fall 2007 ()

On the cover: Omar Samra ’00 raising the Egyptian flag on thesummit of the Rimpfischorn in the Swiss Alps in September 2005

ContentsFour alumni launch an awareness campaign to save the WadiDegla natural reserve from industrial development 3

Ahm

ad E

l-Nem

r

FEATURES10 INSIDE STORY

The interior design of AUC’s new campus is just as impressive as the exterior.

14 BEARING FRUITAUC’s Desert Development Center helped establish the citrus industry in Egypt,introducing 30 new varieties and developing a successful export business.

16 THE LONG ROAD TO EVERESTOmar Samra ’00, the first Egyptian to climb Mount Everest, speaks about the challenges and thrills of his experience.

24 MAPPING MIGRATIONPhilippe Fargues, new director of Forced Migration and Refugee Studies, is an expert on demography and the region.

26 AHEAD OF THE FIELDAUC’s new campus will feature state-of-the-art sports facilities, one of the best of itskind in Egypt.

28 IS EGYPT PREPARED FOR BIRD FLU?Management Professor Tarek Hatem is leading a team of experts in the development of a national plan that is helping the Egyptian government combat bird flu.

DEPARTMENTS4 AUSCENES

Visa card for AUCians, professorsreceive research awards, new Board ofTrustees members elected, master’s inbiotechnology launched, StudentService Center opens,AUC signsscience and technology agreement

ALUMNI PROFILES13 Philip Andrasevic ’02, Magda Nassef ’02,

Sara El Sayed ’02 and Hala Mohi El Din ’03 are working to protect the Wadi Degla natural reserve

33 Salma Al Bakry ’79, ’96 is working to strengthen Egyptian and Arab identity among youth

33 CLASS NOTESClass updates, weddings and deaths

36 AKHER KALAMJanan Delgado ’07 recounts herexperience as an Ecuadorian living onher own in Egypt

2 AUCTODAY Fall 2007

The American University in Cairo is anonprofit private institution devoted toproviding English-language liberal artseducation to serve Egypt and the Middle East.

Editor in ChiefDalia Al Nimr

DesignerHanan Omary

WritersIngrid Wassmann, Larissa Lawrence andCole Gibas

Advisory BoardLouis Greiss ’55, Laila Rustom, NahedDajani ’83, Mirette Mabrouk ’89, ’90,Tarek Atia (YAB ’91), Lamya Tawfik ’97, ’04,Mohamed Selim ’04, ’06, Nada Sabet ’05and Sarah El Sirgany ’04

Photography Ahmad El-Nemr and Dana Smillie

IllustrationsMaryam Farrag

AUCToday is published three timesa year by the American University in Cairo.

We welcome all letters. Submissions may beedited for space and clarity. Please send allcorrespondence to:AUCTodayThe American University in Cairo113 Kasr El Aini StreetP.O. Box 2511Cairo 11511EgyptorAUCTodayThe American University in Cairo420 Fifth Avenue,Third floorNew York, NY 10018-2729USA

tel 20.2.2797.5448 (Egypt)e-mail [email protected]/publications/auctoday

AUCTODAYFall 2007

Volume 16, No. 1

All of us have aspirations, but some seem so far-fetched thatwe don’t take an active stance to make them real. In thisissue, Omar Samra ’00, the first Egyptian to climb MountEverest, talks about his long-harbored dream and what ittook for him to achieve it.

When I first heard of 28-year-old Samra, I was trulyinspired. Meeting him and reading his profile (page 16)moved me. His perseverance and deep desire to achieve hisgoal, whether it be touring Asia and Latin America in a yearor reaching the highest peak in the world, gives us livingproof that when people put their mind to it, they canaccomplish anything.The key is to genuinely desire the goalyou set for yourself, believe that you can achieve it,concentrate your efforts and have the courage to followthrough. I feel that one of the most inspiring things aboutSamra is how he constantly seeks out things that stimulatehim and challenge his limits, even if it means making greatsacrifices.That’s how he became who he is now.

We can’t all climb Mount Everest, but we should keepraising the bar for ourselves. It’s easy to remain in ourcomfort zones and lead an ordinary life like everyone else orwe could, like Samra, find the Everest inside us and climb it.

Editor’s Notes

The Everest Inside Us

3

InBox

Staying in Touch

I am pleased to inform you that I have just received my

exciting copy of AUCToday Summer 2007. Please keep it

coming regularly. I hope to be able to contribute to it soon.

Thank you.

Muhammad Sani Rabiu (MA ’92)

Keffi, Nigeria

Congratulations

I loved the summer edition

of AUC Today. It was neat

reading about Michael

Dukakis; I remember his run

for office in 1988. I also

enjoyed the features on the

costume design section.

Knowing nothing about what

goes into a play, it was interesting reading about the staff and

students who help put that side of a production together.

Please congratulate your staff for another great issue.

Kristi Beres,YAB ’95

United States

Correction

I would like to draw your

kind attention to a spelling

mistake in the article “Ten

Things You Didn’t Know

About the New

Campus.” In point

number one,‘stories’ is

erroneously used instead of ‘storeys.’ I would

also like to take the opportunity to thank you for the great

work you are doing.

M. Islam Badra ’98

Cairo, Egypt

Thank you for your note. In AUCToday, we use the American

spelling of a word versus the British spelling.“Storeys” is primarily

British. –– Ed

Full Speech

I’m writing to request a full speech made by Michael

Dukakis where he says,“If we need one thing, that is good

people in public service.” Regards from Dar es Salaam.

Chrispin Mwansanga ’ 04

Tanzania, East Africa

To listen to the podcasts of speeches made by

distinguished speakers on campus, visit

www.aucegypt.edu/resources/smc/webcasts/index.cfm –– Ed

Why AUC is Special

AUC is a university, yes I agree, but it is –– without being

prejudiced –– unlike other universities. It is an educational

institution based in Cairo, a cosmopolitan city. Its students are

of different nationalities, religions and cultures.This melting

pot produces a very polished person. It is unique because of

its ethical values, which are based on equality, tolerance,

respect and understanding.

