Rice University students, in foreground, at an open market in Cairo last summer.
The news continues to be filled with images of massive demonstrations in Egypt, Tunisia and beyond as rioters demand freedom from their repressive governments. I’ve been following events closely — not only because I’m interested in the Middle East, but because I’m concerned about the friends we made last summer, when members of the student-led Baker Institute Public Diplomacy & Global Policymaking Program traveled to Cairo to learn firsthand about Egypt and its people. As it happened, our new friends — students at The American University in Cairo (AUC) — were visiting Rice and Houston earlier this month as tensions in Egypt were about to erupt.
Both our groups wondered if the demonstrations in the region were just an anomaly, or the beginning of something more. Though our guests left Houston before the protests started in Cairo, we got the chance to hear their opinions on events in Tunisia and on student protests in general. At AUC, students are not allowed to protest, though some manage to do so all the same. To many of the visiting Cairo students, demonstrations in Tunisia seemed unsurprising, owing to the sheer corruption of the regime. But few predicted the size and intensity of the riots we’re currently seeing in Egypt.
Our friends are back in their country now, but we’ve been unable to reach them by phone or e-mail. As we wait in Houston and hope for their safety, I’ve been reflecting on their visit here. Just two short weeks ago, we were able to show them a little of a country that occupied a big, opaque space in their thinking of the world. They were introduced to typical college classes and American dorm life, and the most adventurous experienced a typical college party. Throughout, they were intrigued by our differences (some social events one called “magnificent”) but were also struck by the similarities between our styles of life. As the Cairo students talked about their hopes, fears and beliefs – and even about the quality of Tex-Mex food in Egypt (not great, by all accounts) – we all had the same thought: though we are different and unique, at the end of the day we’re all ordinary human beings with the same sorts of dreams.
To me, that’s the essential thing to remember as we watch Egypt tear itself apart and speculate on its future. The people agitating for freedom and for a new day for Egypt are everyday people like you and me, fighting for the simple rights that are at the core of the United States, but that they have been denied for decades. What we’re seeing in Egypt isn’t part of some grandiose scheme perpetrated by Al Qaeda or the like. It is the genesis of young people like us who, for instance, use Facebook, the guilty pleasure of the world’s youth, myself included. Naturally, when we watch the Army called in to control a country, we fear the worst, but we should have more faith in the Egyptian people. After all, can we say we wouldn’t do the same to secure a better future?
-Watch a KHOU 11 interview with Rice University students who traveled to Cairo last summer.
Tom Campbell, a senior at Rice University, is studying history. He leads the Baker Institute Public Diplomacy & Global Policymaking in the 21st Century Program, which gives real-world policy experience to students at Rice University.