Guess who was in town? None other than Mary Eisenhower, granddaughter of late US president Eisenhower and executive vice-president of the People to People International Association. As you can imagine her schedule was very busy and included attending the closing ceremony of the International Youth Camp held at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina with Mrs Suzanne Mubarak. She also had the opportunity to visit the Misr Language Schools where the activities and achievements of children with special needs were showcased. Eisenhower was warmly received by the school's headmistress Magda Moussa and her husband, head of Special Olympics Egypt (SOE) Ismail Osman. The Mawlana Azad Centre downtown is always a buzz with activity and last Tuesday it hosted the Egyptian-Indian Friendship Association (EIFA) which organised a special event for orphan children. Forty children who currently reside at the Baraam Al-Iman Orphanage in Imbaba performed shows of dance and song. This was followed by screening an Arabic subtitled Indian film starring Shahrukh Khan followed by dinner. At the end of the event, EIFA's Vice-President Nadia Jerdini distributed the EIFA's medals among the children. The Association for the Development and Enhancement of Women, headed by Iman Baibars, held a party last Monday at the Helnan Hotel. The occasion was the distribution of awards that recognise unique works produced in 2005 that tackle women's issues in media and journalism. Under the auspices of Information Minister Anas El- Fiqi, the event is being held for the third consecutive year. The contest included 96 articles submitted from national, partisan and independent newspapers and magazines, 15 TV shows and 19 radio programmes. Among the winners were Dina Darwish from Al-Ahram Hebdo, Abla El-Saati and Saada Hussein from Al-Ahram, Abdel- Salam El-Newishi from Al-Ahram Al- Masaai and Olfat Gaafar from Sabah El- Kheir magazine. And in accordance with tradition, the event was an opportunity to remember pioneering female figures. This year Al-Ahram journalist and trade unionist Amina Shafiq, shrewd radio announcer Safiya El-Mohandes as well as talented cinema and TV director Enaam Mohamed Ali were chosen for special recognition. Last Saturday, Director of the Cairo Opera House Abdel-Moneim Kamel, Mexican Ambassador in Egypt Miguel Orozco and General Manager of galleries and museums at the Opera House Fayza Abdel-Moneim inaugurated an exhibition of oil paintings by Mexican artist Maries Ayala, at the Opera House Gallery. Born in Mexico, Ayala has participated in collective exhibitions and art workshops in Mexico City and in Austin, Texas. During her long stay in Egypt as the wife of the Mexican ambassador, she has exhibited in several galleries including a solo exhibit at the Taha Hussein Museum in 2003. Congratulations! Al-Ahram Weekly 's assistant production manager at the Advertisement Department Waleed Sayed tied the knot with the lovely Hanan Abboud who works at Calyon Bank. At Al-Azhar Mosque, Waleed 's relatives, including his father, Sayed Abdel- Rahman from Al-Ahram's Distribution Department, dear friends and colleagues including Al-Ahram Weekly 's Assistant Editor-in-Chief Hani Mustafa, Reem Nafie, Tawfiq El-Sayed, Abdou Omar, Karim Wagdi, Kamal Fathi and Iman Hassan from the Advertisement Department gathered to share the couple their happiness. On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Soviet people's victory in the great patriotic war (1941-1945), the Russian Cultural Centre in Doqqi, organised last Sunday, a concert featuring Russian soprano Larisa Sorokina, accompanied by pianist Elena Dzamashvili. He has done it again! Al-Ahram Weekly 's prolific Layout Editor Samir Sobhi has published another book. Published by the General Organisation of Book it is entitled: The Arabic Letter: Reading and Writing and deals with the secrets of the Arabic language as it faces the challenges of the modern age. Last Thursday, Al-Mehwar private Egyptian satellite channel celebrated its third anniversary at Al-Nil Theatre at the Media Production City. Amid a bevy of luminary media personalities, Al-Mehwar chairman of the board Hassan Ratib granted the channel's shield to both the head of the Shura Council Safwat El-Sherif and the Minister of Information Anas El-Fiqi. At the celebration, El-Fiqi and Ratib awarded a group of the channel's distinguished announcers such as Mahmoud Fawzi for his programme Hewar Ala Nar Hadia (A Dialogue over a Calm Fire). Among the attendees were Minister of Planning Osman Mohamed Osman, Giza Governor Fathi Saad, owner of ART Saudi satellite channel Saleh Kamel, media figures Mamdouh El- Leithi, Abdel-Rahman Hafez, actresses Elham Shahine, Laila Taher and actors Omar El-Hariri and Mahmoud Yassin. The party also featured a performance by popular singers Hakim and Ghada Ragab. Under the auspices of Culture Minister Farouk Hosni, the General Organisation of Cultural Palaces (GOCP), headed by Mustafa Elwie, organised a celebration honouring nine leading female figures in the fields of art, science, culture and media, along with 19 female figures from Egypt's various governorates and 27 ideal mothers from the GOCP's branches in five regions. At the Cairo Opera House's Small Hall, Elwie granted certificates of recognition to former minister of social affairs Amal Osman, medicine marketing expert Ahlam Hanafi, former minister of scientific research Venice Ghouda, Nabila El-Ebrashi in the field of organic chemistry, Aicha Abdel-Hadi in the field of union work, veteran actress Samiha Ayoub, author and trade unionist Amina Shafiq, Nahed El-Menshawi in the field of press and finally gifted painter Zeinab El-Segini. In conjunction with the celebration, an exhibition of handicrafts and a seminar on the conditions of women in the period from 1984 to 2004 were arranged. Last week, Saudi Ambassador to Cairo Ibrahim Al-Saad Al-Brahim held a reception party and dinner at the Saudi Cultural tent in honour of newly named Tunisian Ambassador in Egypt El-Shazli El-Nafati. The party was attended by Moroccan Ambassador in Egypt Mohamed Farag El- Dokali and his Bahraini counterpart Khalil El-Zewadi, Palestine permanent representative at the Arab League Mohamed Sobeih, The People's Assembly Foreign Relations Committee head Mustafa El-Fiqi as well as Al-Ahram writer Mona Ragab.