I appreciated this after marrying our ambassador, who was

posted in different countries with a wide range of cultures

and ways of life.There wasn’t any country where I had

difficulty adapting to and understanding the people. Several

times, I was asked where I received my higher education. I

felt so proud when once, the Italian ambassador, whom I met

at a reception and had a conversation with about AUC,

turned to his wife and said,“Let us send our daughter to this

very good university.”This is why AUC is special and why I

am very proud to be an AUCian.

Samira Dabbagh ’51

Geneva, Switzerland

We Would Like to Hear From YouAUCToday welcomes letters from readers.They may be edited for length and clarity. Please send to [email protected] or Editor,AUCToday, Office of Communications and Marketing, 113 Kasr El Aini Street, P.O. Box 2511, Cairo 11511.

Ali Hadi, vice provost, director ofgraduate studies and research at

AUC and professor emeritus atCornell University, and Sherif Sedky,associate professor of physics, receivedthe 2006-07 Excellence in Researchand Creative Endeavors Award at theJune 2007 graduate commencement.

“I am happy that my research effortshave been recognized by my peers,”said Hadi, who has taught at Cornellfor 16 years before coming to AUC in2000. Hadi received the award for hisresearch in the identification of outliersand visualization of massive multi-dimensional data.Although Hadi is astatistician, his research interestsincorporate other areas, including thedevelopment of new statistical andmathematical methods for the analysisof environmental science andengineering data.“You can do years ofresearch without producing any results.My efforts have produced results, and Iam very lucky in that respect,” he said.

Sedky, who has taught at AUC since

2002, received the award for hisresearch in micro-electromechanicalsystems (MEMS).This award is themost recent recognition of his work.“It was a huge honor for me,” he said.“I was very happy and proud,especially because the competitionwas tough.”

Sedky is also the recipient of theprestigious 2002 Egyptian NationalAward for Advancement inTechnological Sciences and holds sixpatents for his inventions.Among hisachievements is his research on thedevelopment of a sensitive part of aninfrared camera that can take images indark, foggy environments or in heavysmoke. In addition, he helped establishadvanced research labs at AUC, capableof fabricating MEMS.

“The field of MEMS is only 15years old, but nearly every system youcan think of has some MEMScomponent in it, from your laptop tothe wing of an airplane to the fabric ofyour stain-resistant shirt,” Sedky said.


Designed specifically for AUC alumni, faculty and staff, the AUC Visa byCredit Agricole Egypt is a full-fledged credit card that also provides

members of the AUC community with the opportunity to support theuniversity. Each time the card is used, Credit Agricole Egypt donates a percentageof the transaction to support AUC’s overall development in areas includingscholarships, professorships, library resources, labs and student activities.

The first-of-its-kind card has several features that are only available to membersof the AUC community. Designed with AUC in mind, the cards are being offeredin a blue or full-color option, both of which feature a view of the Main Campus.Participants are able to choose their preferred card design when they sign up.

Aside from its design and the contribution to AUC with each transaction, the AUCVisa card functions like any other credit card offered by Credit Agricole Egypt.The bank isresponsible for all applications, acceptance, regulations and questions pertaining to the credit card.To apply for the card, call 19191 or visit any branch of Credit Agricole Egypt.

AuScenes

Visa Card Launched Exclusively for AUCians

Professors Honored for their Research Achievements

Hadi (top) and Sedky, recipients of the 2006-07Excellence in Research and Creative Endeavors Award

5

Nobel Peace Prize winner and recipient of an honorary doctorate fromAUC, ElBaradei started his career in the Egyptian diplomatic service in1964, serving in the permanent missions of Egypt to the United Nations inNew York and Geneva. Later, he served as a special assistant to the Egyptianforeign minister, and in 1980, joined the United Nations as a senior fellowof the International Law Program at the United Nations Institute forTraining and Research. In 1997, he was appointed director general of theInternational Atomic Energy Agency.

Powell recently resigned from the U.S. Department of State to joinGoldman Sachs, a leading global investment banking, securities andinvestment management firm, where she has been named managingdirector and global head of corporate engagement. Powell is also a termmember of the Council on Foreign Relations. Previously, Powell served asassistant to the president for presidential personnel, a senior staff memberat the White House and director of congressional affairs for theRepublican National Committee.

Abughazaleh ’67 was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by AUCin 2006. His company, Fresh Del Monte Produce, has a market capital of$1.2 billion. Its most recent acquisition of Del Monte Foods Europe in2004 gave it a more diversified and global reach, with sales of $3.3 billion.With 37,000 employees and customers in approximately 100 countries,the company farms more than 100,000 acres in 12 countries, includingChile, Costa Rica, Hawaii, the Philippines, South Africa, Kenya and New Zealand.

A specialist on Middle East and North African politics,Anderson isprofessor of international relations at Columbia University and dean emeritaof the School of International Public Affairs there. Before joiningColumbia, she was assistant professor of government and social studies atHarvard University.A prolific author,Anderson also serves as chair of theboard of directors of the Social Science Research Council, is a member ofthe Council on Foreign Relations and an emeritus member of the board ofHuman Rights Watch.

AUC’s Board of Trustees recently elected four new members: Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency; Dina Habib Powell, director of global corporate engagement for Goldman Sachs Group and

former assistant secretary of state for the U.S. Department of State; Mohammad Abughazaleh, chairman and chief executiveofficer of Fresh Del Monte Produce Company; and Lisa Anderson, professor of international relations at Columbia Universityand dean emerita of the School of International Public Affairs there.

New Members Join AUC’s Board of Trustees

Sherif Aly ’95, visiting assistant professor ofcomputer science, recently received Egypt’s

State Achievement Award for Science andTechnology for his work on mobile andpervasive computing.The award is givenannually to recognize outstanding research ofpractical application in society.Aly was one oftwo recipients to win the 2006 award in thescience and technology category.

“Renowned universities around the worldlike MIT and the University of California,Berkeley are conducting extensive research onpervasive systems, so it’s really gratifying to seepeople in the scientific community in Egypt appreciating this kind ofresearch,” said Aly, who holds a doctorate in science from George WashingtonUniversity.“It’s not about winning the money, but more of an indication thatI’m on the right track.”

Pervasive computing is the integration of computers into people’s dailylives, often in an invisible way, such as devices in the home thatautomatically monitor the health of its occupants.According to Aly,pervasive applications will be of essential use in almost every aspect of theway we live.“Mobile and pervasive computing is a view of how things willbe when computers are no longer simple input and output machines, butwill sense and react to our environment and make intelligent decisions,” hesaid.“These computing systems will be embedded in our everyday lives andwill be our way into the future.”

