No curfew but daily life disrupted

It is 2:34. I have to leave because they are shutting down the university. At first I thought it was a curfew, but a colleague who is very politically connected says there is no curfew. A student tells me it is because the protest is expected to be huge and really snarl up traffic, which is already bad enough in Cairo.

I got a dramatic call from my children's daycare asking me to come right away to get them. My daughter's school, New Cairo British International School sent my daughter home early, at one o clock, as well.

Tally on the three AUC students is that one was arrested, and then released, Rahim. One was shot, he was short near the eye, but not in the eye. It was a rubber bullet, and he was expected to regain his sight. He was spotted wandering around the campus yesterday, a minor celebrity. I do not know the status of the third student.

Al Ahram (state owned) is reporting that numbers are swelling in Tahrir. It estimates that there are close to 20,000 people in the square right now. Al Masry Al Youm (independent) is reporting that the Egyptian stock exchange has halted due to the political crisis. It also reports that thousands are heading to Tahrir.

Here is who is in and who is out!


Jama'a al-Islamiya : attending
The Salafi-led Nour Party: attending
Freedom and Justice Party, (MB): Not attending

Egyptian Current Party:  attending

Socialist Popular Alliance Party: attending 

April 6 Youth Movement:  attending

Peaceful Change Front:  attending

Union of Revolutionary Youth:  attending

Egyptian Social Democratic Party: attending  

Okay, I need a break from all the excitement. Back in a few days. Good luck to the revolutionaries. Praying for peace. ~WMB

Egyptian Musical Interlude: Hisham Abbas sings Fino Habib Fino

Somehow, my son Ali (who is 3) is in class with Tamara (4), the daughter of famous Egyptian pop star Hisham Abbas.

We went to a very posh birthday party at their house. The funny part is that I had no idea when I went to the party that it was at the house of a pop star. I asked them if I could bring some food or if I could help out.  But looking at the video, yes, his face is the face of the father of Tamara. Anyway, the party was very posh, with trained dogs, doves, djs, jumping castles, and loads of food including a shewerma stand and a pasta stand. Thanks for your generosity Mr. Hisham. We had a lovely time.

Anyway, Mr. Hisham is a mechanical engineer, trained at AUC! I guess he followed his passion. we all should do that.

Governance, Accountability and Stakeholders in Egypt

This semester I am teaching a class at the American University in Cairo called "Governance, Accountability, and Stakeholder Negotiation. It is a masters level class in public policy. It is a lot of fun, and we have been doing a lot of reading on how to improve governance in the Middle East and Africa. For example, we have read the Ibrahim Index as well as the World Bank MENA governance News and Notes.

This week, we were very lucky to have a special guest. Dr. Samer Soliman came and spoke to our class. He is the author of an important book just published by Stanford University Press. The book is titled The Autumn of Dictatorship: Fiscal Crisis and Political Change Under Mubarak.  In this book, Dr. Soliman evaluates the Egyptian budget to get lessons about allocation patterns, and the character of the authoritarian Egyptian state.

Here are some of his comments (paraphrased) on governance and accountability.

Accountability

The main issue of the Army is the budget. The second issue is that the Army has an economic empire. The military empire is off budget. If you examine the details of the Egyptian budget, you will not see it, but the evidence is all around us. One concern for the transition is that the Egyptian military is trying to prevent the new president from having power over the budget. 

It will likely take a while to move the military to its proper place in society. In Spain, the transition to democracy took 15 years. Currently in Egypt, we are operating under an interim constitution. At the moment, there is no article in the constitution that has a popular monitoring of the budget.  

We need an army, and we need a state. There has actually been a long term weakening of the Army since Sadat. The Nasser regime was really a military regime. This is less true today. In Iraq under Saddam, there was no distance at all between the regime and the state. This is also true of Syria today. In Egypt, there is some distance. The military is not divided along sectarian lines, like the Syrian military. It is important to get the military budget into the state budget. Right now, there is a lack of civilian control of the budget. 

Taxation plays an important role in accountability. Taxation in Egypt is currently corrupt and inefficient. Democracy facilitates the task of taxation because it enhances popular legitimacy. We also need progressive taxation. 


Stakeholders


With regard to stakeholders under the Mubarak Regime, there were no real political parties. There were just pressure groups. The opposition parties had no chance to rule. New political parties are emerging. In the future, we will have real political parties in Egypt. Syndicates will be much more important. There was no real syndicate life under the old regime. The syndicates can play an important role as an instrument of bargaining and problem solving. Many social groups in Egypt do not have real power. The Egyptian diaspora is important. Civil society will be more important in the new period. The SCAF is pushing the diaspora aside because they are dangerous. They are a huge asset in terms of their money, their knowledge, and their connections. 


Elections

It is not correct that the SCAF will be appointing all 100 members of the task force to write the constitution. Rather, they will set the criteria of how people for the task force are selected. The parliamentary elections will be in November. Then, there will hopefully be presidential elections, although it is vague. The constitution should be drafted within 6 months after the presidential elections. There is no guarantee that the constitutional drafting will be finished in the transition period. 


Egyptian Social Democratic Party

The party I belong to is the SDP. It is objectively, the best party in Egypt, and you should join it. {laughter}. We respect the market economy, but we also believe in a welfare state, and we support social justice. Our party is based on the assumption that economic development needs to create opportunities for the poor, but still be based on the market. We want to give people the instruments and means to defend their rights. It is creative conciliation between the market, and social democracy. 

