Does anyone believe what the host family in Egypt of the boy that lost 50 lbs. in 4 months claimed?

Question

http://www.sunherald.com/312/story/398022.html

[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. He added that the boy was active, constantly exercising and playing sports.]

Answer 1

Unfortunately, I think it probably did happen. It's obvious that the young man was having serious medical issues -- whether from not being fed or having another condition such as a parasite that led to the weight loss. Either way, it was the host family's responsibility to care for him. He would have had medical insurance to cover any cost involved in treatment.

Also, his AFS rep should have been in contact with him at least once a month. Surely he or she should have seen the weight loss. I think the school also has SOME responsibility -- at least the responsibility to notify the program of their concerns.

The young man too should have some responsibility for his condition. He had the responsibility to at least try and contact AFS that this was happening -- especially when it came down to the point he was stealing. However, I understand that this is very hard to do, especially if the host parents are domineering and the student has a submissive personality.

I hope all goes well with him and that those reading the article realize that this is an extremely isolated case. It is also the reason why host parents and natural parents should be in contact with each other, at least sporadically.

Answer 2

That's a bunch of c**p.  They know good and well they starved that kid.  No way anybody looks like that if they eat 6 meals a day, or even 1.  Regardless of how much exercise they get.

I don't understand why the kid stuck around though.

weeder