Professor Receives 2006 Egypt State Award


AuScenes

The Accreditation Board forEngineering and Technology

(ABET), one of the leadingaccreditation organizationsworldwide, has recently grantedrenewed accreditation to AUC’scomputer science and engineeringdepartment for its Bachelor ofScience in computer science.“Weare accredited and only subject tore-evaluation every number of years.This is an honor,” said MikhailNaguib Mikhail, chair of thedepartment, adding that plans areunderway to gain accreditation forthe department’s new computerengineering program as well.

Graduates of ABET-accreditedprograms are eligible to register asprofessional engineers in manycountries and move on to work formajor manufacturers and universitiesthroughout the world. More than 60students graduate from AUC’scomputer science program each year.

Computer Science Re-accredited

Starting this fall, the university is offering a new master’s inbiotechnology. Rania Siam, assistant professor of biology

and director of the program, explained that AUC’s state-of-the-art facilities, particularly the biotechnology laboratory atthe Yousef Jameel Science and Technology Research Center,will enable students to conduct research that addresses crucialissues in the region.

Hassan Azzazy, associate professor and chair of thechemistry department, helped establish the program andnoted that its interdisciplinary nature is intended to positionAUC graduates in the field of biotechnology as industryleaders.“To succeed in this industry, you need scientifictraining, but you also need background in business, ethics,politics and management,” he said.“We are interested inturning out bioentrepreneurs.”

The program will accomplish this goal by training

students in three areas: basic sciences, biotechnologyapplications and entrepreneurship.Azzazy said that thisensures students will emerge from AUC ready to navigatean industry that is both booming and controversial.“Wearen’t trying to train more technicians; we have plenty ofthose in Egypt,” he explained.“We want people who knowthe hard science, but who also understand ethics and patentlaws and can translate ideas into products.”

Though the applications of biotechnology are diverse,ranging from the production of lifesaving medications andbiofuels to getting the right color on a pair of jeans,Azzazynoted that Egypt is yet to establish a strong industrypresence.“AUC is looking to help develop thebiotechnology industry in Egypt.The hope is that if we giveour students cutting-edge training, they will be able to goout and produce something useful for their country,” he said.

New Master’s in Biotechnology Prepares Students for Industry

To facilitate enrollment andserve as a pilot for a system on

the new campus, AUC launched theStudent Service Center this summerto consolidate all enrollmentprocedures in one place.The center,located near the Fountain Area onthe Main Campus, is designed tominimize bureaucracy, improveefficiency and raise the overallquality of student services.

Prior to the establishment of thecenter, students were required to goto six different offices on AUC’scampuses.To complete the requiredenrollment steps, students had to fillin an application, pay tuition fees,apply for financial aid, register forentrance exams, and receive theirstudent ID and advising cards indifferent offices. “The StudentService Center as a one-stop shopmeans that all these steps can now bedone in one place,” explained RandaKamel, director of enrollmentservices. “The steps are the same, butwith the convenience of havingthem all in the same location.”

The center first opened its doors

in July to prospective studentsapplying for the Fall 2007 semester.“We will gradually become fullyoperational and receive allundergraduate and graduateapplicants,” said Kamel.

The new center utilizes a queuingmachine to ensure first-come, first-serve efficiency. It is equipped withseveral computer terminals forstudents who wish to consult theirfile or apply directly online, andthere is also wireless Internet accessinside the center. “With the newcenter, all the walk-in procedures,e-mails and telephone inquiries arecentralized because we don’t wantstudents to feel that the process istime-consuming,” said Kamel.“Student Service Center personnelare also trained to treat studentsprofessionally and with a pleasantattitude, answer all their inquiriesand, most importantly, give themaccurate information.”

Explaining the timeliness ofestablishing such a center before themove, she added, “By the time wemove to the new campus, we would

have gained experience, becomebetter trained and received feedbackfrom people.”

The idea of a one-stop shop wasenvisioned in the early stages of thenew campus design. Booz AllenHamilton, a leading globalconsulting firm, conceived theconcept of a student service centerand devised recommendations forimplementation in terms ofoperation, organization, restructuringand information technology.

Speaking at the center’s openingceremony, President David Arnoldemphasized the importance of suchan accomplishment. “This is anopportunity to do something rareand unusual; it’s an opportunity tosee a small slice of the future,” hesaid. “The future is not just aboutphysical appearance. It’s about newand better ways to deliver serviceand work more efficiently.This isone in a series of changes toorganize our work in the area ofstudent services, a small beginning tomake the administration processsmooth and easy.”

Student Service Center Facilitates Enrollment Procedures

7

AuScenesAuScenes

Dedicated to documenting the richness of Egypt’scontemporary history and alleviating the shortage

and inaccessibility of records, AUC and the Center forMiddle Eastern Studies at Harvard University signed aconsortium agreement to support AUC’s Economic andBusiness History Research Center (EBHRC).

Created in 2004, EBHRC was established to gatherand disseminate first-person records and narratives ofEgypt’s contemporary history, with an emphasis oneconomic and business issues. Since its inception, thecenter has received ad-hoc support from Harvard,Princeton, the University of Pennsylvania and theUniversity of Washington.With the consortiumagreement, Harvard’s partnership with EBHRC becomes

official, opening the door for new opportunities.According to the agreement, Harvard will help raisefunds for EBHRC and participate in the planning of thecenter’s activities through representatives on theconsortium’s board.

Abdel Aziz EzzelArab, EBHRC director and associateprofessor of economics, explained the long-term benefitsof the partnership. “The consortium agreement isimportant because it improves the prospects for thecontinuity of support, irrespective of changes inindividuals,” he said. “Besides, the presence of a namelike Harvard alongside EBHRC gives the project theacademic endorsement it needs to attract the attention ofkey players in enterprise and academia.”

Harvard Supports AUC’s Economic and Business History Research Center

The Desert Development Center (DDC) hosted nearly100 Iraqi desert specialists this summer to help develop

their country’s agricultural sector.The month-long eventwas part of the Iraqi Agricultural Extensions Revitalization(IAER) project, which trains specialists to better serve theneeds of Iraqi farmers.