AUC Strike: Drums and Drama

AUC students and workers strike. Photo Credit, Al Masry Al Youm

Dear readers

In a previous post, Back to Campus Egyptian Style, I mentioned that a strike had started on Sunday, September 11, 2011 at the American University in New Cairo, where I teach public policy.

Today is Thursday, and the strike has gotten successfully bigger, more dramatic and stressful. A few days ago, the students and security guards let in all the students' cars, even those who had not paid parking fees. The result was a massive traffic pileup. I asked the bus driver to let me out, and I walked with my three year old over the sand and through Gate 4 onto campus. A kind student held one of my son's hands, and I held the other one, to make sure he did not get run over or trampled.

There are a host of constituencies and a host of demands. Among the demands are that the recent 9% increase to student tuition be reduced. The students believe it is too high. The custodians, security guards and desert landscaping crew want two days off a week, as well as a minimum wage of 2000 Egyptian Pounds (roughly 400 dollars). I am more sympathetic to the workers' demands, and less sympathetic to the students' demands.  There is no question that the workers at the university are underpaid and overworked, as I discussed in a previous post.  The Custodian Project.

Custodians at AUC make about 1100 EGP (roughly 200 dollars).  That being said, 1) the University faces a punishing deficit of over 8 million dollars 2) President Anderson increased wages of all essential workers as one of her first acts of coming into office in January and 3) AUC workers are paid far more than workers in similar positions at comparable universities. Essentially, the students and staff want the university to reduce revenues, while increasing costs. This does not work. It does not work in the United States Congress, it does not work in my house, and it won't work at AUC.

Yesterday there was a meeting in Bassily Hall. The University President, the Vice President for Planning and Finance, and the Provost were all there to answer questions. I attended that meeting. From my perspective, I felt that the President was listening and I felt that she was reasonable. She said that the University agreed that they needed more transparency in budgeting, and that they needed to resolve negotiations with striking groups such as the security guards, the custodians and the desert landscaping team more quickly. She also said they would consider freezing tuition for incoming students.  Some custodians spoke, some students spoke, and some security guards spoke. There were many faculty present, but none spoke.

At the same time as the meeting in Bassily Hall, there was a "counter-meeting," in HUSS. The students and workers set up an opposite meeting at the same time as the president's meeting. They came and got students out of our meeting, and marched towards HUSS. They were accompanied by some wonderful drum playing Folkloric Musical students. There was some fantastic drumming, a little dancing, and a lot of revolutionary spirit. It was quite a show. I felt a pang of guilt as I saw some academic colleagues walking in the other directions with the students, while I walked the other direction, towards the administration.

I am a union person, and in my heydey, when Lisa Anderson was my professor at Columbia, I participated in protests against my university. Out of solidarity, I attended the first rally on Sunday.  I cannot gainsay the students' spirit. I am really happy to see the students and workers working together. That is wonderful. I think they have some points, but I also feel really badly for the administration, which has been slashing costs, retiring and firing staff, and cutting faculty wages. I wonder if I was like this twenty years ago? Did I not listen, or try to hear the administration's perspective? Was my cause more just, and the Columbia administration less responsive? Memories.

I also want to note that the administration opened negotiations with all the constituencies, and the response of the students was to not attend the negotiations but to simply provide a written list of demands. 

Yesterday, the students occupied the administration building. There has been plenty of local news coverage of the strike, which generally exaggerates the size of the crowds. It also does not seem to be giving correct figures re salaries. The average custodian at AUC makes 1100 EGP. After deductions, that person may take home 750 EGP. It is important to note that the custodians struck in 2010, and did receive a raise at the first of 2011. 

Here is some press coverage

AUC students on strike 

AUC students and workers launch strike against soaring fees and wage cuts

Here is an email from President Lisa Anderson to the AUC Community, dated September 13, 2011. 

Dear AUC Community,

As I wrote in yesterday’s message, several members of the senior administration and I all cleared our schedules today in anticipation of meetings with each of the groups who had identified grievances and articulated demands in the protests of the last few days, as had been arranged by their representatives.

This morning, however, new sets of representatives, whose members are listed below, emerged and instead of participating in the scheduled meetings, they chose to submit sets of written requests. Over the course of the day, we reviewed each set of requests, and our responses are also outlined below.

I am pleased at the progress we have made today and applaud the skill of each of the groups in articulating a clear set of concerns. We are aware, however, that there are other groups of workers, in the library and elsewhere, whose concerns are not represented in any of these discussions, and we are committed to continuing this kind of consultation as a mechanism to identify and address shortcomings or areas in need of improvement at the University.

To allow all members of the AUC community the opportunity to discuss the current events on campus, I would like to invite you to attend what will now be our first University Forum of the year during assembly hour in Bassily Auditorium. To ensure ample time for discussion, we will hold a special extended session, from 1 to 3 pm.

Below are the representatives for each group who have identified the issues that are listed, as are the demands they brought forward and the University administration’s response.

