“HOW COULD WE FEEL SAFE IN THIS SOCIETY ANYMORE?”

“HOW COULD WE FEEL SAFE IN THIS SOCIETY ANYMORE?”
Crimes have recenlty increased in Cairo among celebrities, like the brutal murder of Laila’s Gufran daughter and her friend dina.

BY: HIND AL-IBRAHIM
CAIRO-EGYPT. It’s time to lock the doors, dim the lights and buy a self defense tool to be safely stuck in their apartments. Maiar Ahmed, Iman Saber, Mennah El Sheribiny, Sarah Shorrab and Omnia Gamal, are some of those Egyptian young ladies that the assassinations in recent crimes have frightened their secure life in Egypt.
Recently in Egypt, what happened to the famous Arab singer’s daughter Laila Gufran and her friend, made lots of mothers worry more about their family, especially their daughters. Amani Abdel Kareem is a single mother who doesn’t let her daughter Maiar Ahmed -19 year old, English commerce student- to sleep over at her friends’ place anymore.
“She feels insecure, she can’t sleep because she’d be alone by herself in the apartment” Maiar Ahmed said.
While other mothers like Sarah Shorrab’s mother never allowed her to sleep over at her friends’ places simply because of security and traditional reasons.
“It’s not something that’s new, mom never allowed me to sleep over at my friends’” Sarah Shorrab added.
As for Mennah El Sherbiny -19 year old, English commerce student- thinks that “the crime would happen anywhere” whether it was at her friends’ places or at her place. That’s why she still sleeps over at her friends’.
New procedures have taken place after the repeated incidents of the same murder process. Lots of people are buying self defense tools. For instance, Iman Saber, 28 year old interior designer, bought a self defense spray and is keeping it in her purse wherever she goes.
“I know it’s illegal but I do have one, I even keep it beside me when I sleep” Saber added.
Other procedures started to take place like locking the gates of the buildings early and the inhabitants of the building swould open up the gates using keys, otherwise the gates would remain locked starting from 5 pm.
“My mother decided to do this procedure with the building we live in now, no one can get inside unless the people we know or those who have keys” Maiar Ahmed added.
Not only did Mrs Abdelkarim do that, but “she locks the door of the apartment even if we are inside, we are always locked up in it, she didn’t use to do that before the recent murders.” Ahmed said.
A few murder cases have happened recently in Egypt which grabbed the attention of the people to the seriousness of being part of this society. But “the frightening feeling doesn’t last for a long time”, it’s permanent and “Egyptians easily forget” Shorrab and El Sherbiny thought.
Following the crime stories has become popular among many mothers. Mariam Hussain is a mother of two girls who has been following those stories and making sure that her daughters are always safe.
“ I hate it when my friends tell my mother about the crime stories they hear, she gets really worried and doesn’t allow us to go out” Maryam Hamad, a 23 year old, medical student said.
Ahmed is a fan of following the crime stories in town. “I want to read more because I feel that what’s happening now adays is abnormal, I want to know what people are thinking of and how bad they can get” she added.
Shorrab, El Sherbiny and Ahmed all thought that “one can be safe if they avoided walking in suspicious streets, wearing reasonable clothes and staying away from strangers” can be the key guidelines for one to stay out of trouble.
Maiar Ahmed feels insecure not just because of fearing an unexpected attack but from people’s way of looking at her. She dreams of“walking alone in the street without noticing other people’s looks”.
As for Omnia Gamal, a 23 year old engineer, she doesn’t feel safe unless she “locks the door” of her car while driving. But she feels that crimes don’t happen out of the blue, “there must be reasons behind them” she added.
Recent crimes in Egypt have affected those people’s lives in terms of security on all its levels, starting from home down to the street.
Yet, El Sherbiniy is wondering “how could we feel safe in such a society anymore?”

