photos: Abdel-Hamid Eid At the AUC New Cairo Campus, consummate pianist Omar Khairat, along with singer Maher Zein, gave the charity concert annually organised by students of the AUC "Hand in Hand" Club. The entire cachet of the concert went to senior citizens. At the garden of the French Embassy, the French Ambassador to Egypt Jean Félix Paganon gave a reception in honour of the graduates of the Francophonie Faculties in Cairo, Ain Shams and Alexandria universities as well as the French University in Cairo. Present were the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research Amr Ezzat Salama, the President of the French University Adnan Lotfi, the President of Alexandria University Hend Hanafi as well as a troop of diplomats. After occupying the post of the president of the American University in Cairo (AUC), Lisa Anderson was honoured by the Board of Trustees at a dinner held at the house of the chairman Richard Bartlett last week. Delivering her inaugural address, Anderson called AUC "a catalyst for transformation in Egypt" and discussed her connection with AUC as a CASA student, a faculty member, a trustee and a provost. Bartlett concluded the ceremony by conferring on Anderson the AUC Presidential Medal. The dinner brought together American and Egyptian officials, including US Ambassador Margaret Scobey and Egypt's minister of higher education and scientific research, former AUC counsellor Amr Ezzat Salama. Also present were Egyptian university presidents and other esteemed academics and researchers, including members of AUC's Board of Trustees, Provost Medhat Haroun and representatives of AUC's faculty and administration. Minister Salama praised Anderson for how efficiently and effectively she ran AUC through the weeks of turmoil in Egypt, which erupted just days after she assumed the duties of the post. Praising the role of AUC in Egypt and the world at large, Scobey said, "Two years ago, at the opening of that new AUC campus, I noted that even during times of high tensions in the Middle East, AUC had remained a beacon of light where open academic, social, political and cultural exchange produced constructive dialogue and brought the people of our countries closer together." She added that during the historic events since 25 January, AUC students and staff have shown how they continue to play a constructive and leading role in Egypt's future, whether at the AUC downtown campus in the heart of Tahrir Square's demonstrations, or in the debates held regularly on AUC's new campus. photos: Ayman Barayez Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Ahmed El-Qatan and pianist Omar Khairat inaugurated an exhibition of some 40 paintings in different sizes by Saudi artist Hend Suleiman at the Cairo Opera House Music Library gallery. Present were diplomats, art professors and critics. Moroccan singer Jannat spent an entertaining day with a group of orphans at the Cairo Citadel, where they played football and basketball. She also sang with the children. Jannat pointed out that taking good care of orphans is the duty of every person and it should not be confined to the celebrations that take place every first Friday of April. Pop star Hisham Abbas, accompanied by Upper Egyptian shaabi singer Hegazi Metqal gave a concert held to celebrate the end of the educational year in a school for the intellectually disabled, in the presence of the Alaa Association for the Intellectually Disabled. The popular DJ Yasser El-Hariri took care of the rest of the evening. At a Sawy Culturewheel poetic evening, poet Abdel-Rahman Youssef recited a number of poems, followed by an open discussion with the audience about possible candidates for the next presidential elections. The discussion was conducted by Al-Ahram journalist Magui El-Hakim and the founder of El Sawy Culturewheel Mohamed El-Sawy. In honour of outstanding efforts and dedication to the success of tourism during 2010 and also for contributing to promoting Tourism during 2011, Haitham Nassar, the Ramses Hilton general manager, received an appreciation award presented by Minister of Tourism Mounir Fakhri Abdel-Nour during the gala dinner of the Arab Centre Media Forum. Present were Abdel-Nour together with over 250 journalists, travel writers and media figures. Last Thursday a market leader and award-winning innovator in consumer electronics held a press conference at the Four Seasons Giza to announce the launch of a new initiative to technologically empower Upper Egypt's children in a campaign named "Hope for Children". Building on the momentum of recent events in Egypt, the company's branch in Egypt will inspire Upper Egypt's children to become active members of society by providing them with the necessary communication tools that will allow them to speak their minds freely. As such, the company's Egypt branch has partnered with the Association of Upper Egypt for Education and Development (AUEED) to provide state- of-the-art IT equipment and IT training to schools in Upper Egypt, one of the poorest rural areas in the country. Present at the conference were the General Manager of the company's Cairo office Duke Park, the head of Corporate Marketing George Seddik as well as the Chairman of the AUEED Antoun Abdel-Malak and its CEO Maged Moussa Yanni. The Arab Youth and Environment Union (AYEU) held its annual meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh city in the framework of supporting Egyptian finance and tourism. According to Secretary-General of the AYEU Mamdouh Rashwan, the meeting discussed the inspiring experience of young Egyptians in cleaning and beautifying the streets. A Palestinian delegation, headed by the Chairman of the Environment Quality Authority in Palestine Youssef Kamel, visited the Ras Mohamed nature reserve as well as many significant sites at South Sinai governorate including head of the AYEU Magdi Allam and Al-Ahram Weekly Enviroment Editor Mahmoud Bakr.
