Issue No. 605
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26 Sept. - 2 October 2002 Issue No. 605 People |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
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On the occasion of the 192nd anniversary of the Independence of Mexico, my dear friend Miguel Orozco, Mexico's Ambassador to Egypt, and his charming wife Maries, held a fabulous reception party at their residence in Maadi.
The event was spectacular, with almost 400 elegant and exclusive guests, including Egyptian businessmen, Egypt's Mexican contingency, and their Latin American friends. The diplomatic core was also strongly represented, with over 60 ambassadors, including the US Ambassador to Egypt David Welch and his wife.
The celebration was brought whimsically to life, my dears, with the performance of oriental music by the Yasser Mo'awad group. It was followed by a wonderful group of Mexican folklore dancers, then with an open buffet of Mexican dishes. And of course, in true Mexican style, the traditional Mexican drink, tequila, was in galore! The party, my dears, lasted until the early hours of the morning!
« Once again, my dears, I gathered with many at an event that celebrates the gift of life. The third Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Games for the mentally handicapped was held at the court of the Sports City Stadium's indoor hall in Beirut this year. Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and his wife Andrea hosted the delegation of the Special Olympics International (SOI), presided over by Timothy Shriver at the Royal Palace in Lebanon. The delegation included Head of the Egyptian Olympic Committee Mounir Thabet, President of the Special Olympics Egypt (SOE) Ismail Osman and his wife Magda Moussa, the SOE deputy president, the MENA's Managing Director Ayman Abdel- Wahab and Hani Mustafa deputising the Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa. The players who represented 17 countries were also welcomed by Rafiq Al- Harriri, Lebanon's prime minister under whose patronage the games were held.
Clockwise from top: Lahoud, Shriver,Thabet, Osman, Moussa, and MENA participants; Hosni; Mainardi, El-Saedi, Khatta; Orozco, Welch
The hard work, perseverance, and team spirit saturated the air during the week. Truly an inspiring event.
¨ I was delighted, my dears, to join in the celebration of Egypt's budding poets and authors. At the Gomhouriya Theatre in Abdin, Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni, Head of the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces (GOCP) Anas El-Fiqi, and Director of the Cairo Opera House Samir Farag, distributed the awards of the Central Literary Competition and the Regional Publishing Contest 2001/2002. The prizes -- that totalled LE61,000 -- went to 47 poets and authors. In his inaugural speech, El-Fiqi expressed his pride at the display of nation- wide talent. He emphasised the primarily goal of the GOCP, saying it aims to create an atmosphere in which this new generation of literati can flourish, focus on their skills and talents, and become part of a fruitful dialogue with predecessors. The literary competition prizes in the areas of poetry, story, novel, and play writing, went to: Emad Dawoud, Mohamed El-Sayed Ibrahim, Sobhi Amin Abdel-Sayed, Soha Zaki, Samah Hassan, Sabri and Abeer Abdel-Hadi, Mohamed Ali El-Naggar, Ashraf Nasr among others. The celebration was followed by a fantastic dance show performed by the GOCP's folk troupe.
© On the joyous launching of the new cultural and artistic season at the Goethe Institute's Cairo and Alexandria branches, the institute's new director, Johannes Ebert, held a reception party at his residence in Zamalek. It was attended by members of the German Embassy, the German community in Egypt, as well as critics and journalists -- including Al- Ahram Weekly's very dear theatre critic Nehad Selaiha. Assistant director of the institute, Sherin Faqousa said the Centre's cultural events starts nationwide with a German Film Festival showing German movies with Arabic subtitles. The showings span the Delta governorates; Cairo, Alexandria, Banha, Shebin Al-Kom, Ismailia and Al-Mansoura. The cultural festival, which is supervised by Magda Mas'oud and Ghada El-Sherbini -- of the Goethe Institute's cultural department -- is sure to be an enlightening event.
ª In an attempt to promote Lebanese tourism in the Middle East, the Lebanese tourism councilor Faisal Fetfet held a reception party at their office's headquarters in Egypt. Among other attendees were the Lebanese Ambassador to Egypt Sami Quronfil, the dynamic Nada Sardouq Ghandour, general director of tourism in Lebanon, and former Egyptian Ambassador to Lebanon Hassan Shash. The reception was just another sparkling reflection of the wonderful ties between the two nations.
« The German Arab Chamber of Industry and Commerce recently held their monthly dinner at the ballroom of Alf Leila Wa Leila at the Nile Hilton. The hotel's General Manager Jean Pierre Mainardi welcomed the guests of honour: Minister of Electricity and Energy Ali El-Saedi and Minister of Public Enterprise Sector Mukhtar Khattab. Both dignitaries were highly impressed by the elegance of the reception, commending the newly renovated ballroom, and of course, the exquisite array of food.
¨ My dears, October will prove to be a delightful month, bringing us a bevy of cultural events. Aside from the opening of the Cairo International Film Festival, the official inauguration of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the performance of opera Aida at the Pyramids, the month will also witness the participation of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture in several global festivals. My diligent friend Cherif El- Choubashi, director of the Cairo International Film Festival and first under-secretary at the Ministry of Culture for Foreign Relations, said that Egypt will participate in the Fifth Pottery Forum, on-going until 14 October in the South of Hungary. The forum -- which started on 8 September -- is held under the auspices of the Hungarian Foundation of Fine and Industrial Artists; an organisation whose main concern is improving the art of pottery. Ceramist Khaled Serageddin was chosen by Minister of Culture Farouk Hosni to attend the forum. Egypt will also take part in the International Cervantes Festival to be held in Mexico at the beginning of October. Egypt's participation will represent by 16 artifacts including graphic, sculpture and painting. It is certain to be the most culturally enriching month of the year!
Clockwise from top left: Fetfet, Quronfil, Ghandour, Shash; El- Choubashi; the Goethe Institute's celebration; El-Hawary, Manassarian
In a glorious celebration that marked a glorious event, the Egyptian Ambassador to Armenia Bakry Roushdi El-Hawary, and his lovely wife, joined with Armenia's Ambassador to Egypt Sergey Manassarian and his own beautiful wife, to celebrate the 11th anniversary of Armenia's Independence Day. The celebration -- held in the garden of the Armenian Embassy in Zamalek, included that cutting of a scrumptious cake depicting the colours of the Armenian flag.
© It is so pleasing, my dears, to see good things happening in the governorates. My friend Anas El-Fiqi, head of the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces(GOCP), along with Qalyoubiya Governor Adli Hussein, recently inaugurated a new library for children and youth in the village of Bahtim. The two-storey building, surrounded by a garden and an open-air theatre, will host a multitude of activities; including a 50-member children's choir, an Arabic music ensemble, a folk dance group, women's literacy classes, and literature and theatre clubs.
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