Author: Asaad Mamoun

“I wanted to fly, but the world was too small.” This is how Haidi Fares sums up her personal journey, as if drawing with a single simple line the story of a girl who found in painting not just a talent, but a way out of a suffocating social siege. In her small room in Mansoura, colors were her first means of expanding her horizons. She would put a blue dot in the middle of a gray space and say to herself: “I am here… and I still have colors.” But the journey from a girl who painted to escape…

In a city that only pays attention to those who shout, the mosque of the righteous king Ayyub stands as if it were a stone speaking of history and groaning from neglect. Centuries of prostration and prayer have passed, and it has witnessed the rise and expansion of Mansoura, but today it is silently decaying. Its dome collapsed years ago without a stir from the ministry, a statement, or a single move from any authority.

Not everything that is demolished collapses. Some buildings remain, even if they are destroyed, simply because they carry the memory of a city and the dreams of generations. There, in the heart of Republic Street, amid the hustle and bustle of daily traffic, stands the Mansoura National Theater, a silent witness to a long battle between oblivion and survival. An elegant building despite its age, it has seen the passage of time as great stories do: rise, glory, neglect, and then a return from the rubble. Here, Umm Kulthum sang, here it was damaged by a loud explosion, and here…

In a city haunted by real estate maps and on the verge of losing the features that centuries of history have carved into it, a voice has risen up to say, “Enough.” This voice did not come from a demonstration or a seasonal campaign on social media, but from the streets themselves, from the heart of homes and balconies, and from silent inscriptions that tell of forgotten glory. More than ten years ago, architect Dr. Muhannad Foda decided to stand up against this oblivion, not as a hero, but as a citizen who loves his city. He launched the “Save…