Whitehouse Native Returns To Egypt To Cover Upcoming Elections
BY KAREN BERGER — MIRROR REPORTER
In August 2010, Whitehouse native Nicholas Hilgeman headed to Egypt through a Fulbright grant, to teach English at Zagazig University.
After the January 25 revolution, but before President Hosni Mubarak left office in February, the U.S. State Department ordered him and other Fulbright scholars to head home – before finishing his teaching assistantship.
On September 9, the Toledo Christian School and Case Western Reserve University graduate plans to return to Egypt, where he will join two other Fulbright scholars on a new project: covering the upcoming parliamentary and presidential elections from the perspective of those who live in the Nile Delta and Suez Canal regions.
“Almost all media is located in Cairo, and as a result, some important events are being missed in smaller towns,” Hilgeman said of the capital, which is south of the delta.
The stories coming out of Cairo tend to focus on the same themes, such as Muslims vs. Christians, women’s rights, Islam and democracy, he said.
More than 50 new political parties have emerged since the revolution, 50 million people are eligible to vote, and nearly everyone is passionately engaged in shaping the rebirth of the country, making the Delta an unusually electric environment, Hilgeman said.
The three team members have been living in Egypt for the past year working in cities that most journalists will never see, like Mansoura, Ismailia, Zagazig and Alexandria.
Hilgeman has a degree in international studies and political science and also spent a summer in Morocco, where he learned to speak Arabic. While Hilgeman has a background in research, his partners Eric Knecht and Megan Larcum have experience in journalism and videography, and have contacts throughout the region.
The trio plan to offer in-depth stories about groups of people who don’t often get very much coverage, such as labor organizers, fledgling political parties or religious leaders who conduct their work far outside the country’s capital.
“We’re going to use these stories to collectively narrate how this hugely important region mobilized for their first free democratic elections,” he said. “We witnessed firsthand the way in which the Cairo-based media neglected the Delta region’s story during the revolution – we were there watching it unfold. This time around, we want to ensure that the region’s unique vantage point is documented.”
The group plans to release one new segment of the project each week to its website, theegyptreport.com. Each segment will focus on a theme and include an article, photography and a series of short film clips. At the end of the project, the team will compile an e-book and DVD.
Hilgeman has made some contacts with U.S. media about teaming up to offer coverage, but has not confirmed any agreements.
To cover costs for transportation, accommodations, food, professional translation aides and audio-visual upgrades, the team is raising $5,500 for the eight- to nine-month project through the website Kickstarter.
Progress and information is posted at www.kickstarter.com/projects/1252875534/the-delta-project. So far, $3,183 has been pledged, with a deadline of Saturday September 17. Kickstarter operates on an all-or-nothing principle, so if the target isn’t met, the group won’t get any funding.
Hilgeman is the son of Tom and Michelle Shepler of Whitehouse.