Egyptians rally to give relief for Libyans
TEXT OF STORY
STEVE CHIOTAKIS: Today, oil topped 103 bucks a barrel in trading. And gas is much higher too. In a moment, we’ll drill deeper into oil prices. But first, the latest on the demonstrations against governments in Northern Africa and the Middle East. In Libya, there are reports hundreds upon hundreds of protestors have been killed in the latest violence. People are fleeing the country. And as refugees flow out relief supplies flow in, including from neighboring Egypt.
Marketplace’s Mitchell Hartman is in Cairo and filed this report.
Mitchell Hartman: Egyptians are watching what’s going on in Libya obsessively — and not just because 1.5 million of their countrymen work there in oil and construction. Egyptians see their revolution spreading east and west. And they’re sending more than just moral support.
On a busy Cairo street corner, Egyptian architect Muhammad Adel is telling dozens of young volunteers how many loads of food and medicine to pile into waiting trucks. They’ve raised money to pay for the supplies.
Muhammad Adel: The first day, we collected like 50 Egyptian pounds. The second day, it was 160,000 Egyptian pounds.
That’s more than $30,000 raised in this one Libyan relief effort. And how did it start?
Adel: We decided to help them, and we made a page and event on the Facebook to help gather donations.
Trucks left from five locations around Cairo last night on the 10-hour road trip to the Libyan border. Another convoy will be loaded today.
I’m Mitchell Hartman for Marketplace.
There’s a lot happening in the world. Through it all, Marketplace is here for you.
You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible.
Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.
