The Corruption Within

I woke up and after a short while I was having my morning cup of tea while reading the newspaper. There was an article about how the new temporary government is going to give compensation to families of the martyrs of the Egyptian revolution; those heroes who gave their lives to the freedom of this country, who gave their lives in order for us to live in an Egypt free of corruption, and oppression. Those pure people who died in order for Egypt to live…. The article stated that their families will receive 50 thousand Egyptian pounds and a monthly payment of 1500 Egyptian pounds. “That’s good amount money” I thought to myself, but I don’t think it would compensate for their loss. What really would compensate for their losses is getting the people responsible for their death behind bars and eventually executed. Anyway, I finished my cup of tea and went to my work. I was going on sales visits in Asr Ainy Hospital (A well reputed Teaching Hospital in Cairo).

After a few visits I decided to go see where the people wounded from the revolution where being kept. I asked some of the young doctors and they showed me the way. I went into a hallway with lots of what seems to be patients’ wards. There was a horrible smell, mixed with the smell of blood. Suddenly there was a guy talking in a very aggressive, high tone. 

The voice was very close. I arrived at on of the wards to see a doctor standing and a man shouting to his face. People gathered around the door of the ward. Things were getting tense and I interfered.

·      “Calm down sir, and the doctor will do everything he can” I said.

·      “I’ll never do what he wants me to do” The doctor said. The guy lost control and got more aggressive. People held him from behind to stop him from harming the doctor.

·      I asked the doctor with a low voice; so the guy doesn’t hear what I was saying “What does he want you to do doctor?”.

·      “He wants me to state in the papers that his brother died in the days of the revolution…His brother died months before the revolution. I can never do something like that!!” He said. Apparently, he wanted to benefit from the compensation offered by the government, while he has no right to do so.

·      At that moment the man seemed to hold his temper and the people who were holding him left him. I talked calmly to the man “If you have a right, you’ll get it sir”.

·      “Right?! What right you are speaking about … My brother died in this room because we didn’t have money to pay for the treatment!!” He said aggressively. Then he reached for his pocket and a gun appeared in his hand. At that moment I was between the doctor and the man. People tried to stop him from behind, but there was a gun shot. Suddenly, everything went black in front of my eyes and fell…

I fell and hit the floor. I rose up… I was in a state of shock… I put my hands on my chest and there was nothing there…no blood, nothing! I realized that this was all a nightmare, and I was on my bedroom’s floor. Thank Allah!! (God)

(15 minutes latter)

I was drinking my cup of tea. I was thinking about the nightmare I just had. I realized we’ve been living in corruption for a long time, and it won’t just disappear overnight. Corruption has its roots spread all around this country. People don’t give their trust easily. They just want what they want now!! That guy had no money for him and his family to live and wanted to benefit from his brother’s death, even if it was illegal. He had no faith that things would eventually get better and he’ll get his rights. Corruption was carved within his heart. We have a long way to go before we can remove the corruption within.

I opened the newspaper and there was an article with the title “A doctor at Asr Ainy Hospital threatened to forge signatures on papers of revolution's martyrs”…

(30 minutes latter)

I drove my car across a big group of young people wearing T-shirts with “We love Egypt” written on it. They were cleaning the streets and repainting the pavements. They seem like the kind of kids you see playing video games, surfing the internet, and never cleaning their rooms when their mothers asked, yet they were there cleaning the streets. The skies were blue, and the air felt cleaner… There was hope in the air…

Removing the roots of corruption within will take time…but there is always hope

(note: this is an imaginary story, based on true events)

Alaa El Deen Esmail M. Fahmy