CAIRO - Observers say the January 25 revolution was unprecedented in modern times not only for its strength, duration and impact, but also for the fountain of goodwill it has tapped. Young people, who had been generally looked down on as idle members of society, are today taking the helm. By means of their revolution that gained momentum and wide public support, change in the widest sense of the word is taking place on the ground. The pendulum of political, constitutional and economic reform has started to swing in a direction, which, until a few months ago, was thought to be far-fetched. Groups of teenagers can seen today in Cairene neighbourhoods cleaning up streets. They believe that the revolution has many faces. Moved by their latent positive energy, which has ultimately found a suitable vent, young people have rolled up their sleeves to be part of a constructive process. Dina, Areej and Nabila live in the same neighbourhood. They did not have the chance to join their fellow citizens in Al Tahrir square. Feeling, however, that they were no less patriotic than those that led the protests, which ultimately brought down the Mubarak regime, they agreed to raise money from the apartment blocks in their neighbourhood for a cleaning campaign. They decided to buy small dustbins to hang onto lamp poles and to provide major and side-street corners with large garbage containers to encourage residents and passersby to keep the streets clean. They have also written placards, which they put up in prominent places urging people not to litter the streets. Those young ladies are not a case of their own. Whether in upmarket or popular districts, the spirit is prevalent. Young people seem to have picked on the one problem that has remained a stumbling block in the way of successive governments to prove that nothing is impossible. Many Facebook groups are today engaged in facelift activities. As soon as the time and place have been set for launching such campaigns, scores of young men and woman gather to sweep streets, paint pavements and circulate leaflets to raise awareness. What may be termed the 'broom and dustpan revolution' actually started in Al Tahrir Square following the protesters returning home upon the ousting of Mubarak. The people, who had days before made the square a temporary residence until their demands were met, were intent upon taking their civilised protest to its end. They came the next day to Al Tahrir Square this time to clear it up and give a facelift to the busy central square. The gesture had actually drawn worldwide comments since it was the first time ever protesters had ever taken the initiative to clean up the place in which they had been stationed for almost three weeks. In the luxurious district of Zamalek, 200 young people, mostly school students, have divided themselves into groups to collect accumulated garbage into large plastic bags, which are later on picked up by governorate garbage trucks. Reaction on the part of pedestrians and motorists to their efforts was actually mixed. While some appreciated what these enthusiastic young people were doing with encouraging compliments and supplies of water bottles and juice boxes, others were rather sarcastic. But these energetic young people have not been thwarted. They believe that it would take people some time to get used to just not throwing away discarded items but putting them in appropriate places. They believe that their overwhelming optimism and actual participation will be maintained in all walks of life, despite expected obstacles, simply because they now realise the meaning of being the owners of their own country.
