A Great Cooperative Project

Over the past few days, sitting glued to my Twitter feed, a very encouraging picture of what is happening in Egypt emerges.

It shouldn't come as news to anybody who knows Egyptians, but it is still very worth dedicating a blog post to:

The Great Cooperative Project that the Egyptians Are a Part of

It was Ahdaf Soueif who called it that - a great cooperative project - and I can't find a better way to put it.

‎"Once... my son, watching a young man run to help an old man who had dropped a bag in the middle of the street, said: 'The thing about Egypt is that everyone is very individual, but also part of a great co-operative project'. Today, we are doing what we do best, and what this regime has tried to destroy: we have come together, as individuals, in a great co-operative effort to reclaim our country."

This is but a small collection of tweets over the past week from people describing how people are working together in the midst of the uprising to protect each other and their country, clean and cook for each other:


Cairo residents remove passwords from wi-fi routers so protesters can communicate with world http://bit.ly/g9xOdl #jan25 (before the internet was shut down in Egypt)

@saidboudriz: Christians were out protesting/protecting Muslims while Muslims prayed Jummah. #Egypt people are standing together! #Jan25

@_yaz: Al Jazeera: Protestors create a human shield around the Egyptian Museum to protect it. #egypt #egipto #jan25 (when looters, reportedly identified as police officers in plain clothes, threatened to break into the Egyptian Museum)

@RNN: Areesh: no forces exist and civilian movements form teams to protect banks and public buildings #jan25 #egypt

@Sarahcarr Amazing scenes in Cairo. Tanks in Salah Salem, citizens directing traffic (& doing a great job). Joyful atmosphere #jan25

@Sandmonkey women carry sticks &join volunteer protection committees on the streets of Heliopolis. Ppl saluting army. It's great. #Jan25 

@amunati: just talked to my uncle in cairo. they are all doing good, every1 making breakfast for whole neighborhood. #Jan25

@bencnn Profound respect, appeciation for Egyptian, foreign neighbours patrolling all night long in dark and cold to keep us safe. #Jan25 #Egypt

@IvanCNN Far more soldiers and tanks in the streets today. Military was distributing bread to poor people from a truck off Tahrir square.

@RNN - Now Muslims protesters are praying in Tahrir SQ, while Christians are protecting them, you can hear 'Ameen' very loudly!

@DannyRamadan: She was cleaning Tahrir square."I believe some should protest and others should clean",she says.#jan25

Still not entirely sure what I'm talking about? Watch this video clip: