PTPI Blog

Last week our Middle East/Africa Coordinator, Ahmed Roushdy, gave us a firsthand account of reactions in Cairo to the news that President Hosni Mubarak stepped down from office. This week he gives us insight into some of the ways the country is working to plan for the days ahead.

El Sawy Cultural Wheel, a cultural center in Cairo, invited Ahmed to participate in an initiative titled Egypt Tommorow, aimed at bringing people together to talk about the future of Egypt. He was asked to speak on behalf of youth and about his work in the NGO sector with PTPI. A portion of his speech was chosen as a highlight for a popular Egyptian Talk Show in state TV called Men Alb Masr (From the Heart of Egypt). See a video of his remarks on YouTube (in Arabic).

Some of the topics Ahmed discussed were education and the importance of extra-curricular activities, such as attending conferences and programs put on by organizations like PTPI. He stressed how hugely those type of activities can affect the next generation, giving them a vision for peace, tolerance and acceptance so that it will occur across communities and eventually the world.

Ahmed Roushdy speaking at El Sawy Cultural Wheel

Here is a summary from Ahmed on the other speakers and their topics:

Dr. Rania Elwani

Dr. Elwani talked about the importance of sports in the development of our upcoming generations. A three-time Olympian in swimming and a member of the International Olympic Committee, her experiences have taught her many values, from respecting people to having tolerance and love within Egypt.

Mr. Zeyad Ali

Mr. Ali commented on the importance of the internet, but more significant in the coming period is the mobile internet, since the mobile (cell phone) will be the primary internet device. He mentioned a Facebook page that has been created for Egyptians to start sharing ideas on ways to better their country. In only 24 hours, 900,000 people posted their ideas on the page. As Wael Ghonim mentioned, this is definitely “Egypt revolution 2.0”

Ms. Sarah Lamiy

Sarah is among couple of people who started an initiative to protect the Egyptian economy. The campaign started on Facebook and asked Egyptians to invest at least 100 LE (around $18) to help protect the Egyptian stock market from crashing.

(sidenote from Mickey about the Egyptian economy:)

Reports have indicated that millions of Egyptians want to help protect the economy. Many Egyptians living abroad have transferred money into accounts inside Egypt in support, and they intend to leave it there for at least six months to a year. Many have also indicated that they will start investing in the stock market (EGX), which has been closed since January 28, 2011 and is scheduled to reopen on February 20, 2011.

Mrs. Inas Omar

Currently, Egyptians can only vote during Presidential and People’s Assembly (Parliament) elections with a voting card, which must be applied for at least one year before the election takes place. Mrs. Omar discussed encouraging the government to implement voting with personal IDs, which would prompt many more to vote. She also suggested that the riot police (estimated to include around one and half million policemen) take on new roles that would be useful to the country, such as in the agriculture or education sectors. This large number of people could use their talents to help the economy rather than use them against the Egyptian people.

Mr. Abdallah Hamodah

Mr. Hamodah pointed out the importance of giving Egyptians who are living outside Egypt the opportunity to vote during Presidential elections at their nearest Embassy or consulate. The number of citizens working outside of Egypt is estimated to be around 7 million.