From 2007 to 2008, I had the privilege to attend the American Co-operative School of Tunis, the only English school in the recently tumultuous Tunisia.
Moving to Tunisia was a first for me in many regards: my first time out of the western world, my first time in such a foreign culture, my first time in an institutionalized educational environment (I had been homeschooled through Grade 9) and my first time away from my family for any significant amount of time.
I see Tunisia as a source of personal growth for me, but I also saw what the Tunisian people had to suffer.
Though the population was — and still is — the most highly educated group of people in North Africa, strong control of the government over the economy, corruption and bad economic policies started to dim the Tunisian dream.
The hard truth is that North Africa and the Middle East is full of dictators who seem to care only for themselves and their families, not for their people. Some riots (though not nearly as extensive as the Tunisian ones, seeing as governments are keen to prevent themselves from becoming another Tunisia) have already broken out over similar issues in Algeria, Egypt, and Jordan.
In a region where authoritarianism is the norm and unrealistic subsidies to placate the people are only possible because of petrodollars flowing through their national economies, Tunisia provides stark proof that even people who have been placated by strong governments still feel the need to express themselves and engage in real political activity.
We are about to see a transformation, in what news outlets like the Washington Post are calling the “Jasmine Revolution,” that could shape the rest of the Arab world.
Though the violence and loss of human life is horrible, what I find the most devastating is the shattering of Tunisia’s peaceful facade. The Tunisia I knew was completely peaceful, a place where I could walk the streets late at night with no fear whatsoever, where even my headscarf-less aunt could go out in public without getting any looks for her “immodesty.”
As much as I feel sorry for the Tunisians who have lost their lives and their families, I feel proud that such an amazing people has made such a dramatic stand for their liberty that will reverberate around the Arab world.
The Jasmine Revolution is not a story about brother against brother, but of a people uniting for their own survival. I believe that Tunisians can build a peaceful, prosperous, and democratic society on the ashes of their former dictatorship.
Chris Tomalty, first-year public affairs and policy management
former student of the American Co-operative School of Tunis