أصحاب مكان

Event info:

Name: Place owners أصحاب مكان""

Place: the main metro stations starting today in RAMSIS

Date: wed 23^rd Feb. 2011

Time: 9:30 am till 2pm

Main Organizer: UTOPIAin cooperation with the metro management.

Utopia Team :

Asmaa Hassan

Ayman Ehab

Eslam Saad

Maha Ramadan

Mahmoud Morsy

Moaz Naser

Mohamed Sedky

As7ab Makanأصحاب مكان :

Simple name for a not simple campaign that Magnology magazine was invited to cover, i

t is powered by a group of youth very similar to me and you trying to do something to help their beloved country develop and recover from the recent revolution that we witnessed, it is done by a student activity called UTOPIA, it is not an impossible quest, it is a beautiful dream that may come true if we all worked together and supported the youth who are trying to make a difference like UTOPIA and As7ab Makan. The main aim of the campaign is both organizing and awareness, organizing the metro traffic and increasing the people's awareness about what a good citizen should act like.

The start:

The campaign started the moment the volunteers wore their t-shirts as people started asking about what these young people were doing, what they are saying and why they are here, then it moved to the pavements. The reason they choose this place is because it is where many people from the middle class are found.

The campaign began early in the morning in Ramsis metro station, since it is the first day the start was only in one station on the pavement, but on the following days they will start spreading to other stations like el-Tahrir, inside the metro itself and in front of the tickets windows. They were well organized and had a good spirit they were all interested and enthusiastic, it was the

 first experience for many of them in a campaign and the first for all of them in a metro campaign, they had a deep feeling of responsibility towards what they do. Starting from tomorrow more people will join and they will spread more widely. They have several rules for the participants one of them was never to get into an argument with anyone, to keep their smile and good attitude towards the people.

The metro management cooperated with the campaign and helped them to know where to start, where to stand, offered them a place to put their stuff, and gave them the freedom to move freely down in the metro.

First Day Response:

many people responded positively however some didn't pay attention to the young people standing in front of each car and still entered from the exits but they were very few as many people received the instructions from the boys and the girls with a big smile, you could find their eyes shine from enthusiast and interest when volunteers told them how it is their right and for their own good and safety, how this is a simple things among many other things they should do like fighting corruption, don't litter, refusing to give or take bribes, and don't accept a bad treat from anyone no matter what position he or she held instead they should feel proud and equal.

When asking some people many said that they were very happy with the campaign and that it was a great idea and a great step forward. A girl said she didn't know from where to enter and to exit she just used to stand with the people and go in or out, but admitted that organizing is much easier and will help to decrease the crowd, another man said "it is a good campaign because the Egyptians lack for organizing, they are helpful and kind but they don't follow the rules"

Metro Officials:

Engineer Adel Rabi general manager of safety, enviroment, and occupational health said that the campaign still need to spread wider, and going inside the train car is extremely important and this is will help more the campaign to succeed because if you solved the problem from inside first it will be much easier than solving it from outside, he noted that the metro already have a system to inform people with similar instruction but they receive almost no respond from people and employees in the metro are hanging a lot of hopes on the campaign. Engineer Adel said that this campaign can be very useful if it grows bigger and even more people joined, according to his opinion as long as this campaign lasts the more effective it would be.Engineer said el-Husseny, general director of the department of employment and leadership at the first line said that the campaign also have to be there in rush hours and when schools and Universities are back to leave the best impact on the Egyptian community.

Simple rule to be followed in the metro, they enter from the entry door and exist from the exit door, yet not many people follow it actually most of the people don't. One of the main organizers said that when they spent 4 hours in the metro they realized how the lack of system and not following it may endanger people's life which is something you wouldn't notice because when we use the metro we only stay there for a minute or two and we don't spend enough time to see this.

What Next:

At 2pm the metro manager announced the end of the campaign but only for today the campaign will last for several days, it will spread and go even wider and it is not too late for you to join, you can still help.

You might think that it is easy to talk to people and change their attitude but on the contrary it is not easy at all and that's why the response of the people today shows a great result for the boys and the girls' effort.

And here is the link for the campaign page:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/196877003664050/أصحاب-مكان

 And the group: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_198124420213552&ap=1