Despite upheaval in Egypt, DukeEngage leadership is hopeful that its immersive summer program will proceed as planned.
The International Travel Oversight Committee voted to suspend travel to the country Feb. 2 but will review the restriction Feb. 28. With the resignation of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Friday, DukeEngage administrators said they believe conditions may gradually improve, making summer travel possible.
“Although transition to democracies is often messy and, in most cases, tainted with uncivil unrest, I think this is a unique opportunity for Duke students,” Mbaye Lo, leader of the Cairo program and assistant professor of the practice for Asian and Middle Eastern studies, wrote in an e-mail Sunday. “DukeEngage is both for service and learning, and seldom do we witness history as it is unfolding now in one of the oldest and most rich societies.”
DukeEngage officials met with undergraduates accepted into the Egypt program Thursday evening. Students were asked to share their expectations and thoughts about the viability of the program, Lo said.
Freshman Blake Hament, who plans to participate in the program, said administrators have kept students updated of changes to the program.
“Of course things are changing pretty often, but... basically they’re waiting as long as they possibly can to make a final decision,” Hament said. “They really want to give us the opportunity to go if it’s going to be safe.”
Director of DukeEngage Eric Mlyn said program officials will make a formal decision about the program’s status April 4.
Applicants were notified when they applied that DukeEngage cannot guarantee replacement programs for canceled trips, Mlyn said.
Last year, DukeEngage accommodated some students whose programs were cancelled. After the Kenyan program at the Women’s Institute for Secondary Research and Education was called off, students were relocated to Mombasa and Kakamega, where they volunteered through the Foundation for Sustainable Development.
Replacement programs were viable in Kenya due to existing relations with community partners, but that infrastructure does not exist in Egypt, Mlyn said. If the Cairo program is canceled, DukeEngage will not provide students with alternative placements. This also occurred in 2008, when DukeEngage did not relocate students after the CampWISER program was cancelled.
The Cairo DukeEngage program works with six community partners in Cairo, including the Arab Academy, St. Andrew’s Refuge Ministry and the Association for Women’s Total Advancement and Development.
How these partners would be affected by the program’s cancellation is unclear, Lo said. During the majority of Egypt’s protests, Lo was unable to get into contact with the organizations, but Friday one partner provided encouragement from Egypt in a recent e-mail, he said.
“A lot of changes [are] happening with new movements starting within civil society to help Egypt,” Dr. Sanaa Ghanem, president of the Arab Academy. “Egypt needs help now more than ever as at last its way is clear for real democracy and growth.”
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