Tara Noronha's blog

Feelings of joy, shared by all ages, in Cairo's Tahrir Square — but many are still feeling the uncertainty of what comes after Egypt's revolution. Photo: Tara Noronha/Mercy Corps

While post-revolution euphoria and optimism linger on the streets of Cairo, one particular question hangs thick: what comes after a revolution? As Egyptians celebrate new opportunities for political and economic reform, they also fear the uncertainty of what comes next. This sentiment is particularly palpable among Egypt’s youth.

When discussing the recent constitutional referendum and the way forward for the new Egypt, I hear these words —

• Dangerous
• Uncertain
• Nervous

Just as often as I hear these —

• Proud
• Hopeful
• Free

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Since arriving in Cairo three weeks ago as a member of Mercy Corps' Egypt assessment team, I have had the opportunity to meet and befriend many of those who participated in Egypt’s recent revolution. In order to fully understand the needs of young people in the “new Egypt,” Mercy Corps is studying the factors that motivated youth across the country to unite in quest of political and economic reform.

Farida and Amal. Photo: Tara Noronha/Mercy Corps

But how would one prepare for a meeting with one of those behind Egypt’s stunning movement? And who would you imagine to be one of the driving forces that toppled an oppressive 30-year-old regime, with the entire world watching?

In a buzzing café in downtown Cairo, the answer arrives to meet me in an unlikely package.

Amal Sharaf is a pint-sized 36-year-old with soft, gentle eyes and a thoughtful smile. She greets me warmly, as if we are old friends, and introduces me to her sidekick, daughter Farida. As we get settled in to steaming cups of Arabic coffee and chai koshry, I look across the table and wonder…was this tiny lady really one of the initial drivers of one of the most powerful movements in the region's history?

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Sohag, nestled on the Nile, is one of Egypt's poorest governorates. Photo: Tara Noronha/Mercy Corps

Egypt’s Sohag governorate sits approximately 475 kilometers south of bustling Cairo. The quiet region offers a stunning blend of just about everything — desert, mountains and lush greenery, all while perched on the magnificent Nile. However, the Upper Egypt governorate is also one of the country’s most vulnerable. According to the Egypt Human Development Report, 59 of the country’s 100 poorest villages belong to Sohag. Youth face unique challenges in Sohag and surrounding Upper Egypt, as opportunities for employment and economic engagement are few.

As part of Mercy Corps’ Egypt youth assessment, I recently held a focus group discussion with 15 female youth from Sohag’s Bardis village. The young women were eager to begin the discussion by talking about Egypt’s January 25 revolution. Sohagian youth are hopeful that the “new Egypt” will continue to bring positive change.

“We weren’t actually in Cairo or Alex during the protests,” shares one young woman. “But we all felt like we were there and participating. And are very happy and proud.”

Says another youth, smiling widely, “After January 25, we all feel free.”

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Members of the Dugpaco ("Come Home") women's group tend their large garden plot, which is supported by Mercy Corps. Photo: Aleka Badawasou Jacques/Mercy Corps

Under an unrelenting Ugandan sun, I watched as women tended to their community garden in Wol, a parish in northern Uganda’s Pader District. With bowed backs, each woman carefully attended to fledgling onions, cabbages and eggplants, plunging their hands into the moist earth in order to aerate the soil and remove weeds.

I admired the women’s ability to do such physical work with grace and humor. They gossiped and giggled in brightly-coloured skirts, as tiny beads of sweat began to aggregate on their noses and lips, eventually sliding down their faces in steady streams.

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A few weeks ago, I was honored to serve as the Chief Judge at an interschool debate on HIV/AIDS prevention. Under a perfect blue Ugandan sky, youth from two neighboring schools prepared to deliver remarks on the importance of abstinence, safe sex, delayed marriage and healthy life choices.

A young woman delivers her part of the debate. Photo: Tara Noronha/Mercy Corps

I expected some of the young debaters — Peer Educators in Mercy Corps’ Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP) — to display at least some signs of anxiety and nervousness over the event. These youth were orating not only before a panel of judges, but also an audience comprised of more than 150 peers and key members of the community. Even though the Peer Educators had organised the event as part of YEP’s life skills programme, I anticipated seeing some beads of sweat, perhaps a little stuttering and maybe even a few tears. After all, public speaking terrifies most adults I know!

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As the brutal twenty-year civil war in Uganda has unofficially ended, many non-governmental organisations (NGOs) have exited Pader — a district in the country’s northern Acholiland — which was for many years at the epicenter of atrocities committed by the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Pastoralist warriors fomenting tensions in Uganda’s eastern Karamoja region now beckon many aid efforts, as do protracted conflicts in neighboring Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

But while the days of abduction and murder at the hands of the LRA have ended in “post-conflict” Pader, a long and arduous road to recovery remains. Land disputes between returning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have replaced battles between Ugandan forces and LRA rebels. The teacher-to-student ratio in Pader schools often hovers at 1:100. Additionally, northern Ugandans face unprecedented unemployment numbers, as well as few prospects for income generation.

These issues acutely affect youth. A staggering 83 percent of young people in Uganda are currently unemployed— a devastating figure which brands the country with the highest youth unemployment rate in the world. Yet, despite all of these seemingly insurmountable obstacles to economic and social stability, hope remains.

Just ask Akello.

Akello with her daughter in northern Uganda's Pader district. Photo: Tara Noronha/Mercy Corps

She is a soft-spoken twenty-year-old living in the Lira Palwo sub-county of Pader district. Akello is an entrepreneur, the mother of three young children and a child soldier once abducted and pressed into service by the LRA.

She is also a participant in Mercy Corps’ Youth Empowerment Programme (YEP), which operates in Pader with support from the W. Glen Boyd Charitable Foundation. Through YEP, Akello received a small grant to help grow her fish business. She’s also involved in the programme’s Life Skills training, which engages youth in dialogue on topics such as HIV/AIDS, the dangers of early marriage and the importance of effective communication.

Although reserved, Akello is not shy when vocalizing the ways in which the grant from Mercy Corps has allowed her to expand her enterprise. She now buys her fish in bulk and has diversified her business by selling both small and medium-sized fish. She is also devising plans to begin another small enterprise.

This is no tiny feat in a district where 75 percent of individuals report no cash income. Her husband, a farmer, is supportive of her entrepreneurial drive. “My husband is very happy,” Akello told me, smiling. “And he’s proud of our new income.”

Mercy Corps believes in the power and potential of youth, particularly those transitioning from conflict to post-conflict environments. Because of this, our doors have remained open since our Pader office began work in 2006.

Akello is just one of more than 1,000 youth (ages 14-30) benefitting from YEP, a programme which aims to ensure that war-affected youth in northern Uganda are empowered economically, through an increased ability to earn an income, and personally, through an increased ability to make critical life decisions and healthier choices. Yes, Mercy Corps also has teams working in Karamoja (as well as Sudan and Congo), but we continue to work with vulnerable youth in Acholiland, recognizing that these young individuals have the capacity to transform their society and bolster the economy.

Through resilience and courage, and with a little guidance and support, Akello is just one of many young individuals leading the way.

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