CAIRO - Expecting the attendance of the January 25 revolution's youth, the Goethe Institute in downtown Cairo inaugurated ‘Tahrir Lounge' last Thursday. Although the project is mainly intended to attract young revolutionaries, only a few showed up at the opening. ‘Be Part of the Change' is the motto of the lounge project. The atmosphere at the opening was quite removed from the spirit of the revolution, as a string ensemble played European classical music. ‘Tahrir Lounge' is funded by the German government; the Goethe Institute in Cairo is providing the space, while workshops and events are organised by Egyptian civil society. “This project aims at increasing the political awareness among ordinary Egyptians from all backgrounds,” project manager Mona Shahin said. “We want to reach the whole spectrum of the population and hold many activities like campaigns, blogging, caricature, professional journalism, videos and video reports,” she added in an interview with The Egyptian Gazette. “Tahrir Lounge” is also opening its doors to all young political activists, to meet on a daily basis, exchange their different visions and discuss their country's economic and social future. “It is quite hard to meet and share our goals. Therefore it is very important to travel to poor governorates and reach all Egyptians, not only those who live in Cairo,” Shahin said. “We want to offer the kind of civil and political education that prepares people for making an informed choice,” she added. The lounge project has already started its activities; a video conference about the Islamic and civil state was held and the video sent to universities such as Harvard and Colombia. The few young revolutionaries who attended the opening were not particularly enthusiastic about the project. “It is a step in the right direction, but we hope it will continue. There have been similar projects but unfortunately they all stopped,” Abdullah Fakharany, 20-year-old medicine student, said cautiously. Fakhrany, like many of his generation, is now afraid for the revolution, which motivates him to meet and protest every Friday to keep up the revolution's aspirations and demands. “Such discussion platforms are good, they enable participants to accept and embrace different political views; this is part of the process towards democracy,” said Abdel Rahman Gad, a political researcher and member of the Independent Academics Coalition. Gad added that Egypt was now at the stage where everything depended on people, their patience and perseverance, until all demands and dreams of the revolution were realised.