AUC on a Cold Day

Cloudy, cold breeze, yellow leaves are flying on the ground and the smell of cigarette smoke is hovering in the air. It’s now silent and one can barely hear a conversation, only humming; that what it’s like at the American University in Cairo this afternoon.
It is afternoon, faces of students who are hanging outside the school of Business, Economics and communication building look different from how they looked this morning. They are maybe tired after a long day of classes or perhaps they’re awaiting their next class while they’re hardly feeling like to chat.
Most of the female students are wearing shrugs and long sleeves while male students are wearing short sleeves, but only few are wearing hoodies.
Egyptian students are sitting in groups with their other Egyptian friends, they’re reading their notes and revising it seems as it is now the week of midterm exams. One seems like the teacher of his group as he is holding a pen and explaining to his other friends who sit quietly taking notes and asking questions. “Good luck” says the girl to her friend while she stands up out of the blue, takes out her pen and walks away.
Other Egyptian students are sitting carelessly in their chairs lighting up their cigarettes and putting their legs on the tables in front of them.
Foreigners, on the other hand; seem to have fewer friends on campus here in AUC. They’re not sitting in groups but rather individually.
An American is reading a huge book that is covered with a white sheet of paper and looking constantly around between now and then. He seems bored as well and is trying to spend the break he – maybe- has reading the book. But yes, it seems that he is definitely has felt bored when a girl yells out “hey you”. He then smiles and puts the book down on the floor as the girl sits on the table in front of his chair. He doesn’t mind it and he starts talking to her. The girl starts the conversation with “I really like it here at the new campus” but he quickly replies “well yeah, but there’s nothing to do here”. Noora is her name, “Noora, have you done your assignment yet?” yells out a friend of her while passing by.
Humming starts to increase gradually as students and staff run to catch the bus. A young, maybe a freshman student looks at his watch then starts to run to catch the bus. Two girls are taking very long steps and following the other people who are heading to the bus’ gate.
A few minutes later, silence hovers in the air; one can breathe fresh cold air and can sit anywhere because the chairs are now empty.

“I CAN ONLY LOVE ONLINE”

       CAIRO- Egypt. Turn on your computer, move your mouse and type down your email address with its password and you’re there; Looking for a significant other to talk to freely with no limitations is just a click away for many Egyptians as online chatting grows as a social phenomenon in the conservative Egyptian society.
       For many Egyptians men and women cyber relationships allow them to break free of the social taboos associated with free mingling of the sexes. Instead, young couples can find love-while still abiding by their families’ moral codes. In Egypt, cyber love is often the safest love.

     “I can’t say that I have a boyfriend in Egypt” said Rania Asfour, an interior designer, 23 years old. ”I come from a conservative family. I prefer online relationships and I can only love online”.

       Part of the draw in online relationship is the anonymity factor. Many people prefer online relationships because it is easier to combat nerves when one can’t see the other’s facial expression. And typing a romantic interlude is better when an individual has the option of reconsidering and deleting his or her words before entering them.

      Co-workers too find this mean of communication useful to express how they feel towards each other. “He’s a bit shy at but when he logs online he turns to a great poet”, said Sarah Shorrab, a lawyer, 23 years old.

      Some women think that both male and female users are more at ease when they talk online, but the way of using words is exactly the same. But there are drawbacks to conducting a relationship online.

       “It’s the worst way of communication and negotiating issues with my fiancée” said Enas Abdelbaqi a French student at Ain Shams. Abdelbaqi said that it’s hard to just read the words without hearing it from her fiancée because she can’t see him nor hear his voice to be able to determine what he really means.“Whenever I type a sentence I should immediately say how I feel or what I mean afterwards in order to explain myself to him” Abdelbaqi said.
      Face to face communication between a male and a female in relationships is necessary but some people prefer talking to their loved ones online.

      “When I’m online I feel free to say whatever I want to my girlfriend” said Abdulla Mosaad, a business consultant. .
Chatting programs have features of sending emoticons and flowers online which some say they help with expressing their feelings towards other.
“Animations and emoticons are stupid yes, but sometimes I use it to convince someone of my real facial expression” said Diaa Ali, a video editor, 23 years old.

      Facebook is another way some online Romeos keep connected to their significant other. Ali created a private account for his girlfriend on which he uploads pictures of drawings he painted for her, videos of him talking to her, and photos of what he’s doing every day.
“I admit they are boring, but this is the only way we can communicate, I’m a shy person” Ali added.

      Sending audio and video files through those programs is a great feature that helps enhance the relationships according to Amr Hamed, a computer engineer.
“When I like someone I would send her a song that tells her how I feel about her,” he said. ” That I can’t do in reality because it would sound odd”.

      And online relationships can be serious to true believers. Mennah Alsherbiniy, a student in Cairo Universty, 20 years old. She belives that people can still be loyal and sincere online and that meeting them online is no different than meeting a person in a social setting.
       “There are people who get married from their online friends,” she said. ” The internet is considered a mean of meeting people.”

       Not everyone is a fan of online relationships and some people don’t find it a safe communication tool.
Khaled Rasmy is a computer engineer who is against meeting his significant other online.

      “Online world is a cyber world where each and everyone is hiding behind a screen and a keyboard,” he said. “Not everything written or said is always meant to be sincere and true, and usually a person can get fooled if he or she thought it was otherwise.”

      He added that meeting people online takes away the intimacy of meeting and getting to know someone in the flesh and blood.
      “We are human beings, not just nicknames and displayed pictures” Rasmy said.