For three weeks, a group of professors from five Americanuniversities ––– Texas A&M,Washington State, Utah State,

the University of California at Davis and New MexicoState University ––– provided training for Iraqi agriculturalspecialists and university professors from five different Iraqiuniversities.They received training on subjects rangingfrom animal production and horticulture to soil analysisand irrigation.“Developing the agricultural sector in Iraq will not only

add to the national stability of the nation, but will alsoprovide employment and improve the country’s economy,”said Robert Whitney, leader of the IAER project.Explaining why the program was held at the DDC, Kays

Aziz Jawad, Iraqi deputy minister of agriculture, said,“Weinsisted on holding the training program in Egypt becauseof the similar environmental conditions to those in Iraq interms of weather, kinds of plants and livestock.We highlyappreciate Egypt’s efforts in making this project a successand also recognize the unrivaled experience of the DDC.”Richard Tutwiler, director of the DDC, said the program

was beneficial not only for the Iraqi farmers, but for theDDC as well.“The IAER training program provides uswith a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate ourachievements in Egypt on sustainable development toesteemed colleagues from Iraq and the United States,” hesaid.“We are pleased that they selected the DDC as theideal venue for their program.”

Desert Development Center Helps Revitalize Iraqi Agriculture

A Texas A&M professor explaining water management techniques to Iraqi farmers


9

In an effort to bolster science andtechnology research in the Middle

East,AUC recently signed amemorandum of understanding withthe King Abdullah University ofScience and Technology (KAUST), setto open in September 2009 as a world-class graduate-level research universityin Saudi Arabia.

AUC’s partnership with KAUSTwill initially focus on collaborativeresearch in three key areas: Red Seamarine ecology and genomics,facilitated by the John D. Gerhart FieldStation in El Gouna; desertdevelopment technology and advancedagriculture, with participation fromthe Desert Development Center; andnanotechnology and advancedmaterials, utilizing the Yousef JameelScience and Technology ResearchCenter. In addition, there will be astudent and faculty exchange program,with top AUC students competing forscholarships offered by KAUST to joinmaster’s and doctoral programs.

Medhat Haroun, dean of AUC’sSchool of Sciences and Engineering,

noted that the two universities havegreat potential for cooperation becauseof their status as independent andnonprofit institutions, geographicalproximity, as well as their commonresearch agenda and strong emphasis onexcellence in research.AUC, he pointedout, has distinguished faculty,outstanding students, state-of-the-artfacilities and a multidisciplinary trackrecord.Through this partnership,AUCwill benefit from KAUST’s globalresearch funding programs, fellowshipsand scholarships to students, and theestablishment of new research facilitiesthat compliment the university’s centersand laboratories.

“This is a great opportunity for AUC… to form a strong alliance that willpropel both AUC and KAUST to be atthe forefront of research and educationin the region,” said Haroun.“It willcontribute to unprecedented growthand advancement in scientific research,graduate education, and technologicaldevelopment in fundamental andapplied sciences.”

Nadhmi Al-Nasr, interim president of

KAUST, explained their interest in thecollaboration.“With AUC, there is ahigh potential for establishing morethan an academic alliance, but astrategic regional alliance,” he said.“Inthe short term, this collaboration willhelp KAUST build and develop itscampus in preparation for its launch. Inthe long term, it is of benefit to bothinstitutions, since it will present a rightmodel for the region to follow.AUCand KAUST have a moral responsibilityto help carry this region forward.”

AUC Works to Strengthen Science and Technology Sector in the Region

Bringing together prominentfigures from philanthropic

foundations in Egypt and the Arabworld, the John D. Gerhart Center forPhilanthropy and Civic Engagementrecently held a conference titled ArabPhilanthropy: Innovations andChallenges, the first-ever regionalevent to address new and effectivemeans of enhancing philanthropy inthe Arab world.

“I can give you 10 reasons why we

can be hopeful,” said Barbara Ibrahim,director of the Gerhart center, salutingthe rich tradition of charitable givingin Arab culture.“Global economicshifts have made national borders a lotless relevant than they used to be andhave generated tremendous newwealth,” she explained.“But mostimportantly, the private sector hasdecided to make available assets andideas about management, showing thewillingness to take risks and practice

strategic philanthropy.This means thatyou start with what you want tochange in your society.”

The conference drew participantsfrom Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestineand the Gulf. It marked the continuedcollaboration between the Gerhartcenter and the Arab FoundationsForum, an organization ofindependent grant-makingfoundations in the Arab region thatwas founded in 2006.

Gerhart Center Holds Regional Philanthropic Conference

Al-Nasr (left) and President David Arnold at thesigning, as Mohammed Samaha, interim vice presidentfor research development at KAUST, looks on

AUC’s new campus is modern and inventive not only fromthe outside, but also from the inside.While architecture andthe sheer size of the new campus project involved a

tremendous amount of planning, the interior design has also beencarefully researched from both a technical and aesthetic perspective.From teaching walls and custom-made furniture to lighting,acoustics and rugs, experts have tended to the smallest detail thathelps create an optimal learning environment.

Designing the interior required a coherent evaluation of teachingapproaches, new technologies, appearance and cost. Juggling theseoverlapping considerations was Robert Luchetti, architect, industrialdesigner and president of award-winning Robert Luchetti Associates,a Massachusetts-based team commissioned to design the furniture,equipment, fixtures and signage of AUC’s 260-acre project.

“We sought to create an international contemporary learningspace that reflects the local environment and culture and at the sametime is flexible, safe, comfortable, energy conserving, easilymaintainable, affordable and technologically advanced,” said Luchetti,whose clients include Harvard University, Kuwait National

Inside StoryAs construction nears completion on the new campus, an

innovative interior design is taking shape

By Ingrid WassmannPhotos by Ahmad El-Nemr


Oriental Hall chair

Library chair

Patio chair

Petroleum Company and KnollFurniture Corporation.

One of the unique features inside thenew campus classrooms, computer labsand meeting rooms are the whiteboardteaching walls, which will be directlymounted on three sides of the room,replacing the traditional blackboard.Two adjacent whiteboard-surface walls,each 1.4 meters high with overlappingsliding panels, will provide morewriting space, while a shorter teachingwall will consist of a tack board madeof thick woven porous fabric to absorbechoes in the room and noise from thetiled floors.

