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- Ahmed Hussein was one of a group of volunteer doctors who accompanied the first demonstrations against Mubarak last year. Aware that the injured during anti-regime protests are often arrested at hospitals, they came prepared with medical supplies to provide treatment on the spot. Since then, doctors have set up emergency clinics in streets, mosques and churches to attend to those wounded in clashes. The Tahrir Doctors Association, and their stocks of donated medicines, deploy wherever violence erupts.
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- Rasha Azab is a force of nature. Her voice is loud, her language spicy and she is usually to be found in the thick of clashes between activists and police. But recently the journalist has channelled her rage against Egyptâs ruling generals into Askar Kazeboun, or Military Liars, a campaign launched to expose violence by the security services against unarmed demonstrators.
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- Samira Ibrahim was one of seven female protesters forced to submit to a virginity test in a military prison last year, but she is the only one to have taken the army to court. Originally from the conservative south, she has broken social taboos by speaking out about her ordeal.
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- Salma Said is one of the founders of Mosireen, a group of filmmakers and âcitizen journalistsâ who post footage and testimonies documenting the turmoil on Egyptâs streets online. The aim is to âcorrectâ the image projected by state media and private TV channels.
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- During Christmas Eve mass at the main Cairo cathedral, a shout of âDown, down with military rule!â disrupted the service. Among the protesters was Beshoy Tamry. He and his friends were hustled out by security, but their voices reached a wide audience of Egyptians watching on TV, as well as a delegation of senior generals from the ruling military council who were in attendance.
One year after Hosni Mubarak’s fall, it is the young people of Egypt who are leading the battle for change. Heba Saleh meets a new generation of activists. Photography by David Degner