1. I was working at home with Aljazeera livestream open in another window. They were saying earlier in the day that there was going to be some announcement coming up, but with yesterday’s disappointing speech by Mubarak I wasn’t expecting much. Suddenly they interrupted a report and it was the VP Omar Sulaiman talking. He started talking about how these are tough times the country is going through, and I just thought this is yesterday happening all over again. Then he broke the news. It took me a couple of seconds of asking myself if this is actually happening. I jumped to my phone and started calling a bunch of friends. It is a tough feeling to describe. When I saw the scenes in Tahrir Square thats when I started getting the goosebumps. What a scene, what a moment.

I got a call from a close friend who just graduated from UofT and was in Egypt on a business trip when the demonstrations began. On the first day of the demonstrations he went down to the streets since he lives close to Tahrir Square and ended up getting detained by the police. He was released after 2 days thankfully unharmed. As I was saying, he called me right from Tahrir Square and I could hear the chants, the songs and I could barely hear his voice. He didn’t even hear me, but it was great hearing everything in the background. I couldn’t have a proper conversation with him but his voice and the surrounding sounds spoke volumes about how the situation is there now.

3. Mubarak’s resignation in the manner that has unfolded signifies that Egyptians are in control of their destiny and in control of their country. Egyptians lived in a state of fear where opposition voices were detained and only the select group of people benefited from the wealth of the nation. That left the nation suffering economically, socially and politically from his policies and actions over the course of 30 years. I was born after he took office, so personally for me he was the only authority I’ve come to know my whole life.

Because it was truly by the people for the betterment of Egypt. The people took the streets to demand legitimate rights, and did so with a moral backbone and a vision to improve Egypt. Any violence would destroy the country and that was something no one wanted to see Egypt suffer from. It was truly a love for the country and its future and those noble values can not be communicated and rallied for violently.

5. Twitter and facebook didn’t hit the streets to demand those rights, the people did. By saying its a social media revolution is like saying the hammer built the house. There is no denial that this revolution wouldn’t have happened in its current form if it wasn’t for those communication tools, but ultimately they are tools and the people are the ones that act, chant and die for the cause.

6. I was really frustrated that I couldn’t contribute physically to the revolution and be with those brave ones that took the streets to create this change. I wasn’t alone in having those feelings, many Egyptians living abroad shared that same sentiment and different initiatives like collecting money to buy meals for those people there and sending medical supplies were started here in Toronto.
The idea for the memorial came when I saw for the first time a picture of one of those who died during the demonstrations. I tracked down the source and found a facebook page with several photos of others who have died. It really hits you when you put a face and a name to the numbers you hear in the news. I thought the least we can do to help is to honor the memory of those individuals and to bring their stories to the world. I remembered coming across a website called 1000memories.com that helped setup pages for those who have passed away so that their families and friends can share memories, videos and photos of them. I reached out to the guys there and proposed this project and thankfully they were more than happy to work to bring this idea to reality.

If have questions for Mr. Hashim please submit them now.

8.Where are the photos and tributes coming from? Who are you in touch with and how did you find them?

12. Last question. Egypt has a very long history, but surely today ranks as one of its most important. Any thoughts on what may happen in the coming days?

Mr. Hashim -- thanks very much for joining us and sharing your reflections on both today's events and your memorial project.

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