Another advantage is flexibility.Depending on the mode ofcommunication and variation in classsize, the layout of the classrooms can bequickly altered from a long to a wideconfiguration. Half of the classroomswill be outfitted with tablet arm chairs,and the other half will have tables fortwo and freestanding chairs. In theserooms, to ensure this swift transposition,all the tables are outfitted with wheelsand are built to fold quickly.A varietyof layouts, from rows to facing tables for

team interaction, are then possible.“Thelayouts are easily interchangeable so anyroom can be used in either format,”explained Luchetti.“This way, theteaching range is far more flexible.”

Each new classroom also has its ownprojector and screen and is equippedwith a floor to ceiling control panelthat consolidates an integrated clock,sound speakers, light switches, firealarm, strobe light and wiring.Thespeakers, built into the ceiling, will beable to transmit sound from a campus-wide public address system, classmicrophone, CD or DVD, PowerPointpresentation or online soundtrack.

In addition to the classrooms, thefaculty and staff offices are innovativeas well. Each office is set up as afreestanding, wall-based modularworking station, with large metalcabinets, integral wiring and durabletabletops made of Formica, a heat-resistant plastic laminate.“It is state-of-the-art furniture in terms of itsperformance,” Luchetti said, addingthat faculty offices have beenconceived in such a way that they canbe utilized to conduct small seminars.

“We wanted a more student- andexperientially-based environment.Theformal lecture is not going away but isdiminishing in its importance, thanksto modern technology.”

In terms of lighting, the new campus

11

Indoor dining chair Classroom table

Bookstore table withtop display tower

Moh

amed

E

l-Sha

rkaw

y

classrooms and offices will featureadjustable integrated uplighting,projecting the lighting upward andbouncing it off the ceiling.This isdifferent from the commonly useddownlighting, where lighting is castfrom the ceiling toward the floor.“Theadvantage of putting the light in thefurniture and aiming it toward theceiling is that you make the volume ofthe room apparent,” said Luchetti.“Uplighting also makes it easier toview a computer screen because itminimizes glare.”

Locally manufactured, the 20,000custom-made chairs, many made fromwicker and rattan, a durable vine-likestem, represent one of the mostabundant furniture items on the newcampus.“It made sense to use a lot ofwicker and rattan for the seating. It isrobust, easy to maintain and ideal forthis hot climate,” said Luchetti, whostressed the importance of using localmaterial and manufacturing.“We triedto incorporate as much Egyptian craft aspossible,” he noted, citing examples ofindigenous features used like mashrabeya(Oriental woodwork), brass lighting andhand-made rugs. In a special effort tocapture the essence of the Middle East’srich culture, certain lounge chairs havebeen designed to resemble diwans(Oriental couches), while some tableswere inspired by the curved metal standof the traditional Egyptian coffee tables.

“What we have in mind for theinterior design of the new campus doesnot exist off the shelf in Egypt, so weare having it all custom made,”explained Luchetti. In fact, since thenew campus project first began in2002, the American interior designteam visited and interviewed more than40 local furniture, aluminum, textileand carpet manufacturers.“Those weended up with are the ones we thoughtwe’d end up with; they are the best inEgypt,” he said.

From the onset of this $20 millioninterior design plan for the newcampus, the main objective was to usefurniture that could be made andserviceable in Egypt, thus not onlysupporting the local economy but alsoreducing costs.“Manufacturing most ofthe furniture here turned out to be 30to 70 percent less expensive than if ithad been imported,” noted Luchetti.But just as important was thecompatibility of the material with theenvironment.“We need furniture that isdurable, solid, robust and can withstanddesert sand, heat and the sun.”

Equally as challenging as the choiceof manufacturing material and designwas color selection.To identify andcapture the local tones and colorspresent in Egyptian daily life, Luchettiand his design team compiled anextensive collection of color printsreflecting samples of indigenous fauna

and flora,pharaonic andIslamic art,tentingmaterialsand fabrics,paintings,terracotta, stone andeven soil from the new campus.Thepalette was then filtered through acolor system and narrowed down to ahandful of predominant master colors.“What we found was amazing; thecolors that appeared the most in orderof frequency were those of the sun,the earth and the sky, in other words,the cosmos,” explained Luchetti.“For the new campus, we usedmostly greens and blues to contrastthe warm colors of the woodenfurniture and interior floor, wall andceiling finishes.”

Luchetti emphasized that getting thecolors right is fundamental for aninterior designer.“If they just feel rightand don’t interrupt, then we’ve doneour job,” he said. But more than justcolor, Luchetti hopes that the interiordesign of the new campus as a wholeexudes a certain harmony.“It should becoherent and understandable,” he said.“Sometimes the most important part ofa room is not actually the walls orceilings, but what we touch and useand the relationship of these pieces tothe whole.”r


Double-sided library carrel External dining table with patio chair

13

“It was shock and horror,”

said biology major Hala

Mohi El Din ’03,

describing her initial reaction to the

warning e-mail sent out by Andrew

Main, former chair of AUC’s

biology department, to alert students

to the latest industrial development

plans threatening the Wadi Degla

natural reserve.

Mohi El Din became part of the

core group of alumni activists,

primarily biology majors, who

quickly organized and launched an

awareness campaign to save the

natural park by trying to prevent the

construction of additional marble

factories in the areas surrounding it.

Degla, a dry near-pristine waterbed

on the outskirts of Maadi, is a

30-kilometer stretch of the Eastern

Desert, rich in limestone, granite

and marble. In order to safeguard its

unique and endangered animal, bird

and plant life, the area was

designated a natural reserve.

Egyptian newspapers had reported

that the Ministry of Environment

signed a protocol allowing the

construction of marble factories in

the buffer zone around Wadi Degla.

Once news of the protocol spread,

AUC faculty, alumni and students

saw it as a call to action.“It’s all very

nice to preach to others about how

they should care about the

environment, but if we don’t take

action ourselves, then our words are

not effective,” said Sara El Sayed ’02.

The alumni’s major challenge was

to collect reliable data on the natural

park’s boundaries and accurate facts

surrounding the development plan

and current domestic environmental

laws.They also sent mailings to

top government officials and

non-governmental organizations to

ask for their cooperation and

intervention. In addition, they

promoted media coverage to raise

awareness about the potentially

irreversible damage the new

factories could have on Wadi Degla.

