Aya Hijazi is an Egyptian American social activist. She was imprisoned in Egypt and acquitted after nearly three years in detention.
If you asked me to name my life’s accomplishment, I would answer with one word: Belady (“my country”). Belady, a nongovernmental organization I founded with my husband in Egypt, was an island of humanity that protected 40 street children who were abused, raped and shunned. But it was short-lived. Soon after the NGO’s establishment, the police raided it, charged eight of us with heinous crimes and imprisoned us for nearly three years. In doing so, the Egyptian authorities destroyed my dream and the dreams of our 40 children — and proved that they are determined to crush anyone in Egypt who works for human rights.
