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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 20 - 26 April 2000 Issue No. 478
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Pack of Cards
By Madame Sosostris* The great Gamal Hamdan received his share of honours during a commemoration ceremony entitled, "Egypt in Gamal Hamdan's Eyes" and held at the Benha Cultural Centre. The event was attended by El-Qalyubiya governor Adli Hussein and the organisation head Ali Abu Shadi as well as Cairo University Professor of Philosophy Hassan Hanafi and Dean of Fayoum University Mohamed El-Sharnoubi.
* An exhibition of water colour, oil and pastel paintings by Ola El-Seyfi and the Italian artist Paolo Terdich was recently opened at the Italian Centre art gallery in Zamalek. The exhibition: Mulahadhat Ala El-Asfaar (Travel Notes), will run until 30 April, and displays a selection of sensitive and romantic paintings depicting landscapes and portraits of people from all over the world.
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Heritage Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters
* It is always nice to attend a golden jubilee celebration: it gives one the feeling of witnessing history in the making. That was the case this week, when the Faculty of Law, Ain Shams University marked its 50th anniversary by honouring 80 of its most distinguished and outstanding alumni, among them of course, our own Chairman of the Board, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram , and Head of the Press Syndicate Ibrahim Nafie, former Sheikh Al-Azhar Abdel-Rahman Tag and prominent colomnist Salah Montasser. Minister of Higher Education and State Minister of Scientific Research Mufid Shehab distributed the awards in the presence of the president of the university, Hassan Ghallab.
* With Earth Day upon us, an exhibition entitled, "Environment and Art" was inaugurated by Minister of Environment Nadia Makram Ebeid and Culture Minister Farouk Hosni at the Opera Art Gallery to celebrate the occasion. The show, lasting until 24 April, comprises 12 prominent artists among whom Ahmed Nawwar, Ali Dessouki, Ihab Shaker, Gazbia Sirry, Nazli Madkour, and Makram Henein. All their works reflect their impressions of the Egyptian landscape and attempt to promote a cleaner environment.
* My dear friend Amina El-Guindi, minister of social affairs, was guest of honour at the memorable event which celebrated the first annual Community Service Day at AUC. The minister said that she was very happy to see the students involved in community work, and hoped that they would continue even after graduation. Also there, and duly honoured for their support, were representatives of the major NGOs in Egypt, including the indefatigable Mary Assad from the Association for the Protection of the Environment, Aida El-Guindi always so involved in the activities of the Integrated Care Society and our very dear Dr Alaa Shukrallah from the Association for Health.
* As a good friend once told me, "education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one." That is why I opened wide mine to attend the Seventh AUC Research Conference, fittingly entitled "Research and Education in Egypt: A Millennial Assessment," which took place last Monday in Oriental Hall. The keynote speaker at this year's conference was Dr Edmund Cain, resident UNDP representative in Egypt, who, speaking to a full house, stressed the importance of research in providing solutions for the problems of, among other issues, poverty and illiteracy. "Egypt's future consists of balancing economic growth with social development needs," he said wisely. Cain then pointed out that Egypt has been an active member in participating in global conferences calling for sustainable human development, and that the government has named education reform as one of its highest priorities.
* More Earth Day celebrations with The Desert Development Centre (DDC) and the Friends of Environment Association (FEA) .They will organise a workshop titled "Towards Sustainable Desert Development for Future Egyptian Generations" at AUC's Oriental Hall on 22 April. A group of writers and experts, among them my good friend Milad Hanna and former Minister of Trade and Supply Ahmed Geweily, will discuss various exciting and crucial topics such as desert development challenges for the third millennium, economics of desert development, and utilisation of new and renewable energy in desert communities to name just a few.
* Last week, dears, I was treated to a rare pleasure when Chairman of the Board of Al-Ahram Organisation, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Ahram and Head of the Federation of Arab Journalists Ibrahim Nafie inaugurated a two-day caricature exhibition at the federation's headquarters. Federation Secretary-General Salaheddin Hafez said the exhibition, held in collaboration with the Egyptian Assembly of Caricature, headed by the gifted cartoonist Mustafa Hussein, aimed at expressing Egypt's solidarity with the Lebanese resistance against Israeli aggression. It included 60 works by a selection of cartoonists from newspapers.
* Some of us are lucky, but others are luckier, like Martha Matthew, one of the two winners of the round-trip tickets to New York (no dears, I was not the other) who were wise enough to take part in the Western Union money transfer annual tombola. You can see Martha beaming in the picture as Ann Marie Harrison, chairperson of International Business Associates and publisher of Egypt Today is congratulating her.
* For those of you not heading towards New York right now, there will be a treat on 22 April with the Easter Concert of the Opera House (small hall), where renowned soprano Nabila Erian will give a solo performance of the traditional arias of the Crucifixion and Passion Week then will present more arias dedicated to Easter and Palm Sunday accompanied by the beautiful choir of the Virgin Coptic Church in Giza, Umm El-Nour (Mother of light).
* Ali Abu Shadi, head of the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces, Gamal Sadik, head of the Central Administration of Studies and Research, and Laila Salaheddin the director of the General Administration of Woman's Culture organised a gathering in honour of veteran lawyer Mufida Abdel-Rahman an outstanding mother, an understanding wife and a woman who managed to strike a balance between her personal life and career at the Heliopolis Cultural Centre. The event was also attended by Mohamed Ismail, one of Abdel-Rahman's grandchildren, an attorney like his grandmother, and two of her students.
