Summer of MB Youth: Fun With a Mission

“How you spend your time is more important than how you spend your money. Money mistakes can be corrected, but time is gone forever. .” a quote by David Norris that clearly shows the value of time.

This report sheds some light about the summer vacations and how the Muslim Brotherhood youth use it differently.
 
Asmaa Abdou, a third- year student at the faculty of Applied Arts, and a Muslim Brotherhood youth, said that she divided her vacation activities into three main parts; social, intellectual, and religious. Asmaa planned these activities hoping to get the best out of her summer vacation and to enjoy going out to fun places and play her favorite sports.

“Part of my religious activitiesis that I meet with other girls and study different Islamic subjects which help us appreciate the value of religion in our lives, and we memorize Qur’an together” Asmaa explained.

Asmaa also meets occaisonally with her colleagues from the faculty to plan for the upcoming academic year and discuss how they can help other fellow students, specially new commers, to succeed in their studies and be good members of the society.

One area Asmaa wants to further improve this summer is reading “I find myself a bit neglecting reading this year, so I have plans to read many books. So far, I have decided on 8 books to read. I also began taking courses in Human Development and Graphics to sharpen my academic performance” Asmaa added.
 
Among her busy schedule for the summer, having fun and studying; Asmaa also knows she has a duty to serve her country and her cause, so tries to keep up with latest events happening around the country and participate in conferences, campaigns, or updating her blog.

“Now I feel I have much more time for my blog. During classes, I didn’t always have time to write freely and elaborate on the issues as I wanted to, which makes me feel really happy and excited.”
 
Iman, a recent graduate, talked about her summer vacation and the activities she does during her spare-time in general saying,   “Most importantly, I begin my day with the dawn prayer, then I spend sometime reading the holy Quran or meditate on God’s beautiful creation, and praise Him… This is the best time of the day, and it’s an essential step in my daily schedule.”

She added, “Surely you have to improve your mental and physical skills in your spare-time. I have courses in the Human development program and English language.”

Iman said about her role as a Muslim that should be positive, effective, and useful to his society, “Missionary activity should be very important in the life of any Muslim. And I depend more on the direct interaction between me and others, I’d rather call it (the social missionary activity) such as helping young girls to learn about God, the Prophet, and other secular stuff. This makes me feel I ‘m doing something useful to my society, and also having a missionary role. I have great benefit and also increase much my knowledge and communication skills through such activities as well as others. So it’s a mutual advantage and benefit.”
 
Nadeen, graduated on 2005, said that the most important thing in the vacation is getting relaxed, and forgetting all about the depression and pressure you had in your work or study. She said, “For me, vacation starts when my family finishes its exams. I have begun this summer vacation with a surprise party for my brother as soon as he has finished his exams as he was quite depressed after the long days of studying.” She added, “Me and my family have prepared such party in which we invited some of his friends and relatives, and we went to a restaurant with an African style, you feel you’re sitting inside the jungles. It was quite an interesting day for me and my brother to begin vacation.”
Nadeen said, “One of my plans this summer is going on a Safari or a snorkeling trip on the Red Sea , as such adventures make me feel quite refreshed and ready to go back to the real life of working afterwards. One of the things I miss a lot is riding horses, I used to go to the pyramids with my friends twice a month to ride horses there. I’m intending to do it again this summer. I also plan to have courses on 2 languages as I adore learning languages and find it interesting and very useful… I have another very important personal goal this summer, which is to take more care about my health and have a daily schedule for healthy food, and certainly practicing sports as swimming and walking in the early morning. And one of my short-term goals for this vacation is planning a party for one of my best friends as she is getting married next month, me and my friends wanted to surprise her with that party.”
At the end, she said, “I like having much fun in my life, spoiling myself, and changing my day routine every now and then. But certainly this doesn’t mean to forget my role as a Muslim and as a useful member in the society. In the vacation, I memorize Qur’an, go to the mosque twice a week, once to teach young girls, and the other time to attend a weekly lesson on Islam and morals, and also help in different activities for a charity association.”
 
Amr Hamed, a Muslim Brotherhood youth, said about his vacation, “In vacation, you feel that you want to do many things, after spending a long time in studying and on exams afterwards. The day in vacation is spent on social activities such as visiting relatives, friends, or going out with them, it can also be spent on different hobbies. As for me, I enjoy reading a lot, and I don’t find much time for my free reading on the university days; That’s one of the hobbies that I’m keen on doing on the summer vacation.” He added, “Unfortunately, on university days, I rarely have time to practice any kind of sports. Especially that I’m a student in the faculty of Medicine, it’s not an easy task at all to find time for anything rather than studying. In the past I used to practice sports. But I am willing to do it again on this vacation.”
 
He added, “Missionary activities take a fair time from my day. Also I participate in most of the symposiums, seminars, stoppages, and different activities that affect my society and my country in general. I like joining and supporting any people who call for their fair real rights, and interacting with different cases like what happens to the judges for example.”
 
Magdi Saad, a Muslim Brotherhood youth and a blogger, said “I no more feel the spirit of vacation like when I was still a student in the university. However, I still have my weekend vacation in which I try to do all what I want. Mostly, the weekend vacation is spent in the family visits. I also go out with friends a lot. What I enjoy most is going to the cinema with friends. Every now and then I go there, but I don’t like Arabic films, as most of them are not on a good level.”.
 
Asmaa El-Erian, a Muslim Brotherhood faculty student, commented on her vacation saying, “We should take advantage of every single minute in our vacation. Personally, I have many plans for this vacation. As for improving my intellectual skills, I had workshops called ( Parties Youth Course) in Cairo Center for Human Rights. I am also having a course on the English language nowadays, and another course for driving, and I try to memorize chapters of Qur’an. These are my ongoing activities nowadays. I’m also planning to read some books on this vacation God willing. And I’m preparing some articles which I ‘m going to publish on a site on the internet so soon; Surely this gives me an experience in writing, journalism, and communication skills in general.”
 
Commenting on her role as a Muslim Brotherhood youth who should serve the society and be effective and positive, both on the religious and social level, Asmaa said, “I am a member in the Political committee. Our role on the meantime is to increase the consciousness and enlightenment of women and their role in the political life in the country. I also help young girls in the mosque to memorize Qur’an and know more about different religious and secular affairs. I also have a role concerning the ongoing cases nowadays like the military tribunals. Certainly I’m intending to join and support them, and also participate with them in any event they have like stoppages, conferences, and symposiums. I also intend to participate in events about the political affairs in Palestine like campaigns, different press conferences and stoppages.”
She added, “I also care about my health for sure, so I try to practice different sports through going to the GYM, and going to the sports club to walk with friends and swim.”
 
Finally, Asmaa El-Erian has given an advice to all the youth saying, “Youth should have knowledge about different fields of life, they should not isolate themselves in a narrow corner and care only for themselves. They should be positive and interactive in the political life in their country, and all around the world in general. And they should take good advantage of their summer vacation and improve their intellectual, physical, and social skills through having summer training or courses