Asmaa Abdallah is a great example for other young Nubians to follow. The 28-year-old journalist is a Nubian youth activist and founder of the Egyptian Nubian Party. She started her career ten years ago and has dedicated herself to telling others about the true Nubia. But she is not the only young Nubian on a mission today, as many young Nubian professionals are also determined to support their community. Abdallah was born and studied in Cairo, but her family is still in Nubia and she visits on a regular basis. Aiming to break away from popular attitudes that see Nubians working in Cairo as limited to housekeeping or driving jobs, Abdallah dedicated six episodes of her upcoming television programme to profiles of Nubians who have excelled in other fields. “Nubians should return to their old land beside the River Nile,” says Abdallah. She supports the “Nubian right of return,” to reverse the historical relocation of Nubians from their ancestral lands. Development projects in Aswan should serve Nubia and Upper Egypt, she says, and there should be national projects in the region that provide jobs for youth. Such projects should focus on three elements — business, government and youth. Microenterprises, solar energy and the empowerment of women should be the main pillars of the projects. “The idea is to design projects that will play a vital role. [If] the government [does this it] will give Nubians the feeling they are an important part of Egypt and vital in developing it,” Abdallah said. Nubia is located along the Nile River in Upper Egypt, and the population has suffered from displacement throughout its long history. Probably the most important in modern times took place with the building of the Aswan High Dam in the 1960s, when the population was relocated to an area some call “Hell Valley.” The Nubian people, an agricultural society relying mainly on the Nile River, suffered after being moved to a desert area. Ever since, Nubians have demanded the right to return to their original land. The Nubians are divided into three main tribes: the Faduki, Matuki and Arab. All of them use the same language but with slight dialectical differences. Nubians are known for their strength, kindness and pride, and for having a strong attachment to their land and country. They are famous for their loyalty to their ancient customs and traditions. Even today, Nubians rarely marry outside their community, with fewer than five per cent of Nubians marrying non-Nubians. Maged Kenawi, 23, is a Nubian lawyer who has refused to leave his village of Ambarkab and seek work in Cairo. “Nubia needs me more. It needs its young people, especially the educated to uplift it and put it in the right position,” he said. Nader Fathi, 32, is a Nubian computer programmer who works in Cairo, where he also studied. His family left Nubia when he was only ten years old, but he still visits Nubia twice a year. The family house and his grandparents are still there. Fathy said that despite all his years in Cairo he still feels strongly attached to his native village of Dongola. “I go there to paint,” he said. “I love painting and almost all my paintings were done in Nubia because its nature drives people to be artistically creative. In Cairo I chose to work in computers as in future I hope to establish my own computer-programming centre in Nubia. Nubians need to use the latest technology. It is my dream to help them do so.” The writer is a freelance journalist.
