By Waleed Rashed
To those who love freedom around the world, to those who dream of better lives, to those who seek to break their shackles and the limits that were created by tyrants; finally, dreams are coming true.
Our journey in the April 6 Movement started with a dream that can be summarized in one sentence: we are tired of everything, silence is no longer possible.
We started working effortlessly since that date and until January 25, 2011 to change our country to the better. We worked hard to make sure there is no space for fear in our hearts. We were determined knowing that Egypt deserves better. We used to look at each other in silence, but our eyes would reveal our thoughts: can we succeed? Can it one day happen? We used to watch other people who have liberated themselves and their minds and ask each other: can we become a model that the whole world will one day watch?
Our road to our dream was like a movie. We laugh and we cry. We get arrested and we escape. We are hunted and we run. Everything is possible and impossible in this story. It is a drama that filmmakers have not yet put on reel. It is a book that no writer has yet written.
We waited patiently until our dream became a reality. And yes, we are still dreaming of a free homeland, where there is no room for a tyrant who treats his people with injustice. We dream of a homeland where nobody is deprived of education or healthcare. We dream of a homeland that doesn’t have 30 percent of its population below the poverty line. We are still dreaming of a country where the worker owns his factory and the farmer owns his land. We dream of a homeland where social justice is a constitution that becomes a reality for everybody.
To those looking for better homelands, dream as much as want and work to achieve your dreams. Remember that dreams come true through hard work and effort. Don’t spare effort or sweat for your homeland.
Remember that Martin Luther King dreamt and was able to achieve his dream. Remember Rosa Parks dreamt and worked to make her dream come true. Remember Nelson Mandela dreamt for years and spent his life to make his dream come true. Egyptians are heroes who have dreamt for long years and worked above and underground and here it is, their dream is finally becoming true.
To the great people of Egypt, you are the truth and your victory over tyranny and injustice are truth and your revolution is truth so be happy and tell your children and grandchildren about the achievements of the great people of Egypt. Work to build this country, hand in hand, as you serve this country. Egypt needs every drop of sweat that you can give. Egypt needs you now more than ever.
Are you going to be there for it?
It is you, the great people of Egypt, who are nominated for the Nobel Prize and not the April 6 Movement or others. You are the nominees. It is for you and for you alone.
This is a prize for the martyrs of the dreams and hopes. The martyrs of heroism and dignity, the martyrs who have accomplished what words cannot describe.
Your precious souls will live among us forever to remind us that the homeland has dignity and that there is something on this land that deserves to live for. We will proudly tell our children about your heroic acts.
Finally, to the colleagues in the struggle and those who shared the dream, my colleagues and partners in April 6, I am proud to be one of you. I am proud personally to be living with you. I have learned and am still learning from you every day. I learn that love for the homeland and working for it is beyond compensation no matter how hard it is.
I know that we have all accomplished the first step on the road. Let’s not stop here.
Don’t think that homelands are built with prizes. I know you deserve the best of them, but homelands are built by those who dream and those who work. I salute you and all those who founded this movement. I also salute the thousands of unknown soldiers who are working quietly and do not appear in the media.
The real prize is when the revolution is complete and we are victorious after all our demands are met. When the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces leaves power and Egypt is ruled by a civil authority elected by the people and its revolution, when we have a new constitution that represents the country, its people, its identity, its rights, its freedom, its commitment. That is when the dream of our martyrs will come true: when justice, truth and freedom return to the land of Egypt.
Long live the struggle of the Egyptian people!
Waleed Rashed
Member of the April 6 Youth Movement