Thank you,

Lisa Anderson

-----------------

Sector Representatives

Desert Development Center: Antar Nageh, Seoudi Hassan, Khaled Eid and Hossam Mohammed

Custodial workers: Walid Shebl, Mostafa Mohallel, Nasr El Saqa, Andil Ashour and Mohamed Khamees

Students: Ahmed Ezzat, SU vice president; Mohammed Hassan, student; Ahmed Alaa, SU president; and Marrie France, student

Security: Khaled Ibrahim, Ahmed Saad, Hemya Sayeed, Mohamed Saad, Ayman Sayed Aly and Ahmed El Sayed Ahmed

Faculty adviser: Sameh Naguib, adjunct faculty, SAPE

---------------------

Demands and Responses

Desert Development Center/Campus Landscape

1-   “Meal allowance of LE 200”

The monthly meal allowance of LE 200 was included in the November 2010 pay scale revision with the understanding that no additional meal allowance would be considered.

2-    “Friday and Saturday off”

All workers at the DDC currently have Friday off. Those who work on Friday do so at their request. Otherwise, official working hours for Level 2 and 3 staff are full days Sunday through Thursday, and a half day on Saturday. As long as the required 43 hour working week is met, however, working hours can be adjusted to permit staff to have longer weekend breaks. In fact, non-irrigation staff are encouraged to work these 43 hours during the five-day period Sunday through Thursday. For irrigation staff, a rotation will be established to permit individual staff members to work five days a week while ensuring that the landscape is irrigated several days a week.

3-    “Change the uniforms”

Uniforms are ordered once a year, and the uniforms for 2010-2011 were ordered in June 2011. We are looking into the possibility of canceling the order for the half of the uniforms that have not yet been received so that we can consider alternative designs. A committee composed of managers and staff will be formed by the end of this month to deliberate on alternatives that may be available within the present budget allocation.

4-    “The switch of temporary hires to permanent full-time employees”

Due to the current hiring freeze at the University, the DDC is not able to move all workers to regular employee contracts. Moreover, it is typical of any operation of this size to rely on the use of non-permanent employees in a number of areas. All staff on a temporary basis are clearly informed of their provisional status at the University when they are hired. The DDC landscape unit has a number of vacant positions presently "frozen" due to budgetary constraints. When these positions are open for recruitment, seasonal workers with appropriate experience are invited to apply for the positions. When there are applicants of equal merit, an applicant with previous successful work experience at AUC will be given preference.

5-    “Replace the bus”

The University administration has agreed to include the landscape and irrigation staff bus within its AUC administered transportation service. The contract between the DDC and the present service provider will be cancelled with appropriate notice in the next two months, and the DDC workers will be provided transportation through the University’s contractors.

6-    “Minimum wage of LE 2,000”

All DDC workers receive, at a minimum no less than LE 1,180 as a base salary, which is the market rate for landscaping and gardening workers in New Cairo. AUC reviews its pay scale periodically and makes adjustments to reflect labor market changes.

Security

  

1-    “Raise the level of wages from Level 2 to Level 4”

Security guards at AUC are spread across Levels 2 to 5. The determination of level is contingent upon years of service and performance. As of September 2011, the market salary for Level 2 security officers is LE 1,320 and the market salary for Level 4 security officers is LE 2,630. To be eligible for movement to Level 4 placement, security officers must have at least 10 years of experience. All security guards at AUC who are at Level 2 have been working for the University for less than five years, and can expect to progress in the levels as they accumulate experience at the University and good performance reviews.

2-    “Return of the additional 60 hours of overtime”

In the past overtime was often used not to compensate staff who worked exceptionally long or late hours but to reward good behavior (and it was withheld to punish bad behavior). We do not believe that it is healthy or safe for staff to routinely work 60 hours of actual overtime a month and hence we are moving gradually to ensure that overtime is paid for time actually worked, and is allocated fairly and safely. Therefore, this year we have moved the individual monthly overtime limit to 48 hours, instead of 60.

3-    “Provide risk allowance”

The job specifications and requirements are reflected in the placement of the job on the appropriate level on the pay scale. All security guards receive medical and life insurance. The University regularly evaluates the risk level for each job and the market rate in determining the appropriate level.

4-    “Shift to the technical level”

There are discrepancies in the benefits packages provided to staff at the same level which are the legacy of an older and now discarded system that categorized workers as Staff A or Staff B.  We are aware of this inequity and expect that the report recommending a mechanism to rectify it will be ready by November 1, 2011.

5-    “Shift security on the buses to permanent employees”

After the January 25th revolution, the University added security guards on buses as a temporary measure, which was deemed a necessary but additional unanticipated expense. All security guards on buses were brought on with the full understanding that they are temporary employees, and that their contracts would end.

6-    “Consideration of years of experience and sequence of degrees in the hiring process”

The University deeply appreciates all members of its security force, especially those with more than a decade of dedicated service. In light of this, the University reviewed the distribution of guards across levels. Seven cases were identified of guards on Level 3, who have worked at AUC for more than 10 years and should have been on Level 4. The University will move them to Level 4, effective September 2011. In addition, 20 security guards in Levels 4 and 5, who have been working at AUC for more than 10 years, were not receiving salaries consistent with their time and level, and they will receive increases to bring them to the market value for their level (which will be above their colleagues on the same level who have less experience). To fund these increases, the University will reallocate a portion of the overtime budget and will not fill vacancies in the security office.

