!!!

Hey Mandy,

I don't have kids (like I said before), but I'd like to take a stab at what I can.

As you probably already know, children are heavily influenced by their surroundings. It would be incredibly hard for them to grow up in another country and not feel some culture shock. Although I believe that children may get over this faster than many adults would, it cannot be said that it would not be a difficult swap for them.

From my experience (and I don't have a lot, but we used to live next to an international school in Egypt and I had co-workers who sent their kids there), the best international schools are going to be about 2,000 pounds a month. Those are schools that have foreign teachers. However, lots of international schools, again, from what I know, have mainly Egyptian teachers. I don't know how reliable that is, since they most likely have those teaching jobs because they bought their way into them. You would probably pay for a cheap education. And the hardest part is that a lof of the children in the international schools aren't usually international children. They're usually Egyptian children of rich families or from other Arabic countries. I was always amazed at how almost all of the children that would run out of the international schools were Egyptian, and maybe 5% were actually foreign children. I would not want my children to be in school with snooty, spoiled kids...

I don't know what the job market is like in Ireland, but the best thing that you could do is to try to secure a job for him before hand. Look around and see if people would be willing to hire them. Call up a company that deals with the stuff he loves so much, ask to speak with human resources, and just ask them, "How would a foreigner who studied _____ qualify to work for you?" Call all the companies that you can, and see if you can dabble in the world of that stuff that is maybe just a bit different than what he is doing right now. If he can get his foot in the door, even if it's doing something that is more office work, or more assistant work than he's used to, he'll at least have the chance to grow in the company. Most companies will be more open to hiring someone in a position that is not as important to the success of the company, to determine the person's work ethics and things of that nature. So, instead of trying to find a job for him that is doing exactly what he wants, see if you want find a job for him in something that is in the same realm, that could eventually lead to his working in what he loves again. It may prove to be easier to get in that way, and if he really is very good at it, then he could be able to prove that over time, and get promoted to the job he really wants. And yes, it would mean that he might have to return to a slightly lower level than he's used to, but it would be worth it, in my opinion, if it meant his son and your children would stay in school in Ireland and you and he would be together.

If you can try to secure the job, or at least the idea of how to obtain the job, before hand, it will help a lot.

Whether or not he would blame you for not having a job in Ireland or not is totally dependant on what kind of person he is. Egyptians, and really men in general, don't like for their "manhood" to be tried, by having to rely on the woman in a foreign country to handle eveything. When my husband first came to America, he had really bad culture shock. He hated not having his driver's license. He felt trapped and like a child. It made him very emotional all the time, and it was a really difficult time for us. He had to learn that the culture is much different, and you have to act accordingly, usually for your own safety rather than for religious reasons. And then, I had to learn to let him go out and mess up on his own. He told me that I treated him like a child those first few weeks, and I did, because I felt like in my country he was. Just like I was a child in his country for a time. I think it's natural to want to protect the ones that you love, so even if he got to Ireland and it took him a while to get a job, you just have to both remember that you're doing it for the sake of the children, and for the opportunity to be together. It's the man's responsibility to provide for his family. It would be very difficult, especially in Egypt, to try to put numerous children through such expensiving schooling.

It all really comes down if the children should sacrifice their education and perhaps their futures (in a certain aspect of it) or if the husband and wife should try to sacrifice what they can to help the children be the best that they can be. The only benefit that I can see of going to live in Egypt in your cases with the children, would be to allow your honey to keep his job.

I know it seems silly, but make yourself a pro's and con's list. It may really help you come to terms with the inbalance of the decision, and make it easier to decide which is the right thing to do. And most importantly, don't forget to get spiritual guidance as well.

I hope that stuff didn't seem negative!! Hosam is right that the education system in Egypt is horrible, and unfortunately that's a fact, not an opinion. And you REALLY don't want them to go to college in Egypt.

Anyway, if I were you, I would try to find out more information about possibilities. Engineering degrees should translate easily from country to country, because it is a lot of science and math, and therefore not really specific to a ceratin country.

I truly believe that everything happens for a reason. And you know something Mandy, if you don't know right now, that's okay!! You'll know when the time has come that you are supposed to know. There will be a time when you see things so clearly and know exactly what route you both should take, so if you don't already have that feeling, then keep waiting for it.

You are right misr.. Nooooo ur post is not negative at all.. I know in my heart that i ireland is best for the children...

We are set up here.. Home and School.. Im just so worried about him too...

Yes you are right.. If i think back.... in most problems i have encountered in life, a solution has always presented itself.. We dont know what is ahead and things could be alot easier than we expect.... He has great determination.. He can do anything he puts his mind to.... so, with that in mind, ... i am sure he will control his own destiny well!

Hey Mandy! I think that was a great point that Claire made about calling around to see what the hiring situation is like. Call local airports...I live in a small city, but I know of at least 5 little (very little lol) airports within 20 minutes of me. I know it wouldn't be a big airline, but perhaps they would have a position open, and it would be a great way to gain experience for some of the major airports in Ireland. But, of course, that's only if the big airports weren't hiring. Give them a call or email HR! You may be surprised by the answer they give you. I don't know about there, but in America, some major companies LOVE to hire foreigners if they meet the qualifications.

Like for Peter, he works at a resort, so when he comes here, we will likely live in Orlando (it's like 45 minutes away from where I am now). There are soooo many hotels there for him to apply at...AND thankfully, we have Disney World here...and let me tell you, they LOVE LOVE LOVE to hire different nationalities...with his experience, foreign nationality, and ability to speak 3 languages...Disney will scoop him up in no time! hehehe. Perhaps there are some companies like this in Ireland!

Best wishes for you and your man! I hope you can both find a solution that works great for you all!

Thanks so much

Well as far as i know, i think his company will be looking after planes from a european country.. i rem his saying something about lufthanza in germany...and his company does send engineers to britian, but not ireland .

im sure by that time he will have more than enough experience.. and at the end of the day, a plane is a plane...

Yes its good idea, the ideas claire suggests.. maybe i could send a few emails and at least find out what needs doing to meet their demands.. so we can plan in advance.. My cousin was tried avionics engineer but it wasnt for him (hes a cook now) .. maybe he might know some people...

I have also noticed, in my job searching, that there seems to be a few engineering jobs in ireland.. just doesnt seem to be much in my area...