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Egyptian writer Mirna El Helbawi on the fine line between journalism and humanism

Founder of Connecting Humanity on helping people in Gaza regain access to the Internet using donated eSIMs

Mirna El Helbawi is an Egyptian journalist, writer, podcaster, and activist. She is the founder of Connecting Humanity, a non-profit organisation that helps people in Gaza regain access to the Internet using donated eSIMs. She was nominated for the Arab Journalism Award in 2016. Her debut novel, Mor Methl Al Qahwa, Helw Methl Al Chocola (Bitter Like Coffee, Sweet Like Chocolate), was published in 2018. She has also hosted the podcast Helbing.

Mirna started her career as a journalist, covering news, politics, society and sometimes, lifestyle. But her most distinguished skill was interviewing international public figures for exclusive articles such as her interview with Vinton Cerf, one of the fathers of the Internet, which led Mirna to be on the shortlist for the Arab Journalism Award in 2016. She took second place.

Mirna explains that she was also “the first journalist in the world to interview James Impoco, the editor-in-chief of Newsweek magazine after he took the revolutionary decision to re-print it.”

It was also in 2016 that Mirna resigned from her post as the managing editor of the magazine she had worked at for six years. She remembers this feeling of emptiness, recalling, “emptiness of doing nothing and writing nothing after serving years of daily writing in journalism. One of my best friends told me to kill my emptiness by writing about my solo travels; I have always come back [from trips] with many stories.

“I used to travel solo a lot and I had so many stories so I just decided to write them down, and started sending them to all the emails of the publishing houses I found, and luckily it clicked with one of the biggest Arab publishers: Al Karma. It happened just when I turned 25. I wrote a long post for my birthday in official Arabic that surprisingly went viral. And the story began from there.”

During the writing period of her first book, Mirna started to work as a radio host on NRJ radio. When asked about the ‘jump’ in her career, she says: “I am passionate about media in general, but my biggest passion since I was a kid has been writing and reading. It’s [this radio stint is] not a big jump to me, on the contrary, it totally makes sense to be here.”

Mirna wanted her first book to be one with short stories but her publisher thought it would be better as a novel, and eventually the feedback was overwhelming; the book was a huge success. The debut novel received both negative and positive feedback, according to Mirna, “The positive aspect is that people related to the stories and loved how I expressed feelings. Negative feedback is that they couldn’t define it as a typical novel.”

The pressure of producing a novel that is at the same level as your debut one is a struggle that many writers face, although according to Mirna it’s not just after your debut, “it is a constant feeling because you need to be consistent, and you need to be better with every book. My second book got published two years later, and I got inspired [for it] during my visit to Mumbai, India.”

Kundalini, Mirna’s second book, represents many parts of her life. “Each and every book has something from me and my life in it.” The idea was sparked when Mirna attended her first-ever Kundalini yoga workshop, then followed it up with a visit to Mumbai. “I wish I could tell you how my mind works in putting things together and coming up with the final idea, because until now I don’t know how. It just happens. It just clicks.”

The success of Kundalini as a novel meant film producers were quick to adapt it for the big screen. When wknd. asked Mirna about the extent of her involvement with the screenplay, she told us that it has been very limited. “Honestly, not so much, but upon signing I made sure to sit with the producer and director to tell them how I see the big vision for the movie. But at the end the novelist has to admit that once the book has gone into the hands of producers, we have so little to add because you now have the production vision, the director’s vision, and even the actors’ vision. So it is not about only you anymore [un]like the novel. But I am hoping for the best and I am sure the movie team will do their best to make an amazing film” she adds.

Kundalini is also in the process of being translated to French. Mirna says Kundalini will be available in France’s libraries by the first quarter of 2025. She adds: “I think that my writings can be relevant globally, not just for the Arab world, but definitely I am so affected by the Arab world and its culture, and I think people getting a glimpse [of] our culture through a book is such an impressive act.”

She goes on to say: “Back in the olden days we knew about the English or the French cultures through literature and education, even though we couldn’t relate to some of their culture’s aspects, but we indulged in it. I think the art of writing has no cultural barriers at all. In the end, we are all the same; humans going through the same phases with differences here and there.”

Last October, Mirna turned to activism as she launched eSIMS for Gaza. It began with the first blackout of telecommunication services and Internet access in Gaza, on October 27th. Mirna recalls: “The idea came out of rage and anger, I think. Because I felt so helpless that people are being killed and isolated, and they can’t even share the truth of what’s happening. The only support I was given is the international efforts of ordinary people and citizens from all around the world who donated eSIMs.”

To this day, around 400,000 eSIMs have been sent. “Even though Connecting Humanity has become an international and global movement, but we are still a small volunteer group, so we just ask people for e-SIM donations. But we are working on establishing Connecting Humanity as an official non-government organisation (NGO), because we do not accept cash donations as it is not legal to accept money as this entity. We only accept eSIMs donations until now. Establishing the NGO will give us more freedom in our donation options.”

Mirna’s work with Connecting Humanity has been recognised and awarded by The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). When we asked how the nomination came about, she replied that she had no idea, “I got a surprise when I received the email from the foundation telling me about the nomination. It is a great honour because this foundation has been fighting some noble fights over the past 30 years for freedom of speech and the importance of free Internet access”.

She adds: “This nomination means a lot to me on a personal level as a woman from the Arab world and the first one I think to win this award, and also as a writer who had no technology background before the Connecting Humanity movement. And on a team level it is such an honour to get your efforts recognised after a year of non-stop working.”

Some might argue that activism might impact an author’s career, as it is both time consuming and could alienate those who don’t share your views, but Mirna is quick and says she does not fear boycott at all. “French people — if we are talking here about the French translation of Kundalini — have been nothing but a constant support to Connecting Humanity with donations and the cause itself by their protests. Also, I think Europe always markets itself as the land of freedom of speech, isn’t it?”

Mirna’s media work goes beyond printed journalism; she recently fronted a BBC documentary on Egypt. She explains her motivation for the project. “Revealing the dark and ugly side of a luxurious industry like perfumes was so tempting, specially because it is directly related to my home country and my people who are suffering while the giants are flourishing. So when BBC reached out for my expertise in journalism, I had no choice but to accept working on this. It was one of the best projects I have worked on.”

Jill of all trades

When asked what draws her attention more — humanitarian work, media or writing novels? Mirna replies: “All. I am like a puzzle, each one them completes me in a way and enriches who I am.”

In a fast-paced world, where people read less, authors need to strive more to remain relevant to a generation that is more likely to be on social media than holding a book, but Mirna believes: “We need books, we need anything that can help us hold our horses a bit so we can catch our breath.”

She also thinks that the members of the younger generation hold their phones more than books because “they cannot find a book which can be relevant to them. Ninety percent of my readers are from the young generation and I get so impressed by their opinions and their reviews, and I take them seriously.”

Mirna is currently writing her new novel, which will be historical fiction. “This project I have been researching for the past four years. It took a lot of effort in the pre writing phase. I am taking my time writing it because this story is so dear to my heart. But I think it might get published at the end of 2024 or beginning of 2025,” she says.

Mirna is still exploring the genre, but she says, “What never changes about me is my style of writing, I've been told I can describe easily people’s hard and unspoken emotions and feelings”.

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