One good example of their efforts

to engage media attention was an

SMS text message sent by Philip

Mario Andrasevic ’02, to Nile FM

during a live talk show, alerting

listeners to the situation.“We need

to look at our internal issues and be

passionate about them,” explained

Andrasevic, who, as former president

of AUC’s biology club, organized

numerous clean-ups in the wadi.

To tackle this ongoing

environmental crisis,AUC alumni

are also working toward long-term

sustainable development objectives,

such as organizing an awareness day

in Degla for lawyers, journalists,

schools and universities, and

establishing a think-tank to monitor

the management of Egypt’s

protected areas.“I got involved in

the Wadi Degla project out of a

sense of responsibility that starts with

each of us as individuals,” said

Magda Nassef ’02, a biology major

who also holds a master’s degree in

ecology and conservation.“If you

want something changed, change it

yourself because nobody is going to

do it for you.”r

By Ingrid Wassmann

Alumni Activists Protect Natural ReserveAlumni Profile

Mohi El Din, El Sayed, Nassef and Andrasevic in Wadi Degla

I f you have picked up an orange, mandarin, grapefruit,tangelo, lime or lemon in Egypt during the lastdecade, chances are you have sampled something that

would not have been possible without the citrus researchconducted at AUC’s Desert Development Center (DDC).

Since its inception in 1979 as a center for appliedresearch and training, the DDC has worked on improvingcrop yields and applying new technologies to desert life.With citrus, it has been particularly successful, introducingapproximately 30 new varieties in Egypt and promoting athriving export industry.“One of the things we try to dois improve economic returns for farmers. For us, the mostappropriate way to do that is to increase production ofthings that do well in the desert,” said Richard Tutwiler,director of the DDC, referring to the center’s recent shift

to dedicating more land for citrus.“Our citrus project is aliving demonstration of sustainable development.”

Over the last five years, the DDC’s citrus production hasseen a sharp increase.The area the center devotes to citrustrees has grown from 30 to 120 feddans, or acres, whilerevenue from citrus products jumped from LE 65,000 toLE 450,000.“We have gone from 50 percent costefficiency to more than 100 percent in five years,”Tutwilersaid, adding that more than 93 percent of DDC fruitsmeet international export quality standards, whereas theaverage in Egypt is less than 70 percent.

It all started in 1980, when Dutch citrus expert JoepCarlier arrived to initiate a citrus program at the DDC.Under Carlier’s 14 years of management, the DDC madelong strides in the citrus initiative, identifying optimal

Bearing fruitAUC’s Desert Development Center has spearheadedefforts to develop the citrus industry in Egypt


The DDC has introduced approximately 30 new citrus varieties in Egypt

irrigation techniques and introducing root stocks and fruitvarieties that are more compatible with the harsh desert soil.

When Carlier first came to Egypt, he noticed that peopleexperimenting with citrus production in the desert wereusing ineffective measures.“The soil and climate of thedesert are very different from that of other parts of thecountry, such as the delta,” he explained on a recent tripback to Egypt.“Only trees that can survive in the sandy soilcan be planted, and irrigation techniques must be modifiedto accommodate the environment.”

This is where the DDC stepped in. Concerning wateruse, they replaced the traditional method of flood irrigation,where water is poured onto the fields and allowed to flowalong the ground among the trees, with the more efficientmethod of drip irrigation.With the latter, perforated hosesare laid along the rows of trees and sometimes buried alongtheir root lines.This not only minimizes water waste, butallows more water to reach the crops.

The DDC also worked on improving citrus varieties.During his stay at the DDC in the 1980s, Carlier broughtback rootstock from California citrus plants to be planted inthe sandy desert soil.The initiative proved successful, andthroughout the years, the DDC has introduced new citrusvarieties in Egypt, including tangerines, mandarins and redgrapefruits. In addition, using a technique called grafting, inwhich the top of a young tree is cut and a budding branchof another is inserted into its trunk, the DDC has been able

to use the roots of trees that are suitable for the desert soilwhile enjoying the fruits of a more flavorful or profitabletree.The nursery technicians usually perform this arborealsurgery when the original tree is about one-half meter tall,and the new hybrid is ready to be sold in just 18 monthsfrom the time it is a seedling.

“We plant various things and see what works best in theenvironment,”Tutwiler said.“By 1986, it was becomingobvious which crops were the most productive andprofitable for desert farmers, and citrus was definitely oneof them.”

Initially grafting citrus trees in 1996 for distribution tofarmers, the DDC’s outreach program proved successful.Thefirst batch was 4,500 trees, but by 2006, production hadincreased to more than 300,000.The aim is to distributenearly 500,000 trees by the end of 2007.“Citrus is good forthe desert. Sandy soil is good for citrus, and there’s a lot ofsandy soil out in the desert,”Tutwiler said, explaining thereasons for the center’s success with citrus.

Looking ahead, the DDC’s citrus project shows no signsof slowing down.“Our next steps include evaluating thenext generation of citrus varieties in the world like we did25 years ago, as well as maintaining quality,”Tutwiler said.“We will continue to invest in our nurseries to improvesanitary levels and be certified as virus-free. Our objective isto keep to a world-class standard in desert citrus.” r

By Cole Gibas

15

DDC staff tend citrus seedlings in the nursery (left) and monitor fruit quality in the orchard (right)


The Long Roadto Everest

Omar Samra ‘00, the first Egyptian to

climb Mount Everest, tells his tale

By Omar Samra

Approaching a summit in the French Alps in November 2006

17

Iwould like to say that I alwaysdreamed of climbing Everest, thateven as a toddler I had photos of

Everest and legendary climbersplastered on the sides of my cot.Thetruth is a little different. I grew up inCairo, Egypt.Although a beautiful placefull of charming people and countlessnatural and historic treasures, it is not avery mountainous land. Luckily, it isalso not a very cold land. In fact,outside of your kitchen freezer, thechances of encountering ice are ratherremote. Some folks say it snowed hereat sea level some 200 years ago. Perhapsthis is true and recorded in some dustyjournal somewhere, but to me and toseveral generations before me, thisseems like a most unusual occurrence.So how and why does an Egyptiandecide to climb Everest? Is he merelymad or perhaps there is a string ofunlikely events that have led to this. Letme tell you a little story.

