43
Egyptian student at YSU fears for family, backs protesters
Photo
Hannah Patten
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
A Youngstown State University senior worries about her family and friends living in Cairo, but she’s proud of those speaking against the government.
Hannah Patten, 21, is a senior studying media communications and advertising at YSU.
“Most of my family are in Egypt — all of them except my brother,” she said.
Her parents, who live in Cairo, called a couple of days ago using land lines. Cell-phone service wasn’t working.
During the first couple of days of the protests, though, the communication lines were down.
“That was probably the worst time in this whole thing,” Patten said. “We live close to the square where the demonstrations are going on.”
She said her parents, who described the scene as chaotic, are afraid but trying to cope.
“Yesterday there were fly-over jets that my mom said were flying really low to try to intimidate the protesters,” she said.
Her father is part of a civilian neighborhood- watch group.
“He says it’s chaotic, but it’s also strange to be walking around with sticks, trying to protect the area,” Patten said.
If a car passes in the neighborhood, group members stop it and ask questions of its occupants trying to determine if they live there or are looters.
“My dad said he had seen some violence with people throwing things, but for the most part it’s just been chaotic,” Patten said.
She learned of the uprising the first day it happened.
“I was proud because I know a lot of Egyptians are frustrated, but it was also scary because you never picture this happening to your country,” Patten said. “I didn’t know how big it was going to be.”
All of her friends from high school remain in Egypt, and she hasn’t spoken to them, although she knows that one friend who worked at the U.S. Embassy left the country for Jordan.
The consensus in Egypt about President Hosni Mubarak is frustration, the YSU student said.
“He’s been in power for 30 years mainly because of rigged elections,” she said.
The Egyptian people saw how protests in Tunisia led to that country’s ruler stepping down and leaving the country and hoped they could do the same, Patten said.
“I’m really happy they’re doing it, but the past couple of days there have been food shortages, and inmates have been released from prison” she said, referring to problems the protests have precipitated.
Stores and hospitals have been broken into, and the food shortage is affecting the entire city.
“My dad hasn’t said that he’s frightened,” Patten said. “I think my mom is, but she’s trying to cope. She doesn’t want to scare me and my brother. I’m scared for them.”
Her brother is in medical school in Croatia.
Egyptians’ frustration with Mubarak stems from a lack of job opportunity.
“In Egypt it’s really hard for people to get jobs, and there’s a lot of corruption within the government,” she said.
Patten said she wants people in the U.S. to be more aware of what’s happening in her country and even to protest here.
“The more people that demonstrate against Mubarak, the better,” she said.