By Kaitlin Greif–
The announcement Friday that President Hosni Mubarak had stepped down from 30 years of autocratic rule in Egypt was welcomed news to two students at Mount Vernon High School who have a more personal experience with the matter. Mohamed Kassem, a 17-year-old foreign exchange student, happens to call Cairo, Egypt, home. He’s not the only one though. Dolagy Khalil is also a 15-year-old foreign exchange student from Benisuief, Egypt, who started attending MVHS this semester.

Both Mohamed and Dolagy have been struggling with being so far away from home in this time of chaos. “I would go home, if I could, to support my family and be with them during this,” said Mohamed. “But my family wants me to stay here and enjoy my year.”

Dolagy is in the same situation. “I want to be with my family and with my country in this time, but on the other hand, no, because I am sure that my parents are glad I am here and in a safe place,” said Dolagy. Both are worried about the lack of communication between them and their families. For awhile, the Internet and cellphone usage was turned off, and Mohamed went three days without talking to his family. Dolagy could not reach her parents for the first week of the protests, but now speaks with them regularly.

Not only do both of these students worry about their families, they are both concerned about the government and they both have opinions about Egypt’s leader, Hosni Mubarak. “He is not helping the country anymore. He has been president for 30 years without a vice president, which is almost a dictatorship,” said Mohamed, who supports the protests against Mubarak. Mohamed says that the damage going on right now will be worth it if Mubarak steps down.

Dolagy is concerned about the violence and protests, but feels the same way about Mubarak. “I hope to change our president because he doesn’t do anything for us,” said Dolagy.

It has been hard for these students to fully enjoy their time here. It is especially hard for Mohamed, with his family in the middle of all this chaos in Cairo. With the lack of communication, Mohamed has to answer calls from his family in the middle of class, because he doesn’t know when he will get to talk to them next. Both plan to wait it out here, though. Although they both want to be in Egypt with their families right now, they know that staying here, in the U.S., is the best thing.

As Mohamed and Dolagy wait out this crisis in Egypt, they struggle with being so far away from home when an event this drastic is going on. “Hopefully, it will help all the Egyptian people, because they want that, they want to change the president,” said Dolagy.

Mohamed is trying his best to enjoy his short time here, and “not take life too seriously, because no one gets out alive.”

Photo of Mohamed by Matt White