How It All BeganAs a child I wasn’t particularly sportive.I remember my parents, not verysporty themselves, taking me to theoccasional tennis practice. Having meborn in Wimbledon, England at aroundthe time the tournament was beingplayed, they were convinced that thecosmos had aligned itself to tell themthat I was going to blossom into theEgyptian version of Ivan Lendl. Sadly, I

had a terrible backhand and was nevermuch of a tennis player.The truth is,despite how much I liked watching thesport, I did not enjoy playing. By thetime I turned 11, I had developedasthma. I would wake up in the middleof the night breathless. Eventually, myalarmed parents took me to a doctor,and he said that it was harmless andwould gradually go away as I got to mymid-20s. I had not learned to bepatient at the time, and so when the

doctor hinted that if I started runningthe asthma would go away faster, Iquickly made running a big part of mylife.When I think back to this period,it always reminds me of the movieForrest Gump; I started running,continued running and in many ways Ihave never stopped until today.Theasthma disappeared within one or twomonths. I took up squash for severalyears, and then during one summer I

grew several inches taller so I began playing basketball, which I did competitively for many years.I remember Everest always amazed me,but I had never given climbing asecond thought.

At age 16, I was given theopportunity to climb a mountain inSwitzerland during my holiday at asummer camp there. Up until thatpoint, I had only climbed a hill or twoin Egypt.That trip to the Alps wasn’tonly the first time I saw snow, but alsothe first time I walked in it. It was ashort two-day trip climbing a 2,000-something meter mountain, but itkindled something inside me. I realizedhow much I loved mountains, and myfitness allowed me to climb well. I stillremember getting to the top of themountain first and finding a logbookunder some rocks with many entriesof people who had reached thesummit. I flipped through it quickly tofind that I was the only Egyptian. I feltproud making that entry. I wrote myname and drew our flag, along withpictures of some pyramids.When I gotback home, I researched Everest andremember being blown away by themagnitude of the preparation andcommitment needed to attempt toclimb such a mountain. It was a dreamthat would take years to fulfill. It was adaunting prospect, but I held thevision all the same.

Years later, in 2000, at the age of 21,having recently graduated from AUCwith a bachelor’s in economics, I leftCairo to pursue my dream of workingand building a successful career formyself abroad. Initially, everything wentas planned. I landed a comfortable jobin a prominent investment bank, didvery well there and had an ever-blossoming social life. One sunnyLondon afternoon, I met a friend forlunch.We met occasionally to talk

“When I got back home, Iresearched Everest andremember being blownaway by the magnitude ofthe preparation andcommitment needed toattempt to climb such amountain.”

Descending from Everest on the Lhotse Face onMay 18, 2007

about our current lives and futureambitions.We would often fantasizeabout how we would travel the worldone day and explore its many culturesand landscapes.

However, on this particular day, wespoke about something a little morespecific. He proceeded to tell meabout a cycling trip he had donealone from Nice, France to Naples,Italy.The idea, albeit so alien to me atthe time, excited me in many ways.Surely enough, four months later, Iwas alone on a plane to Sevilla, Spainwith a bicycle and a map of Andalusia.The two weeks I spent touring theregion were physically grueling, butevoked many feelings and thoughtsthat had been waiting to surface. Irealized how passionate I was abouttraveling, exploration and pushing myown personal limits and comfortzones, and I began thinking deeplyabout many things I had previouslytaken for granted.

My Yearlong TourI enjoyed that trip to Spain so muchthat for two years I spent all myholidays backpacking in China,Morocco and Thailand. Quickly, it

dawned on me that I was merelyscratching the surface and I beganplanning for a longer, more involvedtrip. I’d love to say that the curiosity ofembarking on such an adventure morethan outweighed the confines of mydaily life and social pressures, but thetruth is that taking the decision to leaveeverything behind and embracinguncertainty never came easily.

At that time, I had been living andworking in Hong Kong as part of a six-month secondment from London andwas getting paid well. I was in a city fullof character, surrounded by friends andbeautiful women.An exotic weekendgetaway to Thailand’s white sandybeaches or a captivating Chinese townwas a couple of hours’ flight away orless. Life had a certain comfort to it thatwas akin to my days back home inCairo. I began to feel that life was toopredictable. I could tell with reasonablecertainty what I would be doing in the

next three or four years and that scaredme.There was so much more to seeand do.The choice became clear. Iwould remove myself from those all toofamiliar comfort zones and re-educatemyself by way of immersing myself inan endeavor that would engage andchallenge my every sense. I was notalien to the experience. More thanonce I had, at my own choice, uprootedmyself from my familiar surroundingsto cities where I knew no one and hadto start almost from scratch.Yet, thiswould be a different experiencealtogether.A trip that lasted a wholeyear with the ambition of experiencinga considerable part of the world’svillages, towns, cities, diverse landscapeand people meant that I wouldn’t beable to stay in one place for too long.A lone traveler, I would follow myheart, wandering through the farreaches of this world in search ofhappiness and myself. It wouldn’t be


Top:View of Everest summit approach from camp four at7,950 meters; two of Samra’s climbing partners, Greg Maudfrom South Africa and Kenton Cool from England, resting atcamp one after crossing the dangerous Khumbu Icefall

19

easy, but then again, I would have it noother way.

My one-year journey began inDecember 2002 when I left my workat the bank. In my view, the trip can bedivided into three distinct chapters.Thefirst, in Asia, took me from mystictemples of a forgotten Burma to thetowering Himalayan Mountains ofNepal, from the Shaolin monasteries ofcentral China, traversing north, throughthe Mongolian Gobi desert andSiberian wastelands to a more sensibleEuropean Russia. Second, in CentralAmerica, I switched from wanderer toworker, immersing myself in avoluntary marine conservation projectin Costa Rica and a communityproject in Nicaragua. I then resumedtraveling in those two countries,traversing jungles, scaling volcanoes andexploring the awe-inspiring Mayantemples in Honduras and Guatemala.

Last, in South America, my trail tookme from the upper echelons of thePeruvian Andean range to the lostcities of the Inca. Four-kilometer-highlakes of the Altiplano gave way to thetremendous salt flats and the blisteringgeysers of Uyuni.The driest place on

our planet earth, the Atacama desert ofNorthern Chile, marked the beginningof a trail down the longest coastline inthe world toward the astonishingglaciated lands of Patagonia. Iremember nearing Antarctica andstanding as the most southern point on

the face of the continent on Chile’s IslaNavarino before finally making myway to charming Buenos Aires andhappy Brazil.

