Final Documentary - Early Marriage among Egyptian Students

An interesting phenomenon has been taking place in Cairo, Egypt. College students appear to be tying the knot earlier than the contemporary age. Mona Tawfik investigates.

The documentary is 12 minutes and 57 seconds long. The narration, including all the interviews -except the one with Ahmed Wagih- were recorded using an M-Audio recorder. The interview with Wagih was recorded using an iPhone.

View the full script. 
Find this project on AUC's Digital Archive and Research Repository!

                                                      Picture from cinderellaforever.blogspot.com

Special thanks to my interviewees:
- Mr. Maged Afifi
- Ahmed Wagih
- Sara El Kady
- Zeina Asfour
Their input was very insightful and they all provided me with broad opinions regarding the topic. They gave the documentary a great flavor.

Songs taken from the free music archive:
 Embellir by Lee Maddeford
Underneath the Leaves by John Vanderslice
Instrumental by The Library Anns

More sound credits:
Egyptian National Anthem from YouTube user gliango
Sound of Children playing and laughing from YouTube user smileygoldfish2
Islamic Call to Prayer from YouTube user 8704822
Egyptian Wedding Zaffa from YouTube user dannnia
Zaghroota Sound from 4shared.com, uploaded by NaseeBasmart

Additional Information taken from foryourmarriage.org
Picture added on soundcloud from kbrightenevents.com

The Rundown Radio Program

Myself, Dina Meky and Linda Badr, produced a radio program this week. Our main theme revolved around Technology. Dina was the host while Linda and I were the producers.

Music: Sleepless Nights by Anitek (Courtesy of Jamendo.com)
Image from Kennet Radio

The program is made up of two segments; the first is a discussion between the three of us, followed by an interview with reference librarian Rosie Johnson of The American University in Cairo (AUC).

We started out by discussing some news in the technology world, such as the Apple and HTC patent battle, Apple's new products such as the Fusion Drive and iPad mini, the Google Nexus in comparison with the iPhone and finally Apple's $2.5 million donation to victims of Hurricane Sandy.

The theme of the interview with Rosie Johnson was about how the AUC library is handling new technological advancements. Johnson discussed the library's new experiences with the iPad, the step towards turning physical books into e-books, among other interesting topics.

                                                                 Comic from The Phoenix

Comic from Apps Rumors

Comic from Apps Rumors

Work Journal:

To be completely honest, it was difficult to coordinate the visions of three different individuals in one show. In the beginning it seemed like each one of us was just going in a separate direction. Agreeing on the topics to discuss and who to interview were challenging tasks.

It wasn't easy when we started recording the discussion. We sometimes lost our trail of thought and would end up trying to resume without losing the initial tone of the show. But as soon as we got the hang of it, the conversation flowed naturally and we managed to each speak without interrupting one another.

We thought a lot about who to interview, and the possibilities for an interview varied from environmental impacts of technology to hepatitis E and then to our decided topic; technology in the AUC library. It complemented our topics of discussion nicely and it was interesting to see how the AUC library kept up with the fast pace of technological advancements.

The Team (From right to left, Dina Meky, Myself and Linda Badr.)

As for the audio editing, which was my role as producer, it wasn't very easy. I had to remove a lot of unnecessary words and noises. And it frustrated me that some background noise simply wasn't removable, like the construction background noise in the interview with Rosie Johnson. However, I tried my best and I was pleased with my work. There were no glitches or pauses that were too long. But it was the first time for me to literally spend hours glued to a computer and working on audio, so I made sure to do my best.

I think if I were to choose whether or not to work alone or in a group in the future, I would work alone. Don't get me wrong; I liked this group, and I'll admit the workload was lessened and there was a lot of support from my group members. But at the end of the day we are three different people trying to work on one small thing. Every person naturally thinks that their ideas are the best ideas, which is problematic in any group situation. It's more challenging to work with a group, but it taught me how to compromise and handle differences.

Overall, it was a good and educational experience for me, and I'm proud of the work we produced. I'm glad we learned how to listen to each other and take all opinions into consideration. Even though there were some challenges, we made it through and now we have a wonderful radio program to show for our efforts.

Did our show spark an idea? Here's some more info for you!
- Ipad Mini
- Google Nexus
- Windows Phone
- Apple & HTC battle
- Samsung pays Apple $1.05 billion

Sources:
-  Apple donating $2.5 million to Hurricane Sandy victims
- iPad mini features
- iPad mini vs. iPad
- Google Nexus
- iPhone 5 vs. Nexus 4
- Can we have phones that won't cost the earth?
- Fusion Drive
- iMac features


Enjoyed our show? Leave a comment; we'd love to hear from you!

"The Winner Stands Alone" by Paulo Coelho

I read a section from this book because I found it to be enlightening and inspiring. I used an M-audio recorder.

