Issue No. 594
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11 - 17 July 2002 Issue No. 594 People |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Pack of cards
I must begin this week by telling you, my dears, that I've rarely experienced a hotter Cairo summer than the one we are all sweating through these days. I need not mention, of course, that not all of us sweat alike. For while my sweat is merely metaphorical, the perspiration of others -- like the gentleman in the gritty photo taken by our very own Randa Shaath -- can be all too real.
Oh, but how cool it was, sweeties, to be in the auditorium of the Falaki Theatre at the American University in Cairo (AUC) last week, for the presentation of this year's Orascom Construction Industries (OCI) Foundation's annual educational scholarships. Six of Egypt's brightest students will be attending some of the US's top universities courtesy of this generous philanthropic grant by one of Egypt's largest companies.
As my dear friend Onsi Sawiris, the chairman of Orascom for whom the scholarship programme is named, proudly told me before the ceremony that the scholarship programme was created to help today's youth pursue their dreams in engineering, business and arts, while ensuring that our nation has the skilled professionals needed for tomorrow.
This year's class of talented youth includes Ahmed Khaled El-Hoshy and Nayla Rashad Hamdi, both of whom will be attending Harvard University, Lina Fares, who will be attending Harvard Business School, Omar El-Kheshen, who will be heading to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Noura Magdi Selim, who is off to the University of Pennsylvania, and Amir Adib Faragalla, who is going to do his master's at Stanford.
Kudos are also in order for Heba Iskandar, the managing director of the OCI Foundation, whose hard work and tremendous energy continue to help drive the success of this worthwhile endeavour. Iskandar told me that the OCI Foundation expects to award at least five new scholarships every year and to have 20 students involved in the scholarship programme by the year 2004.
I certainly hope some of our other successful businesses take a cue from the OCI, and strive to encourage our children's talents in order to guarantee a brighter future for us all.
My dear and dynamic friend Mona Makram Ebeid -- a former member of Parliament -- has received an invitation from Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, I am told, to participate in the 5th Annual Symi Symposium taking place on the Greek island of Samos. The meeting will explore the effects of the recent dramatic events in New York, Afghanistan and the Middle East, and their effects on international relations. Ebeid will be joining a bevy of luminaries at the symposium, including the Mexican foreign affairs minister and a vice-president of the World Bank.
This week, I attended, along with my colleague Reham El-Adawi, a seminar held at Al-Hanager Arts Centre at the Cairo Opera Complex to discuss a group of short stories, Three Informers and a Lover, written recently by our dear colleague Mohamed Baraka, a journalist at Al-Ahram Al- Arabi magazine. The seminar was headed by Cairo University professor Sherine Abul-Naga and featured critic Abdel-Moneim Talima and novelist Ibrahim Abdel-Meguid.
As I have previously mentioned in this very same space, my sweets, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, under the able direction of my dear friend Ismail Serageddin, is providing its fans with an excellent programme of cultural events throughout the hot summer months. Starting tomorrow, and for three nights, the Medina Troupe directed by the famous Nidal El-Ashqar, will be performing the play Words in Love with Rhythm. This is certainly not one to be missed, dearies, so I hope to see you there!
On Monday morning, my lovelies, I braved the heat to be amongst those attending the 8th Cairo Radio and TV Festival Exhibition, where I saw my good friend Shems Friedlander become the recipient of the first Sony Video Filmmaker Award. Friedlander -- who is an AUC professor and a documentary filmmaker (his Rumi: Wings of Love has been very highly acclaimed) received a Sony DSR PD-150 digital video camera. The award is given in cooperation with AUC's Adham Centre for Television Journalism.
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