Clubs meet new demands

Yomna Kamel Middle East Times

For many Egyptians living around the world, one of the most important things to do is to stay in touch with – or re-discover - their heritage. In the past, this may have been done by listening to shortwave radio, reading books, or by expensive telephone calls back home.

Today, in order to understand more about themselves, two groups, one in Egypt and one over the Internet, have emerged to meet their needs.

"To connect Egyptians to their rich cultural heritage, exchange cultural values and practical experiences from people of different backgrounds, age groups and geographical locations are among the aims of El Shella," says Egyptian born Sahar Al Nady.

El Shella is an on-line community founded by the brother and sister team of Muhammad and Sahar Al Nady. Raised in Saudi Arabia, the two saw a need through their life experiences to start the service which has grown to have more than 1,900 members a year and a half since its founding.

Proving to be a huge success over the Internet, several similar on-line clubs have been established that focus on bringing Egyptians in touch with each other and their culture. Nady thinks that a new club Roots, though not an on-line service, has a similar mission of keeping people in touch with who they are and where they came from.

Roots was established when a group of young men and women, who were brought up abroad but now live in Egypt, many of them the product of mixed marriages, decided to get together and talk about their experiences.

After spending a year in Egypt three years ago, Layla Tahoun wanted to meet people who were part Egyptian like herself and talk about their experiences.

"When I meet Egyptians, I feel a part of me is still not understood by them, and when I meet Europeans, I also feel a part of me not understood by them. So, I find it an amazing idea to have a club that makes people who are like me get together," says the Egyptian-British Tahoun.

Always busy at work, it was some time after she came up with the idea before Tahoun put an advertisement in Egypt Today for her club.

"I received some calls and e-mails in response to the advertisement and we managed to meet. We were seven people when we started meeting, but currently the club has 20 members and we meet twice a month on Saturday," she says.

Tahoun is used to hearing from new members "finally, I meet people like me," after joining her club. Joining people with similar experiences and helping them to adapt is one of the club's aims. Some people have no problems adjusting to life in Egypt, while others need support in dealing with life, she says.

The role of women in Egypt, the generation gap and work environments are some of the more frequent topics discussed at meetings by members like Marwa Hammam.

"Each meeting usually has a topic to be discussed by members to share their experiences and talk about their problems," says Hammam who was born in the United Kingdom and lived in Saudi Arabia. "When I meet other members, I feel I am not the only one experiencing such problems and this helps me adapt."