CAIRO - The happiness and sadness on the face of 53-year-old Salwa, protesting in Tahrir Square, speaks volumes. Aiming to redress the injustice she faced under the ex-regime, Salwa sits in a chair in the middle of Tahrir, celebrating the anniversary of the revolution. The anniversary has attracted many young protesters to the Square, while Salwa is one of the few middle-aged women there. In the early days of the Egyptian revolution, young users of Facebook dominated the revolt. Today, Tahrir Square is still the focal point for the revolutionaries. Salwa, a retired agricultural engineer with two young sons, hasn't advertised her presence in Tahrir, because she wants to interact with the demonstrators. She says that the main demands of the revolution have yet to be achieved. When the revolution started, the protesters chanted ‘Bread, freedom and social justice'. This was followed by the Day of Anger, when the Ministry of Interior shot dead hundreds of demonstrators, with the demonstrations continuing for 18 days till Hosni Mubarak was toppled. Ex-minister of interior Habib el-Adli, other ex-ministers, steel tycoon Ahmed Ezz and Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal, are now being tried for corruption. But the trials for corruption of the ousted president and other important ex-regime figures are moving slowly, as is the transfer of power to a civilian government. Salwa and the other demonstrators are very concerned about this. "None of the demands of the revolution has been met," says Salwa, noting that the corrupt must be severely punished. "I was forcibly retired after the privatisation of the State-owned company I worked for," she adds sorrowfully, explaining that, although she is a graduate, her monthly pension is only about LE100. Egyptians are waiting to see what Parliament will do about the revolutionaries' demands; the worry is that the Islamists might only promote their own political interests. Salwa, who is not against the Islamists, who were outlawed for about 80 years, says we must give the new Parliament a chance to meet the real demands of the Egyptians. "I'm a Muslim, but this doesn't mean that I must support the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, which uses religion to exploit the minds of the poor,” she comments. Salwa is not the only women in the Square hoping to achieve the demands of the revolution and social justice; there are other women, with their children, or political activists, wanting to build a better future for the coming generations. "I'm here calling for change. Life is changeable; nothing remains as it is,” says another woman with a 19-year-old daughter, both of them in Tahrir celebrating the anniversary of the revolution. "We want the new Parliament to change things; I was very happy when it was inaugurated," Nadia Kilany, a journalist with Al-Mash'had newspaper, told the Egyptian Mail in Tahrir Square. Nadia hopes that many different political parties will be represented in the new, revolutionary Parliament, with its Islamist majority. She also hopes the new Parliament will make clear changes in every aspect of life. "We must get over temporarily crises like the petrol shortage and get on with this farcical trial of the ousted president. “This revolution is not only about young people; their elders must also participate, to secure our country's wealth for future generations,” commented Nadia. Egyptian women have been participating in the revolution since the very first day. Political activist Nahed Rashad, who has been calling for change since 2001, says that people were demanding that the ex-regime must go a long time ago. "I used to participate in sit-ins and demonstrations," says Nahed, adding that no matter what political party one belongs to, the important thing is that all the parties worked together to make the revolution succeed. “The revolution has toppled important figures in the ex-regime, but their relatives are still playing an important role in the country.” Having worked as a political activist for many years, Nadia says that she wants everyone to be aware of the corruption around them and to defeat it. "Everything was corrupt, included education, social justice and patriotism. The revolution must continue, until the martyrs and all Egyptians gain their rights.”
