Have you ever wondered if the cabbie you happily jumped into the vehicle with can read? 35-year-old Ramzy Mousa was denied education because he was not considered a citizen under Egyptian law. Born to a Jordanian father and Egyptian mother, Mousa had no citizenship in either country until he was 31 – when Egypt started recognizing those born to Egyptian mothers as Egyptian citizens. With his father abandoning his mother, days after he was born, Mousa never had a Jordanian citizenship. Growing up, with no Egyptian citizenship, Mousa wasn't allowed to attend public schools – and with private schools being too expensive for his mother, he never learned to read. When Ramzy was finally able to issue an Egyptian citizenship, he decided it was time to issue a driver's license as well, seeing he was a cab driver and all. In order to issue the license however, Mousa had to show them his army papers, which of course he didn't have because he wasn't recognized as Egyptian and therefore was never asked to serve in the army. He was forced then to pay a large fine because he “escaped” his army service. “I tried to explain the situation to them … that I didn't hold Egyptian citizenship until recently and couldn't serve in the army, but they wouldn't have it and I was forced to pay the fine.” When I got into the cab, I realized a combination of frustration and sadness in Mousa's tone, as he asked me where I was going then nodded with a frown. Hours earlier, a friend had called him about a terrible accident, where another taxi driver was robbed and badly injured. “They took his car and left him like a dog on the street!” Mousa told me, adding that being a taxi driver is no longer safe “with thugs on the loose.” Around twenty days ago, Mousa picked up two customers in Degla, Maadi. “Within minutes, I felt a freezing sharp knife pressing against the back of my neck,” he said, then pointing upwards, as if to pray, he told me he was thankful to God that they only robbed him and had not murdered him and stolen the car. After the robbers stole the money that Mousa had in his pocket, they searched the car until they found rent money he had planned to pay the owner of the car at the end of the day, and took it. “Two weeks later, another taxi driver from our area was attacked by the same robbers,” Mousa continued, adding that taxi drivers from each area know each other and share stories. It's worth mentioning that while most cabbies I've ridden with are usually listening to music, Qur'an or sports, Mousa was listening to the news – the man who can't write his own name was listening to the news. BM