7-    “Return of terminated security personnel”

No security guards have been terminated this year. Several contracts have not been renewed; a decision that may reflect either performance-based issues or changing operational needs of the University. The termination of an employee, on the other hand, requires an elaborate process and the approval of not only the direct supervisor, but also the area head.

8-    “The departure of Dr. Mahmoud Zouk”

The University does not discuss the employment of specific individuals.

Custodians

1-    “LE 200 for meal allowance”

The monthly meal allowance of LE 200 was included in the November 2010 pay scale revision with the understanding that no additional meal allowance would be considered.

2-    “Take Friday and Saturday off”

All custodial staff currently take Friday off. In September of 2010, Saturday was a regular workday for all custodial staff. After negotiations with custodial workers last year, the University began in November 2010 providing all workers with one Saturday off per month. This means that workers have a five-day work week once a month. AUC is now prepared to arrange an additional five-day work week in each month, thereby moving half way toward giving all custodial staff two days off and a 35-hour work week. The second day off will not be a Saturday for all workers, but will be provided on a rotating schedule to ensure the University is able to maintain the required level of custodial service on Saturday. This will be achieved through the reallocation of resources in the housekeeping unit.

3-    “Appointment of casual hire workers”

The use of temporary employees is a common management method to cover fluctuations in University needs during peak periods. All staff on a temporary basis are clearly informed of their provisional status at the University when they are hired.

Students

1-    “Removal of 9 percent tuition fee increase for 2011-2012”

Any continuing student not able to fund his or her tuition will be provided with assistance sufficient to permit him or her to complete his or her degree. This is thanks to the larger pool of financial aid, which is about $26 million, including a recent million dollar gift earmarked for this purpose. There are still ample funds available and all students requiring assistance should apply. As explained in earlier messages, the University is not able to cancel the increase.

2-    “A ceiling on tuition fees for continuing students”

A ceiling will not be placed on tuition fees for continuing students. Once again, however, the University will ensure that no student is prevented from continuing at AUC because of financial need. Payment plans will be introduced next semester that will allow our students and parents to select from a range of more flexible payment options.

3-    “Effective representation of students during the decision-making process in strategic decisions that impact the lives of all students”

The University currently has student representation in the University Senate, including on the Senate Budget Committee, but would strongly encourage more active participation on the part of students in the decision making process. The administration reiterates a standing offer to student representatives to contribute their creative problem-solving skills in helping to address the current budget deficit. The University’s 2012 budget will be reviewed in an open forum on September 20 and the associated documents placed on the Web site. Any and all suggestions on how the University can meet its deficit and enhance its services are welcome.

4-    “Take into account the general principles of human and employee rights in matters of personnel affairs”

The University subscribes fully to all principles of fairness and human dignity in all of its practices. Any situations where policies or practices do not reflect that belief should be identified and will be remedied. 

5-    “Development of educational services at the University in order to upgrade the status and name of AUC”

Provost Medhat Haroun recently sent an e-mail to the AUC community providing an overview of the current plan to further enhance the University’s academic programs. We encourage all students to read the e-mail overview and interested students may also request a copy of the plan from the provost’s office. All comments and suggestions are welcome.

6-    “Prevent any security interference in the political activities of students”

The University’s new freedom of expression policy expressly prohibits interference in the expression of any view, political or otherwise, by anyone as long as the regular operation of the University is not disturbed.

7-    “Do not hold students accountable for absence during the protest”

All members of the AUC community, including students, are accountable for their actions and the associated consequences. Students who elect to miss class do so of their own volition and fully knowing the associated consequences. It is not consistent with the mission of the University or its level of academic excellence to expect that the administration would interfere with academic policies regarding class attendance.

Musical Interlude: Garden Party

At the beginning of the semester President Lisa Anderson had a garden party at the President's house. The President's house is located in Maadi, on Road 19. My taxi driver and my nanny and I dropped the children off at a friend's house. We then spent over half an hour trying to find the President's Residence. It is a beautiful villa, with an enormous gate, and spacious grounds. The party was for new faculty. I was invited because I did not get to attend the party last year. Tables and chairs were set up, like at a wedding. The chairs had beautiful cloth chair covers on them. The party was catered, and the food was really nice. There was a lot of seafood, and some tasty vermicelli. Most importantly, in my opinion, there was an open bar, with good wine. I made some new friends, like Professor Mohammed Al Masry and his wife Rania, and I saw some old friends, like Professor Kim Jackson. Anyway, I have not been able to get this song out of my head since then. Enjoy. ~WMB

Garden Party

- Artist: Rick Nelson
- peak Billboard position # 6 in 1972
- inspired by Rick's experience at a Madison Square Garden concert
- Words and Music by Rick Nelson

I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends
A chance to share old memories and play our songs again
When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name
No one recognized me, I didn't look the same

CHORUS
But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself

People came from miles around, everyone was there
Yoko brought her walrus, there was magic in the air
'n' over in the corner, much to my surprise
Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes wearing his disguise

CHORUS

lott-in-dah-dah-dah, lot-in-dah-dah-dah

Played them all the old songs, thought that's why they came
No one heard the music, we didn't look the same
I said hello to "Mary Lou", she belongs to me
When I sang a song about a honky-tonk, it was time to leave

CHORUS

lot-dah-dah-dah (lot-dah-dah-dah)
lot-in-dah-dah-dah

Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped Johnny B. Goode
Playing guitar like a-ringin' a bell and lookin' like he should
If you gotta play at garden parties, I wish you a lotta luck
But if memories were all I sang, I rather drive a truck

CHORUS

lot-dah-dah-dah (lot-dah-dah-dah)
lot-in-dah-dah-dah

'n' it's all right now, learned my lesson well
You see, ya can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself

Back to Campus: Egyptian Style

The semester has started. Classes are in full swing. I am teaching three classes this semester which feels like a lot. I am teaching a class in Principles of Public Administration, one on Governance, Stakeholders and Accountability, and a final management class that will tackle themes of urbanization and the environment. This semester should be challenging, but interesting.