The Winner Stands Alone by Paulo Coelho (Pages 8 and 9)

Fashion. Whatever can be people be thinking? Do they think fashion is something that changes according to the season of the year? Did they really come from all corners of the world to show off their dresses, their jewelry and their collection of shoes? They don’t understand. “Fashion” is merely a way of saying” “I belong to your world. I’m wearing the same uniform as your army, so don’t shoot.”

Ever since groups of men and women first started living together in caves,” fashion” has been the only language everyone can understand, even complete strangers. “We dress in the same way; I belong to your tribe. Let’s gang up on the weaklings as a way of surviving”.

But some people believe that fashion is everything. Every six months they spend a fortune changing some tiny detail in order to keep up their membership in the very exclusive tribe of the rich.  If they were to visit Silicone Valley, where the billionaires of the IT industry wear plastic watches and beat up jeans, they would understand that the world has changed; everyone now seems to belong to the same social class; no one cares anymore about the size of a diamond or the make of a tie or a leather briefcase. 

In fact, ties and leather briefcases don’t even exist in that part of the world; nearby, however, is Hollywood, a relatively more powerful machine –albeit in decline- which still manages to convince the innocent to believe in haute-couture dresses, emerald necklaces, and stretch limos. And since this is what still appears in all the magazines, who would dare destroy a billion-dollar industry involving advertisements, the sale of useless objects, the invention of entirely unnecessary new trends, and the creation of identical face creams all bearing different labels?

How ridiculous! Igor cannot conceal his loathing for those whose decisions affect the lives of millions of honest, hardworking men and women leading dignified lives and glad to have their health, a home and the love of their family.

How perverse! Just when everything seems to be in order and as families gather round the table to have supper, the phantom of the Superclass appears, selling impossible dreams: luxury, beauty, power. And the family falls apart.

The father works overtime to be able to buy his son the latest sneakers because if his son doesn’t have a pair, he’ll be ostracized at school. The wife weeps in silence because her friends have designer clothes and she has no money. Their adolescent children, instead of learning the real values of faith and hope, dream only of becoming singers or movie stars. Girls in provincial towns lose any real sense of themselves and start to think of going to the big city, prepared to do anything, absolutely anything, to get a particular piece of jewelry. A world that should be directed toward justice begins instead to focus on material things, which, in six months’ time, will be worthless and have to be replaced, and that is how the whole circus ensures that the despicable creatures gathered together in Cannes remain at the top of the heap.

 Paulo Coelho
 

Music : Oskar Schuster - Sneeuwland

The Winner Stands Alone Book Image

A glimpse into one of my interviews - Early Marriage Documentary

I interviewed Ahmed Waguih Sadek on Monday, October 15th, 2012 and asked him about his opinion on early marriages. Waguih is currently studying Medicine in Cairo University.



Transcript:

Interviewer: Mona Bassel Tawfik

Interviewee: Ahmed Waguih Sadek, medical student at Cairo University

Mona: How would you, in your opinion, define early marriage?

Waguih: Actually an early marriage, according to my perspective would be a marriage that happened before the age of 25, 26 minimum.

[Why don’t you support early marriage?]

 Waguih: Okay, first of all, it’s not really an option for both of the couple, because, okay, they might be in a relationship at an earlier age, depends on whether they’re open minded or not, but most of the time they’re not, so it’s just the fact that parents force their children to get married just so they can see replacement values for themselves. So, you would witness a father forcing or manipulating his child –not child at that age, its daughter or son, into getting married. Usually it’s a casual marriage, planned by the family, which does not give much space for the couple to know each other well before getting married, which leads to a huge issue. I’d consider it as a catastrophe because it’s one of the highest; statistically it’s one of the highest rates worldwide –divorce. Because they just, they’re not used to each other, they do not know each other, they never got the time or got the space to know each other that well so this is one of the problems, divorce. 

And if the marriage continues,  somehow this student or fresh graduate –he cannot balance or organize the time between establishing a family or on the other hand establishing himself within his career. So he finds himself in the middle of a very long road, that he has to work harder and sacrifice the time with the family in order to make more money and establish himself career wise, or focus on with the family and not get the time to establish himself with his career.

So it ends with one of two things: either mediocre parenting or mediocre career. Not something I would like, not something I would support, and it’s not something that the society should support.

Anyways, another reason for this would be, these children. After they’re subjected with bad parenting, they are going to grow up with bad manners, with mediocre education, with mediocre healthcare with mediocre family bonds between them, so basically it ruins one of the two things, either the career or the family.

Mona: [You mentioned the disadvantages, so] What do you think the advantages are?

Waguih: Well the advantages are, it’s that the parents they witnessed more stages of growth in their children. For example if I get married at the age of 30 or 35 I might not witness the marriage of my son or daughter, but if it’s earlier this gives me a better chance or longer life span to witness that, this is mainly the advantage. But on the other hand it has lots of disadvantages that I just mentioned.

Mona: Why do you think the trend is that more college students are getting married?

