The concrete steps leading from Ahmed Muhammad Sayyid’s first-floor apartment sag in the middle, worn down over time, like Sayyid himself. Once, Sayyid had a decent job and a chance to marry. But his fiancée’s family canceled the engagement because after two years, he could not raise enough money to buy an apartment and furniture.
Sayyid spun into depression and lost nearly 40 pounds. For months, he sat at home and focused on one thing: reading the Koran. Now, at 28, with a diploma in tourism, he is living with his mother and working as a driver for less than $100 a month. With each of life’s disappointments and indignities, Sayyid has drawn religion closer.
Here in Egypt and across the Middle East, many young people are being forced to put off marriage, the gateway to independence, sexual activity and societal respect. Stymied by the government’s failure to provide adequate schooling and thwarted by an economy without jobs to match their abilities or aspirations, they are stuck in limbo between youth and adulthood.
“I can’t get a job, I have no money, I can’t get married, what can I say?” Sayyid said one day after becoming so overwhelmed that he refused to go to work, or to go home, and spent the day hiding at a friend’s apartment.
In their frustration, the young are turning to religion for solace and purpose, pulling their parents and their governments along with them.
An interesting and depressing article. While the educated Egyptians I come into contact with are not desperate, like those interviewed, it is indeed a very poor country. When Egypt had its “Revolution,” that is, the army coup that deposed the last king, Nasser imposed an Islamic and Arabist dictatorship which was aggressively socialist. He nationalized industries, drove out minorities (Jews, Copts, Greeks) while confiscating their property, and generally speaking wrecked an already fragile economy. Recovery from the Nasser years is very slow, and hampered considerably by the extremism this article references. What, really, do these young people think Islam and shari’a are going to do for them?
The doorman at our apartment building earns $72 a month, plus tips and room and board, so he’s doing pretty well. He just returned from a visit to his home in Aswan, sporting a wedding ring, so apparently he has been able to save enough to get married — but not enough to bring his wife to live in Cairo. I expect he’ll work here another year or two to save more money, and he’s working on some kind of degree. A previous doorman quit to get a higher-paying job in the hopes of marrying, but without room and board he’s probably behind.
But the shortcomings of the educational system are evident at the manufacturing plants my husband works with. Engineers have degrees, but are not up to the task of modern design and manufacturing practices. Some will learn, but some appear incapable.
We have donated to a fund to educate the children of orphans here. The American church here has an [url=http://www.maadichurchstjohn.org/catalog/index.html] online catalog[/url] of giving opportunities in Egypt. The church has a U.S. tax ID, has an address in the for U.S. sending checks in dollars, and can send a U.S. tax deduction receipt. 100% of funds donated go to the listed charity; none goes to the parish.
Katherine, I have noticed several of your posts. I also am an expat living in Cairo, and an Aug-2003-Ex-Episcoplian. I imagine you go to St. John’s, Maadi? I go to Maadi Community Church. Nevertheless, I have lived in Cairo off and on since 1990, and I can attest that the populace is growing more fundamentalist every year on the whole. More women are covering up than in the past. And there is some polarization. In the face of fundamentalism I see magazines and movies that are quite daring. And there is the Internet and satellite TV.
Hi, CharlesB. We have been to St. John’s Church several times, as my Catholic husband will politely decline to attend evangelical services. I’m not crazy about St. John’s, but I do think their charity efforts are commendable and have no hesitation recommending them. I’m sending you a personal email — if you go up to “my account” you should be able to read it.
#1 – I do appreciate your real-world comments about shari’a. I wonder if this program about Coptic Christians in Cairo has been seen in Egypt?
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=unreported+world+egypt&search;_type=&search=Search