The students are back on campus. There seem to me more of them. Perhaps that is because so many students pulled out during the Revolution. Another difference in Egyptian education is that there are far fewer private colleges than in the US. This also helps to keep attendance levels at public universities high. This is particularly the case because private universities such as American University in Cairo are incredibly expensive by Egyptian standards. Additionally, there are less opportunities for students to attend online college courses such as the ones on this site that offer accredited college degrees accredited college degrees for distance learning students.

There is going to be a student strike today at American University in Cairo to protest rising tuition. As a result, when I took the bus in this morning, all the gates were blocked. The bus had to go around the "Back 40" of the campus to drop us off. The strike starts at Assembly Hour, or in about forty minutes. We will see what it is like.


The students look similar too, but not identical too American college students. First of all, they wear more clothes. Many of the girls here do wear jeans, and tight ones at that, however, you will never see an exposed belly button, or even exposed shoulders. Oh, there is a lot of status to what you wear. We have a lot of Louis Vouitton and Coach bags in evidence, and many hijab that say Chanel or Gucci. We have no Nekabi, but many girls "cover" or wear hijab. Some of them will wear long sleeves, and high necks as well, which, it goes without saying, is hot.

It seems that all Egyptians smoke, and in fact, they smoke in the cafeteria. Not very appetizing in my opinion. In terms of styles, Egyptian male students love t-shirts. I saw one t-shirt that said fiscally Republican, socially Democrat, sexually liberated . . . . I have seen a t-shirt about Voltaire, and more than one about Jimmy Hendrix. On the ladies, long hair is preferred, and most young women wear their hair long. It is quite unusual to see short hair. Most girls have black or brown hair. Some of it is curly, some of it is straight, and some of it is in corkscrew curls. One occasionally sees a young lady with blonde or light colored hair, although that is the exception. The young men wear their hair short. They often have their hair with a peak in the middle, like a modified, mellow mohawk. Sometimes you will see a big 70 style picked out Afro, because many Egyptians are Africans, with hair to match. Occasionally you will see someone who we Black Americans call a "Redbone." Lots of freckles, and bright red hair.

For breakfast this morning I tried a traditional student breakfast of fuull and eggs, which is fava beans and a boiled egg in a pita. Very affordable, and pretty tasty. The fava beans are boiled until soft, and are a staple food in Egypt. 6 pounds or 1 dollar. I will have to try it again, and step away from my expat lifestyle.


~WMB

The Custodian Project: inverting the pyramid

Students and custodians together, in no particular order, just friends. 

Dear readers

I participated in a community based learning project in my Leadership Class at American University in Cairo this semester. My students designed it. We developed it and implemented it together.

Community Based Learning is similar to Service Learning. According to Thomas Ehrlich

"Students learn best not by reading the Great Books in a closed room but by opening the doors and windows of experience."

CBL or service learning must respond to an expressed need in the community. It must support the students learning and address a community need. It must be reciprocal. 


In addition, the project must provide students with an opportunity for reflection. The instructor must help the students connect the service with academic and professional learning.


According to the Gerhart Center, the project must be aligned with course goals, it must empower the community, the community must be an equal partner, the project must embody civic responsibility, and the results must be disseminated.



I have set up a website in order to disseminate the results of this project. You can take a look at it here at the Custodian Project. Let me just say that my work was inspired by Yahia Shawkat's work, which I profiled in a previous post.  This project was also inspired by the Clinton School's emphasis on service learning, and by the Gerhart Center's work on the same. 

The gist of the project was that we wore custodian uniforms. We worked for two hours doing the custodians' jobs of cleaning the bathrooms and cleaning the classrooms. The custodians were the teachers and the supervisors, and we were the workers. They trained, we worked. We inverted the pyramid of class and privilege at our university for a short time.

Fatma, Hend, Seham and Hend training us about cleaning techniques. 

Students and professors listen intently as we are trained about how to clean bathrooms and classrooms. 

This project may not be very interesting in America where hard work can help you move up in life. Yet in Egypt, where there is a extremely strict class hierarchy as I have mentioned in previous posts, this project is potentially radical. 

The goal of the project was to embody the spirit of Tahrir's slogan: freedom, integrity, social justice. I think we at least were able to embody the last two ideas. 


The initial results have been positive. One of my students commented, 

It was a great experience. I learned that it is not enough to just feel sympathy about someone unless you put yourself into his/her situation. That is exactly what happened to me when I worked as a custodian for less than 2 hrs.