Waguih: One of the biggest factors is parents. Parents insisting or parents manipulating them into the marriage. The other thing is that maybe, religious wise, this person does not want to expose himself to premarital relationships so they decide to cut it short and take on with the road of marriage earlier. Maybe some people take it for support or for the emotional side of it, that they need someone to be with them, being attached to, being supportive to them in whatever they’re doing. So these are the factors I think.

Help me promote my documentary! Share it via this short link:  http://bit.ly/SYPg1V

 

Early Marriage Among Egyptian College Students - A Promo!

I'm doing an audio documentary about the trend in which more Egyptian college students are getting married at a young age. This is a short promo, enjoy!

"Zaghroota" sound from 4shared.com, uploaded by NaseeBasmart
"Tabla" Drum sound from 4shared.com, uploaded by Nina Miss

Script:

"Wedding bells...or, the Egyptian version of them. Why are so many college students getting married so early?

Anonymous: "I got married when I was 17, and I turned 18 two months after my wedding."

Ahmed Waguih, Student at Cairo University: "I don't agree with early marriages."

Attend the listening session at AUC's New Cairo Campus on Sunday, December 9 and Wednesday, December 12 at 10 am each day in the BEC building, room 1060."


Help me promote my documentary! Share it via this short link: http://bit.ly/SYPg1V

Nat Sound Exercise

These Nat sounds were collected in the AUC library.

Nat Sound Exercise by Mona Bassel Sounds:

1. Doors opening to the library
2. Elevator
3. Keyboard typing
4. Mouse clicking
5. Photocopying machine
6. Footsteps on the stairs

Kohn: A Man of Hope and Inspiration

As I was searching for a documentary to review, I came across several interesting and controversial topics. I stopped and listened, but I didn't find them as interesting as I wanted them to be. I kept searching until I found a catchy description, and an even catchier radio story, and that's how I landed on Kohn Ashmore's story and realized it was what I'd been searching for.

Documentary Title: Kohn
Produced and Narrated by: Andy Mills
Hosted by: Third Coast International
Documentary Length: 8:05

Want to listen the documentary?

The documentary is about a man named Kohn Ashmore who was hit by a car when he was young. He survived the accident, but with consequences. His movement and speech were both affected, causing him to move and speak very slowly and with difficulty.

However, this is not the focus of the story. No, the story is about the fact that Kohn had no idea that his speech was affected. He thought he sounded normal. He had two deaf parents, so they had no idea, and his friends and colleagues assumed he knew what he sounded like.

Kohn found out what he sounded like one day when he recorded a mix tape for his crush and heard himself. And it was a life-changing moment for him.

 Image from: http://www.prx.org/pieces/64576

Image by: http://jacobbollphoto.blogspot.com/ 

In my opinion, the documentary was successful in its quality, content-wise and technically-wise.  First, let me tackle the content.

The documentary was very interesting and extremely touching. This is because its idea is so new; we usually never think about how we sound like and how that would compare to how others hear us. It's a subject most -if not, all- people take for granted. The fact that it affected a person this much is an eye-opener.

Even though the documentary was only eight minutes long -which is short compared to others, it wasn't too short; Its length was appropriate for the story. All that needed to be said was said in those eight minutes. It reaches your heart in those eight minutes and ends when there is nothing more to be said, just the thoughts within the minds of the listeners.

Both the beginning and ending of the documentary were the strongest and most effective points. When the documentary starts, you hear Kohn and you don't quite understand why he's speaking like that. You feel sympathetic for him. And when it ends, you hear him proudly and confidently singing, and you no longer feel sympathy. You admire him and wish that you were as brave as he is. This dramatic turning point is what gives this documentary so much value and uniqueness.

As for the technical issue and the quality of the story as a radio story, it was also pursued in a way to reach the listeners as more than just the average radio story.

The quality of Andy's voice is appropriate for the story because of the honesty I mentioned above. He doesn't speak with sympathy, which is how most narrators would sound in such a case.

The audio quality was excellent and clear. Kohn's voice was delivered in a very clear way and the natural sound was implemented beautifully. At first the sound is designed to confuse you, and in the end it is designed to inspire you. The sound changes from the beginning until the end, even though practically it sounds the same. Some light music in the background gives a nice effect to keep the audience involved. Also, there's some natural sound here and there to help you envision what's going on (Kohn putting a tape in a tape recorder and girls giggling when his crush is mentioned). Andy also calls two of Kohn's friends in the middle and its sound is also very sincere and real.

Finding and accessing the story was very easy, and the website is very easy to navigate. The file loaded very quickly

I think this is the type of documentary that not all people will fully appreciate. Some people will listen and just sympathize and not give it a second thought. But others will understand the purpose and remember it years later.

Another thing I loved is that most feature documentaries include those picture perfect "poster" people who are unreal and make listeners feel inferior. However, this documentary helps listeners relate and feel inspired. The documentary ends and you suddenly feel the strength of another human being consume you.

One thing is for sure, I'm keeping this documentary to listen to again during difficult times.

Andy Mills won the Best New Artist award for the "Kohn" documentary.