Plan Egypt and the European Union conducted their first conference on "Community-Based Rehabilitation for Disabled Children, the Present and the Future". The two- day conference took place in Cairo on 19-20 June, 2006 at the Pyramisa Hotel. This conference is part of a five- year project (2003-2008) co-funded by Plan Egypt and the EU. The project is implemented by Plan Egypt in partnership with a number of non- governmental organisations including SETI/Caritas, Save the Children UK and the Association for Health and Environmental Development (AHED) in addition to direct and indirect cooperation with the ministries of social solidarity, health and population and education as well as the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM). Among the attendees were the Manager of NGO's Human Rights Programme and Delegation of the European Commission in Cairo Catherine de Borchgrave, Plan Egypt Country Director Ibrahima Toure, Minister of Education Yousri El-Gamal, Senior Advisor and Children at Risk Programme Director National Council for Childhood and Motherhood Aziza Helmi, First Undersecretary at the Ministry of Health and Population Mahmoud El-Nekheili and Media Advisor in the Ministry of Social Solidarity Randa Rizq. In a ceremony held at the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange (CASE) Building, Citadel Capital chairman of the board, Ahmed Hassanein Heikal, and managing directors Hisham El-Khazindar and Ahmed El-Husseini presented a check for $250,000 to the president of the American University in Cairo (AUC), David Arnold. AUC and Citadel Capital, a leading Cairo-based private equity firm will establish the first financial training and consulting centre in the Middle East. The centre will contain a simulated trading room directly connected to the stock exchange, which will allow AUC students to explore the basics of constructing an investment portfolio and to understand the influencing factors that affect the stock market. The centre, which will be called the Citadel Capital Financial Service Centre (CCFSC), will be operational at the start of the 2006 academic year. Among the attendees were chairman of CASE Maged Shawqi, CASE board member Heba El-Serafie, AUC Provost Tim Sullivan, Dean of the Business, Economics, and Communications School Amr Mortagy, Chairman of the Department of Management Ibrahim Hegazy, Founder of the AUC Finance Programme and professor of finance Medhat Hassanein and Director of the Institute of Management Development Sherif Kamel. photo: Khatchig Wanis The exhibition entitled "Egipo En La Mirada" (Egypt in My Thoughts) by the Spanish artist Salvador Garcia was held at the Cervantes Institute. The exhibition includes 45 photos about Egypt. Among the dignitaries were the Spanish Ambassador Antonio Lopez Martinez and his wife and the director of the Cervantes Institute (The Spanish Cultural Centre in Cairo and Alexandria), Louis Moratinos. The Maulana Azad Centre for Indian Culture (MACIC) organised a graphic exhibition entitled "Legendary Stories for Kids" by artist and professor at Cairo University's Faculty of Nursing, Mona Mamdouh Yaqoub. The director of MACIC, Bashir Ahmed, who cut the ribbon, honoured Yaqoub with the MACIC medal for her commendable contribution to the Arts. Yaqoub received her PhD in Graphic Art. This week the Cinema Palace's "Star and Seminar" welcomed the prominent Egyptian TV hostess and head of Rotana Cinema Channels, Hala Sarhan, to talk about her story of success. Among the speakers were the critic, Nader Adli, and head of the Cinema Palace, Tamer Abdel-Moneim, introduced as special guest for the palace. One of the most controversial figures in Arab media, Sarhan has worked in different forms of media; radio, TV, magazines and books. The owner of the Rotana Company, the Saudi billionaire Prince Walid bin Talal elevated Sarhan to the head of Rotana's Cinema Sector, where she was presented with project costs of LE40 million. Rotana's main concern at the start of the century has consequently been the Egyptian film industry: many famous old movies are of poor quality and are in need of restoration. This task has been incorporated into the design of the system in line with the strictest guidelines of current restoration techniques. In effect, this ensures that the highest level of detail is extracted from the film and used as the permanent reference, enabling further restoration now and in the future, without being limited by the bounds of current technology. After the seminar, they presented the film Dantella (Lace), written by Sarhan and directed by Inas El-Degheidi. The Cairo Opera House held a press conference to announce its first Opera show, using the animating Sound and Light Theatre. Among the speakers were the head of the Artistic House for Music, Ballet and Orchestra, Mohamed Hamdi, and the head of the media office, Mohamed Hosni. Hosni said the stars of this party will be singer Mohamed El-Helw and pop star Khaled Selim. They will be accompanied by the Abdel-Halim Newera Arabic Music Ensemble and conducted by maestro Salah Ghoubashi. Selim said that he is going to present a duet with El-Helw for the first time at the party which will be held on Thursday 29 of June 9pm at the Sound and Light Theatre in Al-Haram. Don't miss it! The Embassy of Japan and Al-Samery Al-Saleh Association celebrated the inauguration of the hemodialysis unit at Al-Raei Al-Saleh Hospital in Minya after the provision of five new hemodialysers through a grant extended by the Government of Japan. Among the attendees were Deputy Chief of the Japanese delegation in Egypt Juichi Takahara, the Honorary Chief of Al-Samery Al-Saleh Association Father Marcoss Emile Mikhail and Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Social Solidarity in Minya Said Mohamed El-Ganzouri. The preparations for a fresh campaign against iodine deficiency disorder (IDD), the single most important preventable cause of brain damage among children, have been boosted following the completion of a training workshop for staff from the Ministry of Health and Population, National Nutrition Institute, and other concerned bodies, including, for the first time, experts from the Egyptian salt industry. The four-day workshop in Fayoum was supported by UNICEF Egypt and US AID and was conducted in two stages. photos: Ghada Abd El-Kader Egypt's Wedding Fair 2006 was inaugurated on Monday, 19-21 June at the Four Seasons Nile Plaza Hotel. My colleague Ghada Abd El-Kader attended. The fair gathered more than 60 top-notch wedding professionals showcasing bride attires, beauty-care products, hair and make-up, jewellery, honeymoon packages, wedding gifts, home furnishings and accessories. Everything was perfect -- the colours, decorations, designs were new and different. In the inauguration ceremony there was an exclusive fashion show for the VIPs presenting the latest trends in the world of fashion. The event featured on its first and third days shows for jewellery, haute couture and a new collection of summer clothes by famous designers Mona Ghad, Sally K, Soheir Masoud, Mohamed Dagher and Amal Mohsen. The shows also presented the latest ideas of famous make-up artist Mahmoud Morshed and hair-stylists Kriss and Mona El-Yamani. The work of Lebanese designer Soucha who made a wedding dress in five minutes wowed spectators. The designs of Dagher were, likewise, vivid and stylish. He was honoured by owner of Global Consultant Soha Radwan. On the second and third days there were presentations by consultants Ahmed El-Beheiri, Laila Negm and Linda Noorlander. In addition, there was a special Salsa dancing class by consultant Shirley Shalabi ( En Vogue Modelling and Furnishing School). The event concluded with the Bride and Groom 2006 competitions.