Their tolerance and patience to fulfill the tasks, as well as their efforts with us to teach the mechanism of work make me think that they themselves are the real leaders. Dear great and devoted custodians, in brief, our life without you is unbearable.

One of the custodians commented, 

I would like to thank you [] for what you did, and I want to tell that I  have a wonderful feeling of your interest in custodians and their work and thinking of them. I am really impressed of your act and it proves that not the whole community is avoiding us and there are some people who cares about our feelings and our efforts to serve the AUC community. In addition I wish to see other staff members and AUC students thinking the same way you did. Many Thanks.

Again, you can read more about this exciting project here

http://thecustodianproject.blogspot.com/

We still want to do a lot more work on dissemination. We have video, we want to make something for you tube. We want to set up a display on campus with our hundreds of photos. We are still working on reflection and analysis, but I wanted to let you in on this amazing educational experience. 

WMB

Pedagogy of the Oppressed

Dear readers

Do you ever have those days at work where you just feel like, "WOW, this is really where I want to be. I am doing the right thing with my life, and I am making a difference." Well, Ilhamdullilah, I am having one of those days.I read Paolo Freire's book Pedagogy of the Oppressed when I was in college, and it changed my life. Today, I saw someone teach it on the streets.

I went to a faculty conference about the Community-Based Learning Program at the John D. Gerhart Center  for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at AUC today. A group of faculty sat around and thought of ways through which we could improve interaction between students and the community in Cairo and in Egypt through our classes.

One faculty member really impressed me. His name is Yahia Shawkat. He is an architect. He is teaching a class in the Performing and Visual arts department entitled Architecture: Art or Engineering? As part of this class, he asks the students to go find a "client," who the students can assist with their design skills. The students picked clients who were street vendors, security guards, tea salesman, and others at the bottom of Egypt's elaborate, and punishing social hierarchy.

So, Dr. Yahia's students then offered their design skills to these vendors. They helped them redesign their guard booths, their tea stands, their food trucks. The students worked on everything from raising the tea tables off the ground with cleverly made triangular shaped rests, to getting pillows for lumbar support, to enhancing the shade around the stand.

Dr. Yahia instructed them that the cost must be proportionate to the business cost, i.e. less than 100 pounds, or 20 dollars. He also instructed the students not to give the money themselves, they are not in the charity business, they are in the empowerment through design business. The students got feedback from the vendors themselves about what they needed, and often the vendors knew exactly what they needed, but not exactly how to do it. Finally, the students' were instructed to make the designs such that it optimized the work conditions, and helped the vendors to maximize their economic productivity of their business.

I could not believe it. Dr. Yahia perfectly integrated community action, teaching design, sustainability, and empowering the poor all at the same time! His work is radical, it is righteous, and it is revolutionary. Sign me up!

Now that is teaching with a purpose! Kudos! Bravo! Somebody give this guy tenure!

update on Amr El Shalakany via twitter

May 2, 2011

10:54 a.m.

Tweets say Amr has been released. In my office at AUC. No law faculty around. I asked the staff secretary and she says she knows Amr has been released. She does not know whether charges are pending or not. I will keep you posted.

nlanc Nell Lancaster

RT @KHawkins5: Amr el-Shalakany has been released.#egyarmy #Egypt ||Yay! Thanks.Hadn't checked my Egypt list yet, distracted by other nooz.

 00.48 a.m.

no new tweets of substance

22.19 p.m. April 30th.

nalytweets naly 

Amr Shalakany transferred from military to ordinary prosecution in El Tur. #shalakany #amrshalakany

daliabayoumi dalia bayoumi 

Amr El Shalakany Prof.Law Cairo Uni & AUC arrested in Sharm 3 days ago. in Suez @ Military Prosecution 4 trial Lawyers & activists on way

henrystreetedit allison brown 

RT @anjucomet: Egyptian Military arrested AUC law professor AmrShalakani in Sinai resort Sharm el Shaikh. Now with military prosecutor.

DailyNewsEgypt The Daily News Egypt 

AUC law professor to be tried before a military court http://tinyurl.com/6562gqd #fb

moftasa Mostafa Hussein 

Why is Amr El-Shalakany, a law professor in AUC, facing a military trial? WTF?

Political Parties are the Frameworks of Democracy: Issues in the Transition to Democracy in Egypt Part 2

Dear readers


These are my notes from the question and answer session of a really amazing lecture I attended at the American University in Cairo, Tahrir Campus. The lecture was held on Tuesday, March 29, 2011. These lectures are part of the Tahrir Dialogue Series were sponsored by the AUC School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. The speakers included Dr. Ibrahim Awad (Director of the Center of Migration and Refugee Services at AUC), Dr. Nevine Mossaad (Institute of Arab Research and Studies Cairo University), Dr. Ibrahim El Issawy (National Planning Institute, People's Alliance Party), Dr. Amr El Shobaky (Al Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies) and Dr. Samer Soliman (AUC and Social Democratic Party). Simultaneous translation was provided. [] means I am adding in my own summary or interpretation, or pointing to something I may have left out. Any errors in transcription are my own. WMB



Questions from the Audience for Ibrahim

1. Economic Cost of the Revolution

2. We did not have a market economy before. How do we create one?

3. Six point program- how does it affect investment?

4. Nasr/National Project/Arab Israel Conflict



Ibrahim El Issawy



Regarding Economic costs. I make my calculations based on the ministry of finance. $610 million Egyptian Pounds (LE) daily were lost during the revolution. Such losses will continue for two months. The total would be 37 billion LE. This is the equivalent to the national economy over 9 days. This is not a big cost for a revolution that will lead to social justice and human dignity.



