CAIRO - You can feel their enthusiasm, as they review their ideas, constantly interrupting each other and laughing at the same time. This is the spirit behind Daqah Gadidah (A New Trend). Daqah Gadidah is an online monthly youth magazine, whose 35 chapters confirm the Egyptian identity. It was launched by a group of young people, who want to be heard by the whole of society. “I first started thinking about making this magazine two years ago, but the atmosphere in Egypt wasn't right. Then the revolution happened and I felt that, if I wrote something, people would read it,” said Hisham Hamdy, 23, a photographer and the magazine's team leader. “The magazine's original team members got to know each other during a photography course I was giving. I discussed the idea with them and they reacted positively,” Hamdy added in an interview with the Egyptian Mail. Daqah Gadidah contains very exciting chapters that deal with all manner of areas in Egyptian life such as cookery, sports, health, beauty, culture heritage, arts, poetry and short stories. “We include drawings and photos which our readers also find entertaining,” said Eman Rezq, 21, an art teacher and another member of the team. Eman illustrates two chapters in the magazine: ‘Haidy and Shata' and ‘Noatet Hebr' (A Drop of Ink). ‘Haidy and Shata' is a short comic story about two funny working-class funny couples, written by Mohamed Sayyed. The demo edition for Daqah Gadidah was launched on November 11, 2011 and the first edition on January 1, 2012. “We started working on the magazine with only 12 people. When we launched the demo edition we were 35 and now, only two months later, the team has swollen to 86 members,” Hamdy said. He and his team decided to launch this magazine because they found that the written and televised media don't mirror what their generation really thinks. “We wanted to found our own medium, to express our generation's opinions freely, without any restrictions or directions,” said Moustafa el-Maghawri, a 27-year-old IT consultant who writes for the magazine. “Many of the magazines on the market don't really reflect our lifestyle as ordinary, humble Egyptians,” el-Maghawry added in an interview with this newspaper. El-Maghawry writes ‘Saeet Asary' (The Afternoon Hour), in which he shares his thoughts with readers. “People are busy all day long and ‘Saeet Asary' addresses this, allowing Egyptians to reflect on their lives,” he explained. Like most of the younger generation's new projects, Daqah Gadidah is searching for a sponsor, as the magazine's team work for free. They're not in it for the money, but at the same time they need financial help. “We are searching for a sponsor or a publishing house, so we can print the magazine, not just publish it online, in order to reach more Egyptians,” Hamdy added. “Many people like the magazine. Some readers have made certain criticisms, but we welcome this, as it allows us to improve our idea. “We started spreading it via our friends on Facebook, but we were surprised to find it also appearing on the Facebook pages of people we didn't know.” There are no limits to the dreams of the Daqah Gadidah team. They have started with a magazine, but now they want to transform it into a cultural community. “We believe that enough is never enough, as we want to help shape the Egyptians' cultural awareness and directing the youth's energy to something useful,” el-Maghawri explained. The magazine also deals with politics in a sarcastic, witty way. ‘Man Antom' (Who are You?) is a chapter in which Adam Azzam writes ironically about hot events happening in post-revolution Egypt. One of the most useful and informative chapters in the magazine is ‘The Youth's Initiatives', which explains how to launch initiatives via social networks like Facebook. “One of the things we want to do is build a bridge between our generation and the older generation; after all, there is a huge gap between the two,” said Ayat Byazeed, 22, who works in the customer service field and also contributes to the magazine. Ayat writes about health and also in the ‘Bel Ingalizy' (In English) chapter, which is all about the English language. When Ayat showed her family the magazine, it was her grandmother, Wedad Toulan, who was the most impressed, even asking to join the team. “My grandma was delighted to see young people trying to do something useful, instead of wasting their time playing computer games all day,” she stressed. In ‘Kalam el-Qalb' or (Words from the Heart), Wedad writes about old Egyptian proverbs, with small messages for all their readers. “We took about one month to launch the demo edition, but we finished our first edition in only two weeks,” said Youmna Abdel-Karim, 23, an art teacher and another member of the team. Youmna gives the readers beauty tips in her ‘Tamr Henna' chapter. She also writes ‘2011', in which, every month, she recalls what happened in the corresponding months in 2011. “We meet once every fortnight to throw ideas around and discuss what each of us will contribute to the next edition of the magazine,” Youmna commented.
