Egypt .. The Road after January 25th

The question I wake up with every morning lately (after the 25th of January)  is "where do we go from here?". Sometimes I get a bit gloomy (especially after I finish reading the daily news and/or the daily fights between the different political factions in their never ending struggle for popularity as well as the civil vs. religious state debate).  At other times, I feel hopeful and optimistic when I consider the many initiatives led by some highly enthusiastic people. To get out of the gloomy mood, I decided that this post is going to be about those initiatives. Two major initiatives with long-term objectives have been launched so far by two Egyptian expat scientists (Nobel Laureate Dr. Ahmed Zeweil and NASA Scientist Dr. Farouk el Baz). Dr. Zeweil's initiative aims to establish an institute to help incubate scientific projects that can benefit Egypt (for more detailed info on this initiative, you can check this link http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/education/launch-of-zewail-city-of-science-and-technology.html). As for Dr. el Baz's initiative called "Development Corridor", it aims at a better use of Egypt's resources through the development of new communities, agriculture, industry, trade and tourism around a 2,000 km strip of the Western Desert (for more detailed info on this initiative, you can check this link http://faroukelbaz.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22&Itemid=59).

On the home front , several initiatives with both short and long term objectives have been launched. An initiative by an Egyptian artist aiming to solve the problem of Egypt's slum areas and upgrade the living standards of people in those areas as well as provide them with work opportunities, has gained the support of many and is underway. Another initiative aims to address the problem of illiteracy which is supported by the Vodafone Foundation in cooperation with UNESCO with the  help of volunteers is already underway (for more detailed info on this initiative, you can check this link http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/education/education-key-to-development-say-literacy-initiative-founders.html).

Back to the question I started with "where do we go from here?", I feel that we are on the right track in terms of addressing two main problem areas that I have dicussed in my earlier post, i.e. illiteracy and poverty. Still, there seems to be many hurdles along the way. The fighting between the different political factions is what worries me the most. There is this highly intense debate between those calling for a Civil vs. Islamic state which seems to be going nowhere, with both camps misrepresenting the other camp's claims and positions (to varying and worrying degrees which can be as outlandish as the claim that democrats and liberals are essentially non-believers!). There's also a fight within the liberal or civil state camp which is now divided into a multitude of political parties, each in the pursuit of a piece of the pie which is currently not even in the oven (because in the economic state we are in we may be unable to get many of its ingredients!). So, I am real worried but still hopeful that we can all manage to see that we all need to save the ship before it sinks and then talk about renovation plans.