By
Heba Albiety
An
Egyptian mother of three has walked away with the top prize in ICFJ’s online
course, Building News
Websites for Egyptian Citizen Journalists. Safaa Mohammad Abdul Hamid was
awarded with $1000 for her story “The
Best Day in the Life of a Revolutionary Mother”.
During
the course, Safaa learned how to use social networking sites and to write
reports using pictures, videos and maps. “Once I acquired the tools through
ICFJ's course, I used them and they worked, Safaa said. “The story moved everyone
who read it”.
The
mother of three said the course boosted her confidence and improved her
journalistic skills. It also gave her the opportunity to work as a program
producer for the satellite channel 25 January TV.
Safaa
is using the money to apply the knowledge she learned in the course to build a
journalistic website with the help of her friends. “Winning first prize
encouraged me and assured me that success is timeless and limitless because
working hard bears fruit no matter what,” she said.
Safaa’s
story was about the last days of the Mubarak regime. The story’s perspective
was unique as it shed light on the inner conflict Safaa, and many other
Egyptian mothers, went through during the protests. Many women felt compelled
to participate in the protests and were torn between their obligation to their
kids and their obligation to their country. Safaa said it was not an easy
decision to join the protests.
“I
wanted to join people who took to the streets for protests but at the same time
I did not want to risk my life for the sake of my kids,” Safaa said.
But
as the situation on the streets became tenser, Safaa told her kids how
important it was for her to participate in the protests. She told them that
Egypt was like a mother to her and that she had to stand by her in such
difficult times.
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