The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor No matter how many hours of CNN they watch, few Canadians can comprehend the crisis in Egypt like Jennifer Markham. "I relate to it. I lived there for a year," says the Flin Flon native, who taught French in the capital city of Cairo in 2008-09. Now residing in Swan River, Markham has kept a close eye on the massive protests aimed at forcing out President Hosni Mubarek. She sees not only media accounts, but also e-mails from friends still in the troubled country. One friend is helping to guard a neighbourhood from the looters that have sprung up amid the chaos. Another friend, who works in the tourism industry, has not been heard from in days. Though concerned for everyone's safety, Markham, 29, is solidly on the side of the protesters. "They just want to go back to a normal life with no Mubarek," she says. Desperation Markham loved her time in Egypt but also saw firsthand the desperation within the nation's borders. See 'Door...' on pg. 12 Continued from pg. 3 "You can feel the poverty, you can see the poverty," she says. Markham in particular remembers her apartment's doorman, who had to live in a cramped shack. "There's no way for him to get anywhere in life," she says. "There's no chance for him to ever improve his life." Markham is equally bothered by Egypt's lack of democracy and the brutality with which Mubarek has ruled for the last 30 years. When the protests began Jan. 25, she hoped they would force a prompt resignation from Mubarek, similar to what happened during the 2010-11 uprising in Tunisia. Now, like everyone else, she is left guessing as to what happens next. "Things will change there. I mean, you hope," she says. "But are they going to change to our expectations? Probably not. Can you get rid of that 30 years of corruption? I don't know how easily you can do something like that." While Mubarek has pledged to step down after his term is up in September, the protesters, not taking him at his word, are insisting he quit immediately. For her part, Markham expects Mubarek "is going to drag his feet as long as he can." As she watches the protests on TV and online, mixed feelings overcome Markham. "I'm sad for them. I'm happy for them," she says. "It's devastating. I feel sorrow but at the same time I feel proud for them. "Everybody's proud to be Egyptian. They're just not proud of Mubarek."
