When three-year-old Rena Gurges plays alone in her backyard, her father knows he was right to move to Barrhead.
“It tells me how wonderfully safe Barrhead is,” said Dr. Ramy Gurges, the town’s newest doctor. “Safety was one of the biggest considerations before coming here with my family from the city.”
Other factors were the town’s pace, lack of pollution, low level of traffic and recreational facilities.
The Agrena and swimming pool put Barrhead on a par with many other areas, said Gurges. But something he did not fully appreciate was the town’s greatest asset – the people.
“They are so friendly,” he said.
“Everybody knows each other here. You feel like you are living in a big family.”
“I wouldn’t say I chose Barrhead,” he added. “I would say Barrhead chose me.”
One of the first people in Barrhead he met was Rita Lyster, from Rita’s Apothecary.
It was a fabulous introduction to his new hometown.
“She has been very helpful and supportive from the moment I went into her pharmacy,” he said. “She is a great asset to the community.”
Egyptian-born Gurges, who is a specialist of anaesthesia with 12 years’ experience, came to Barrhead on March 28 with his wife Ereny Wahba, and daughters, Rana, aged seven, and Rena.
He has now completed his first week at Barrhead hospital.
His arrival here seems remarkable if you look back to his upbringing in Beni Suef, a small city of two million people about 120 kilometres south of Cairo.
How did destiny guide him towards a tiny town in central Alberta?
To an outsider Gurges seemed to want for little in Egypt after he got his anaesthesiology licence.
Between 2006 and 2007 he worked in Saudi Arabia before returning to Egypt, where he had a good job and a happy home life.
As an expert with the Ministry of Justice, Ereny was also settled.
But when Gurges looked at his children, he wanted something more.
“I was happy in my career and everything was working out well,” he said. “However, I wanted better lives for my daughters.”
The search for improvement took him to Edmonton in May 2010, several months before Egypt was embroiled in revolutionary turmoil which led to the ousting of long-time president Hosni Mubarak.
Gurges had no idea of the political tsunami about to engulf his homeland.
He saw no ripples of discontent, no tiny signs of what was about to happen.
“When I moved my family from Egypt my friends thought I was stupid,” he said. “They would say ‘why are you doing this when you have things so good?’”
Then on Tuesday, January 25, 2011, the popular uprising erupted in Cairo, Alexandria and other cities following the Tunisian revolution.
Along with the rest of the world, Gurges watched in amazement and hope as an authoritarian leader was swept away.
“What happened after that was not so good,” said Gurges. “There was no police, no security. The army is still in power. In June there should be an election, so hopefully things will begin to improve.”
Meanwhile, the Gurges family had settled into a new life in Canada. Ereny, who has a Masters Degree in Chemistry, worked in the school system and Ramy negotiated several career hurdles.
After passing his Medical Council of Canada exams he underwent an assessment of his skills, working seven weeks at Grey Nuns Hospital and a week at Stollery Children’s Hospital.
Although he lives in Barrhead, Gurges still makes twice-monthly visits to Edmonton to attend the Christian Coptic Church.
“It’s very important to me to be connected to our church, and take part in spiritual activities,” he said.
In July, Gurges expects to host a special visitor to his new Barrhead home – his father, Ragaey. It will be an emotional reunion as a father witnesses how fate has smiled on his son.
“I am a very lucky man,” said Gurges.