Can the economy go back to pre-financial crisis levels? Well, the government reports under Mubarak that Egypt was growing at 7% were not true. I have been saying this for forty years. Maybe the growth rate was at 4%. In terms of what citizens got, maybe it was at 2%. Let us say the economy was grwoing at 4%. We can get back to that. There was a lot of distortion in the economy [under Mubarak] Corruption was beyong our imagination. Liberalization was designed to open our markets to the West to service them. Let's look at the Eastern Tigers. We cannot copy things. We need a new developmental philosophy.



Questions from Audience for Niveen



1. Tripartite political parties?

2. Is the new party going to allow competitiveness?

3. Is there a pact between the Military and the old regime?

4. Are there MB Links with Hamas?



[One strange thing] is that I hardly see any of the faces we saw throughout for 18 days. Opposition is something we need. The Military Council is practicing control of the media. The Military Council is not impartial. I do not think I am going home today {laughter, referring to endangering herself with this statement}. There is a partnership between the Military Council and the Muslim Brotherhood. It is clear. And the major powers who pushed for amendments are NDP. Another proof. Formation of Sayed Mashaal. [Not sure about this].

How can we have constitutional amendments without dialogue? [The military thinks they can take] step 1,2,3, and after that the democratic system will appear. [We tried that in Iraq and it did not work] It is only form, and not content. Everyone is talking about a civil state. Muslim Brotherhood will run for presidency. Now we are in the middle of a competition, but we are not equal. Some parties have had a head start. {Muslim Brotherhood and National Democratic Party}.

Iran’s leadership has a double standard. They supported the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions. They are supporting the revolution in Bahrain. Iran supports Bashar and Hezbollah. Inside and outside. I do not think there is a relationship between Moshed and MB. Not inspired. The Iranian Revolution has a specific meaning.

Political Issues in the Transition to Democracy in Egypt. Part 1

Dear readers


These are my notes from a really amazing lecture I attended at the American University in Cairo, Tahrir Campus. The lecture was held on Tuesday, March 29, 2011. These lectures are part of the Tahrir Dialogue Series were sponsored by the AUC School of Global Affairs and Public Policy  and the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung. The speakers included Dr. Ibrahim Awad (Director of the Center of Migration and Refugee Services at AUC),  Dr. Nevine Mossaad (Institute of Arab Research and Studies Cairo University), Dr. Ibrahim El Issawy (National Planning Institute, People's Alliance Party), Dr. Amr El Shobaky (Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies) and Dr. Samer Soliman (AUC and Social Democratic Party). Simultaneous translation was provided. [] means I am adding in my own summary or interpretation, or pointing to something I may have left out. Any errors in transcription are my own. WMB 

Ibrahim Awad: Regarding the transition to democracy, there are a number of questions concerning the political parties law. Who was consulted in drafting this law? Is three to five months enough to create new parties?

Ibrahim Issawy: Actually, I want to talk about an economic angle. After this optimishm that we enjoyed for a few days after Mubarak left, after a short time we had the constitutional amendments. Some were confused, so appeared not to vote. Some said it was a religious duty [to vote]. People were victims []. Article 2 was not part of the referendum, but people were told to vote on it. They told us that there was going to be a dialogue. No one contacted me. Nothing was arranged. This banning of demonstrations. Why? We should have a dialogue. This insistence makes us worried and suspicious. The idea here is that what we see now is restoring the old law. Also, the military council was given a note [?]. Referendum, new constitution. Why are we wasting our time? Why should we go for--we need more time. If the military people are in a hurry [to get back to their duties] we can have a technocratic caretaker government. [We need the] formation of a committee for amendments. The legal personnel [appointed by the SCAF] were not specialized in Constitutional Law. Too much weight was given to the Muslim Brotherhood [on the committee].

The slogans of the revolution were economic.

1) Change, freedom, social justice
2) Bread, freedom, human dignity

Democracy is a tool to get to these objectives. We need a more even distribution of wealth. We want the whole system to come down. Not destroy the state, but redesign the state. The New Prime Minister said we are not going back "on free economy [?]." I think that this is just a way to reassure investors. What is the Egyptian economy going to be like.

In the short term, urgent steps are needed to bridge the economic gap. It is important to have a multi-phase program to deal with problems. Students want to get rid of the leadership that enslaved people for a long time. [missed some words] One is making 10 million Egyptian pounds a month, one is making 150 Egyptian pounds a month. We see this in banks. We can redistribute income and improve lower wages. Regarding minimum wage-let;s take some measure. Make people feel assured. Lets take from the millionaires. Improve services. Create investment opportunities. Right now there is no tax for capital profits. Maybe we can divide one big company into smaller ones. Investors want stability. In the previous period we lacked planning. They lacked a ministry for planning. There are clear ways to coordinate between sectors.

Ibrahim Awad: The economy is part of political life. The revolution succeeded because the victims reconsidered their doubts [Not sure about this].

