Future of study abroad programs in Egypt still tentative

The 18 days of demonstrations in Egypt that helped push an authoritarian regime out of power… The 18 days of demonstrations in Egypt that helped push an authoritarian regime out of power sent some Pitt students scrambling across the Arab world and others across the Atlantic Ocean earlier this month.

According to Pitt’s Study Abroad Office, five Pitt students were studying in Cairo, Egypt, when thousands of Egyptians angry with long-time President Hosni Mubarak took to the streets, demanding an end to his authoritarian regime. Four were evacuated on Jan. 31, six days after the protests broke out, while the remaining student left the country the next day.

Three of them chose to stay in Istabul, Turkey, to participate in a different study abroad program, while the other two returned to the United States. Jeff Whitehead, director of the Study Abroad Office, said in an e-mail that while it was too late for the students to enroll at Pitt this current semester, one of the two who came back to the United States is working on a directed study.

Administrators in the University Center for International Studies, of which the SAO is a component program, also provided the students with additional assistance. The center identified international programs that would still accept students for the spring term and assisted them through the enrollment process.

This was important work, as the transfers required a lot of information to pass quickly between students, the American University of Cairo, parents, University administration and other study abroad providers, Whitehead said.

The SAO does not have its own “Pitt in Egypt” program. Instead, it allows Pitt students to participate in an Egypt program run out of Butler University’s Institute For Study Abroad. Pitt students can also participate in the American University in Cairo program.

“We maintain a very strong working relationship with both providers,” Whitehead said.

Pitt students interested in studying abroad in Egypt in the fall should remain open to other options because the University is not sure when the changing political climate will allow it to safely send students back to the country.

Whitehead said the University might allow students to return there in the fall, or it could choose to delay until the spring 2012 semester.

The conflict from the ground

Pitt junior Gladys Arias was one of the five students studying in Cairo when the protests broke out. Arias said she was not worried at all when she first heard about the protests, as the Egyptian students with whom she stayed told her the protests would not amount to anything.

“I witnessed some of the protests but not much. I was kept very safe in my dormitory,” Arias said in an e-mail.

The gravity of the protests, which eventually forced out a government that had been in power for more than 30 years, did not really hit her until the first Friday following their start. On that day, Arias sat in the dorm lobby and watched protesters move on the street.

“Even though I was so close, it felt as if nothing was really happening until then,” she said.

Arias thinks the protests were as peaceful as possible, though she was upset about the looters’ acts.

“Egypt has such a rich history, and for the mummies to have been destroyed, that made me incredibly sad,” she said.

Arias expressed love for Egypt, despite having to leave the country in turmoil.

“I do not regret wanting to study abroad there or having to be evacuated from it for one second,” she said. “Before the protests began, it was wonderful. I saw the pyramids, rode a camel, ate delicious food and met some wonderful people.”

She stressed that during the protests, all the students of theAmerican University in Cairo were kept completely safe.

Arias also added that Egypt is a beautiful country and that she hoped that this revolution shows how strong its people are, rather than portraying them in a negative light.