CAIRO: For many Egyptian children within the traditional school system, there is often a void in personalized education promoting entrepreneurship and challenging innovation. The Explore/Express Contest, one of the many initiatives lead by the Lift-Off program, aims to encourage young people to consider entrepreneurship as a viable career choice, as well as helping teenagers explore their creative ideas. The Lift-Off program, sponsored by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), is implemented by the Institution for International Education (IIE) Regional Cairo Office in partnership with Endeavor Egypt ––a global non-profit that promotes high-impact entrepreneurship. IIE focuses on developing global leaders through educational excellence. With offices internationally, IIE focuses on educational exchange and many different initiatives, including Fulbright. The contest, aimed at Egyptian youth between the ages of 14-18, asked applicants to submit a creative and innovative essay detailing a new idea to help bolster Egypt's tourism industry. Among a pool of 600 applicants, 3 winners and 2 runner-ups were chosen to receive new laptops and digital cameras. Ibrahim Abu Gazia, 16, was recognized at the award's ceremony on Thursday for wanting to “create an interactive blog that takes advantage of social media to encourage tourism.” The tourists could “create events and printable gifts” to receive upon leaving the country as a souvenir. Amr Shaheen, 17, an aspiring Artificial Intelligence expert, proposed using new technologies to create a theme park that introduces tourists to Egypt's ancient civilization, using “simulations, virtual imagery, and 3D experiences.” Although, runner-up Rawan Youssef, 17, is a first-year med student with no background in tourism, she was inspired by the “current political circumstances” to submit her idea. The current depressed state of the Egyptian tourism economy, after last year's January revolution, makes this years innovative tourism venture prompt critically relevant. Engaging Egypt's youth in important socioeconomic concepts while encouraging novel entrepreneurship is an important step to mobilizing the country's future global impact. “The Lift-Off program allows people who have great ideas a medium for expressing them, regardless of their age,” says Janan Omar, the Lift-Off Project Lead at the IIE Cairo Office. ** Lift-Off works with Egyptian youth ages 14-26. For additional information on participation, contests, and workshops, visit them online: www.liftoffinitiative.net BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/2p9nq Tags: Endeavor, IIE, Tourism, Youth Section: Business, Egypt, Latest News, Travel
