Egyptian series "Ella Ana" : A message of hope.

By Nour Ahmed El Bakry 2017/00778

Photo:Jamila Awad on her instagram story

“Infectious”, “Weird”, “Ugly”. These are some negative labels we choose to come from our mouth to stereotype people with facial stigmas more than thinking of positive or even neutral words to say. Through many generations, we hardly accept another person who looks unfamiliar to us. Facial stigma can simply be from vitiligo , burns , scars. With this issue on the rise and being discussed lately in Egypt , our Society is starting to take action by shedding the light on people who suffer from facial stigma and stereotyped from the community around them simply because of how they look. A step forward to raise awareness on facial stigma victims started with a simple show called " Ella Ana: I have to live" that became a hit and the talk of the social media nowadays.

Recently, the society is taking some steps to help people with facial stigma overcome being stereotyped throughout their life phases. This comes with showcasing the importance of this topic by sharing their stories to the community and supporting their presence in it. Over the past two months, A newly released “Ella Ana: I have to live” as a part of a big series "Ella Ana" that portrays different stories each week. the "I have to live" story series portrays the life of a girl with vitiligo and her suffering facing society through the different phases of her life played by young actress Jamila Awad. The series became trending in Egypt and became the talk of social media for several weeks with the audience sharing their support and praise for the story . I among many People became very attached from day one as we witnessed her story of how she faced constant stereotyping related to her facial stigma that she choose to hide it from the people around her , even the man she loved. The audience were able to see the verbal bullying she faced that sometimes we don’t realize saying that effects the person Infront of us. I believe that as a show lover i became emotionally connected with the character's facial stigma fear that society won't accept her. The series also helped women in the same position to raise a voice of their own and face people around her who were afraid and befriend them. C-town chatter mentioned in an article published discussing the series that

“ Researchers found that seeing yourself on screen is beyond important to raise your self-esteem.”

With raising the people’s awareness on the importance of the topic through the show , it will encourage people to open their minds to understanding the power of words and stigmitizing people with facial stigma.Women's council even started to praise the show describing it as a

“Meaningful, sophisticated, and honest series that confronts a daily reality issue in the Egyptian society."

The series attracted me to the idea that we sometimes don't feel that what we say can hurt the person infant of you unintantily. eyes that watched the show

Thus, it’s necessary for the society to highlight the importance to accept each other equally make our community better for everyone.