Egypt attains its Everest The first Egyptian to raise the national flag on a mountain peak in the post-revolution era is Amr Sadek who reached the summit crown of Mount Toubkal, the highest peak in the Atlas Mountains, North Africa and the Arab world. Located in southwest Morocco on the outskirts of the village of Imlil, Mount Toubkal stands at 4,167 metres above sea level. Mount Toubkal is impregnable. "I felt I was on a mission. I wanted to positively contribute to the revolution. I had to raise Egypt's flag on the Arab world's highest peak. To me, it was a confirmation of my country's status as a leader of the Arab world," Sadek said. Sadek's summit attempt was no easy climb. On Mount Toubkal soft snow was one hazard -- crevasses are lethal. In addition, "I ran out of water before I was half way through the trek. My body was dehydrating, I resorted to eating ice although it's very harmful." Ice causes blisters to the lips and mouth and leads to a sudden drop in body temperature. As if that wasn't enough, Sadek lost his balance during descent and rolled off towards a cliff. Luckily, "I saw a two-metre wide rock and using the ice axe I directed myself to hit the rock instead." Not without cost, of course. Sadek sustained "slight" injuries to his arms and legs. The Egyptian summiteer had already attempted a technical climb (using ropes, ice axes and crampons) of Island Peak (6,160m) and Kala Pattar (5,545m) mountains in Nepal, and Kilimanjaro (5,895m) in Tanzania. In the latter, the world's highest free standing mountain, and Nepal's Himalayas Sadek was accompanied by Egypt's leading climber Omar Samra who, the former admits, is "an inspiration and a role model". Upon arriving in Morocco, Sadek recounted, he was warmly greeted by the locals. "They were overwhelmed by Egypt's revolutionary achievement. In their eyes I saw new-found respect and admiration for my nation." "If I had climbed Toubkal, Egyptians had arrived at their Everest," Sadek concluded. A prestigious ceremony took place at the Pharaonic village, presided over by Abdel-Salam Ragab honouring the families of those who lost their lives in the revolution. The ceremony kicked off with minutes of mourning the martyrs. The screening of a documentary film about the 25 January Revolution followed the solemn ceremony. The revolutionary rite also featured a significant seminar about the revolution experience and holding several discussions with families of those who were killed during the demonstrations. Among the keynote speakers of the seminar were former chairman of the foreign relations committee at the People's Assembly Mustafa El-Feki, journalist and media figure Wael El-Ibrashi, journalist Nabil Farouk, lawyer Talaat El-Sadat, Secretary- General of Giza governorate Ahmed Wesal, actress Athar El-Hakim as well as Ragab. The ceremony was about to come to an end when Ragab honoured the families of the martyrs and raised the curtain to a prestigious memorial plaque for martyrs of the revolution. photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid Powerful voice Ali El-Haggar featured in a thrilling concert at El Sawy Culturewheel accompanied by the angelic voice of his daughter Mushira who both sang cheerfully for the victorious Egyptian revolution. The large number of audience enjoyed the night with the sweet melodies of El-Haggar and his daughter. The American University in Cairo (AUC) will host the Cairo Documentary Festival from 20 to 26 March 2011. Under the theme "Egypt Rising" the festival is organised by the university's Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, and Egyptology and will feature documentaries that depict social and cultural issues in Egypt and the Middle East. The last day of the festival will feature documentaries on Egypt's 25 January Revolution, including a series of short Internet-based videos. As part of the day's events, a panel of filmmakers, scholars, activists and archivists will participate in a discussion on the intersection of technology, aesthetics, politics and the challenges of documenting revolution in real time. Mark Westmoreland, AUC professor of anthropology and a documentary filmmaker noted the diversity of documentaries featured in the festival. "We have a wide range of films from different countries in the region that tackle Egyptian, Palestinian and Iranian issues, as well as other interesting documentaries from Turkey, and Sudan." The festival will include screenings of the participating documentaries and panel discussions. In addition, a number of featured documentaries will be presented, such as Garbage Dreams, Camelrama, an experimental travel film; Walls, the Turkish experience after the fall of the Berlin Wall; Fashioning Faith, which tackles the topic of Islamic fashions in New York city. Westmoreland said that documentary screenings would be followed by question and answer sessions with featured filmmakers. "This is a great opportunity for the Egyptian community to watch good-quality documentaries that do not get the same exposure commercial movies receive. The screenings and discussions will also foster good discussions and exchange of ideas among filmmakers from the region," he elaborated. The festival will take submissions that address 25 January Revolution until 18 March, submissions and questions can be sent to: [email protected]. The festival will take place at AUC New Cairo and Tahrir Square campuses and is open for members from outside the AUC community at no cost. Popular singer Hamada Hilal held a concert at Alexandria University Stadium in Al-Shatbi. Hilal 's concert was the first post- revolution concert, where the concert's revenues were earmarked to the benefit of the 25 January Revolution victims with the attendance of some of 250,000 of Hilal 's fans. This is the third year that the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Egypt organises its Photography Competition in Egypt. The theme this year was "Celebrations", with contestants invited to express their individual vision of how, what and where Egyptians celebrate. The jury's task was to assess each photographer's personal vision of Egypt and its diversity. The competition aims at promoting and stimulating creativity among amateur photographers in Egypt, and giving them an opportunity to showcase their work to a wide audience. The jury selected the best 28 pictures, among 222 photos, to be exhibited in the Townhouse gallery. The opening night will serve as the award ceremony where winning contestants will receive their prizes. To reflect on current events in Egypt, additional photographs by the artists will be included. ( see Listings p.21 ) AIESEC Egypt has hosted the AIESEC international conference that focussed on the Middle East countries, "Middle East and North Africa Exchange and Leadership Development Seminar", in the period from 11 to 17 March, 2011 in Sharm El-Sheikh. "MENA XLDS", is an annual conference and a celebration of youth leadership and diversity bringing together over 250 young leaders from over 30 countries and territories along with senior management of over 30 companies. The conference is held in March of every year in one of the MENA countries. After hosting it in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt and Jordan, the fifth edition will be hosted again in Egypt. "MENA XLDS" is one of the regional conferences organised by AIESEC during this period of time. The other ones are held in UK for the MENA region, in Turkey for Central and Eastern Europe, in Peru for Latin America, in Cameroon for Africa, and in Vietnam for the Asia-Pacific region. The seven-day conference's focus is to enhance the leadership skills of AIESEC members and to raise awareness of the importance of cultural exchange through international internships. The sessions present opportunities for the exchange of thoughts, experiences and knowledge between leadership teams who run the AIESEC national, regional and global offices. They are between the ages of 19 to 25 and represent around 30 nationalities. The unique aspect of MENA XLDS 2011 is that it is "run by young people for young people".