Nevine Mossaad: I will talk about some points in brief. Are we actors or reactors? The relationship between three parties: The people, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces and the religious powers. We were not consulted by SCAF on the amendments or the coming elections. When some of us had some reservations, we were told we wanted to delay stability. Mubarak stated this for 30 years, If what we wanted was stability, why did we have a revolution? We are not actors, we are reacting. The law of political parties was imposed on us. The national dialogue, I was invited to it, but it was not set for a sepcific date. How serious is it if no preparation is made? No, we will choose speakers according to their importance. No one has mentioned anything to us, and the dialogue is supposed to start tomorrow. {I am not sure if this dialogue took place. I will have to check} You have not prepared the files for the speakers.

We are invited to discuss the political parties law. But we don't have a trade union law. Law 100 has been annulled. Some people in the trade unions and syndicates drove away their leadership by force. Part of the civil society is not well organizaed. We need to prepare for ILO {International Labor Organization}. Some of the provisions in the political parties law: it is not allowed to have a political party on the basis of religion or race. Why don't we establish a political party for the workers as a class? Don't the workers matter? How can the MB be a member of another party if he is from a religious group. Annull Article 3.

The relationship between religious organizations and civil society. Why do we have to have a committee to approve political parties. It is an obstacel. There is a short time between the April and September elections. Who has the power to organize these large numbers. Collect 5000 signatures form 10 governorates in a short period of time. I have serious reservations about the political parties law. Egyptians want to form new parties, We need to form NGOs. One party wants to establish development programs.

Samr Soliman: He is with the Egyptian Social Democratic Party. He is a leftist. On the one hand we have trade union freedom, but protesters do not have the right to speak. The nature of this transitional period is important. I am not here as an academic, but as the founder of a new party. 1) People must be held accountable 2) We must be able to form civilian parties.

It is natural what is happening in Egypt. It is difficult to have a revolutionary government. We could have a coalition government, but the opposition is splintered. I think that party of the old regime is trying to get rid of a different part of the old regime.

The military is leading the transition. They could have gotten rid of the Constitution completely. But people are tired. We have lost momentum. The pressure should continue to keep the gains of the revolution and to clean the system. {Editors note, this talk given before the events of April 9th}. Look at the military police. Sometimes they are very violent for no reason. There are cases of torture. The committee making amendments was not elected. In fact, the committee was very imbalanced.  Bad luck. The 2d article was not part of the referendum. What is really worrying and scary about the amendments is that people with a double nationality or people with a foreign wife or husband cannot be president.

We need peaceful pressure to follow the right path. We have a problem. There is no political life for the last thirty years, and suddenly we have elections in September, yet there are no political parties. 1) forgery 2) violence 3) mney 4) groupings want to be represented. We have to pressure the transitional authority. We have to build political parties, work, join, volunteer. For the first time in years, people have an appetite for politics. Thousands of people have come to us {the SDP}. Middle aged and young. People have lots of ideas, social justice and democracy. bread, democracy, humanity and dignity. These were the goals of the revolution. The religious trend is gaining. Some times they give bribes like good supplies. We cannot do that. We have to respect people's political rights [not bribe them]. We need to talk to them about education and opportunities.

Ibrahim Awad: Dr. Samr said part of the old regime has moved away the most corrupt people. What is your opinion about the political parties law?

Amr El Shobawky: I am more optimistic than what my dear friend Dr. Nevine said. This optimism means that the transition to democracy is difficult. The late transition did not eradicate the old regime as occurred in revolutions in France, Russia and Iran. The Egyptian institution was not prepared for this. The Egyptian Revolution got up to 12 million people in one day. They did not eradicate the old regime. So I don't think we are an exception. One half of the Eastern Europeand countries were transformed by arrangements [at the end of the Cold War]. The camel battle has its precedent in Argentina. This is a good start we can build on in the future, In 2003, there was a change in Iraq. Iraq is a rich country. It has oil. But the starting point for the revolution in Egypt should be better than that in Iraq. The relationship between the people and the army: mutial respect will open horizons. In Portugal there was a coup d'etat and this opened the path to democracy.

The difficulties and the challenges we are witnessing in our transition to democracy. Article 3 of the political parties law is a disaster. [Based on the current amendments to the Constitution] President Sadat should not be president, because he is part Sudanese. Sarkizy could not be President of France because he is part Hungarian. Egyptians are reacting [missed something here] This is not in favor of the Egyptian society. The principle regarding independent candidacy. Membership requiring 5000 members to have a new party. This is good because we need to develop the hairdressing and barber profession [I know, non sequiter, but that is what my notes say] . 5000 signatures is reasonable. Solid ground. It is reasonable to get rid of parties without 500 signatures. There were 12 million protesters at the square. We need real elites. 5000 members to establish a party is reasonable.

In the same framework, political Islam is different now than before the 25th of Jan. There are problems. They are allowed now to have their political parties. We cannot have a democratic system that solves these issues by oppression. It appears the Muslim Brotherhood will have three parties. Christians were raising the flag of Egypt. The fundamentalists were raising the flag of Egypt. There is a New Egyptian identity.

Ibrahim Awad: He is optimistic, despite the confusion. He thinks the political parties can collect signatures. This democracy game will teach people not to be extreme.

See question and answer session in next post. WMB