I had the opportunity to go for a short visit to Sohag, in Upper Egypt and meet with people living in small villages. The purpose of this trip is to increase political awareness among communities living far away from Cairo, to encourage them to participate in the coming elections, to explain how to select the right candidate, what is the role of parliment members and the most important, to make them realise that the future of our country is in their hands and it is up to them to carry on the wind of change.
The people we met were simple people, but proud. They didn't complain about not having much money but that they want this revolution to succeed. They were avid to discuss with us, ask questions to understand better about the coming elections.
We had a separate meeting with woman and men in Al-zouk, a small village of Al-Monshaa. The Saidi woman knows that it is important to vote, to educate girls in schools and universities but at the same time, she must respect her husband's wishes. She doesn't give up but she complies his final word. I was fascinated and maybe disappointed with such contradiction. How these women, have such strong views about education and empowerment but at the same time, they obey their men even if they are not convinced and they can't just say no. They are clever and strong but at the end, they can't just do all they want at a given moment.
I was disappointed cos i feel that there are lot of people like that. Maybe we could convince some of those men to allow their women to vote, but there are still much more people to reach. Change is inevitable but it might take longer than i thought. Maybe i was too optimistic that people will have second thoughts after the revolution, that it will be a new era and a new start for all of us in everything in our lives.
One of the best moments during that day was talking to young girls, less than 12 years old, they have high aspirations for their future and they are the hope of our country. Maybe our visit gave them more ambitions, seeing young people in the 20's travelling all the way just to talk to them.
It feels great to be able to make a small change in our society but gives bigger responsibilities to go further and further.
You don't have to travel hundreds of kilometers to talk with people, you can discuss with the people around you and they will discuss to the people around them and so on.