This trip was not only a fantasticlearning experience, but it alsoallowed me to climb more mountainsin a year than I could have everclimbed in five had I been working.I went from climbing fairlystraightforward snowy peaks to intenselong-pitch, near-vertical ice routes.Over the next two years, I continuedto nurture my climbing habit. Everestseemed to get closer, yet it stillremained a surreal goal.

Planning for EverestIn late 2005, I began my MBA at theLondon Business School. Beforebeginning my studies, I went on a one-month trip to Peru for the solepurpose of getting climbing out of

“A lone traveler, I wouldfollow my heart,wandering through thefar reaches of this worldin search of happiness and myself.”

With Ted Alexander, Samra’s climbing mentor, after aclimbing expedition in Peru in August 2005

my system and focusing on studying.I came back from the trip havingsuccessfully scaled the hardestmountains I had ever attempted butlooking forward to keeping mypromise. Little did I know that one anda half months later, I would receive ane-mail from a colleague saying that hewanted to put a team together to climbMount Everest and was gaugingappetite around school.The truth is thatas soon as I finished reading his e-mail,

my heart jumped, and my decision wasmade.There was no way I could spendthe next two years watching a teamprepare for Everest and be a spectator.Everest came to me sooner than Ithought and at a time when I leastexpected, but I also believe that weneed to seize opportunities when theypresent themselves, so I did just that.

At first, there were 40 interestedmembers, but after one month ofplanning and a climbing trip in the

Scottish winter, that number quickly fellto four.These four became the Everestcore team, and we remained togetheruntil the very end.We spent close totwo years preparing, training six times aweek, two to three hours a day.Together, we attempted the sixthhighest mountain in the world andclimbed various technical peaks in theUnited Kingdom and the French andSwiss Alps.These practice climbs couldnot simulate all the hardships andchallenges of Everest, but they allowedus to experience working together as ateam under severe conditions and tounderstand where our strengths andweaknesses lay.

The ClimbFinally, the expedition began on March25, 2007. It took us two weeks to get tobase camp at an altitude of 5,340meters with our support team of yaks


Near Iguazu Falls in Argentina inDecember 2003; bottom: in the maintemple in Yangon, the Union ofMyanmar (formerly known as Burma)in December 2002

and Sherpas who helped us carry thesupplies we needed for the entireexpedition.Tents, food, climbing gearand equipment were just a few of themany things required for our longjourney. Reaching base camp markedthe end of the trekking phase of thetrip and the beginning of the climb.This is what I had been dreaming offor 12 years. I felt privileged to havebeen given the opportunity to make anattempt on the world’s highestmountain as the first Egyptian andhonored to be climbing the very sameroute as some of the world’s climbinglegends. History was made here, andwith any luck I would be writing myown chapter in the weeks to come.Success would not come easy, I knewthat much. I still had a mentally andphysically grueling seven to eight weeksahead of me in one of the mostchallenging and dangerous places onearth. Over that period of time, wemade countless journeys up and downthe mountain, setting up campsprogressively higher so our bodiescould adjust to the altitude byproducing extra oxygen-carrying redblood cells.We still needed to keepmaking the journeys down as well sothat our bodies could rest and recoverin relatively oxygen-rich altitudes.Thisprocess continued until we reachedcamp three between 7,200 and 7,400meters, after which we returned againto base camp and waited for the right

weather window to make our finalsummit push.Above 7,500 meters is anarea known among mountaineers as thedeath zone because beyond thataltitude, the human body cannot adjustand slowly begins to shut down. It wasimperative that we spend as little timeas possible in those upper reaches.

By the time we reached camp three,which marked the end of ouracclimatization process, we had mademultiple trips up and down themountain. In fact, by the end of theexpedition we had crossed the KhumbuIcefall, the section between base campand camp one, about eight times.TheKhumbu Icefall was the first climbingchallenge we faced. It is perhaps themost dangerous part of the mountain asmore people –– around 30 –– havedied there than anywhere else. It is amaze of near vertical ice cliffs,overhanging seracs and large crevasses.The ice shifts by a couple ofmillimeters a day, which in geologicalterms makes it one of the most unstableparts of our planet.The threat ofavalanches and large one-ton chunks of

ice falling is not uncommon.We alwaysbegan our journey through the icefallat dawn when the ice is most stable,and we tried to navigate the mostdangerous sections as fast as we could.Crossing the icefall allowed us toestablish camp one at 6,100 meters.

Between camp one and camp two isan area known as the Western Cwm.This is a gently rising glacial valley,marked by huge lateral crevasses in thecenter, which prevent direct access tothe upper reaches of the WesternCwm. Climbers are forced to cross onthe far right near the base of Nuptse toa small passageway known as theNuptse Corner.Temperatures can dropto as low as -40 degrees Celsius andrise to near +50 degrees Celsius whenthere is no cloud shield.After all, wewere about seven kilometers closer tothe sun, and all the surrounding snowand ice-covered mountains acted asgigantic mirrors reflecting the sun’s raysfrom every possible direction.Thiscauses climbers to get extremelydehydrated and considerably weakensthem.Thus, we needed to periodicallyadapt what we wore to survive thishuge variation in temperature.

Camp two is situated at the far endof the Western Cwm below the westshoulder of Everest at roughly 6,500meters. From that point, we progressedtoward camp three by ascending theLhotse Face. Lhotse is the fifth highestmountain in the world, and we climbed

21

“I had been preparing foryears for all kinds of dangers,and I knew that there arealways deaths on Everest, butit is different when you see itface to face.”

Samra at Everest base camp with Jean, a legendary French climber (left), Bo Parfet fromMichigan, USA and Pedawa, a Nepalese Sherpa who has climbed Everest seven times


a considerable part of its face beforetraversing back onto Everest.TheLhotse Face is one of the mosttechnical parts of the climb as itssteepness varies between 50 and 80degrees. One of the most difficult andemotional parts of the climb for mewas on this section of the mountain ataround 6,800 meters. Our team cameacross the body of a dead man whohad begun climbing just one hourahead of us.There was a lot of ice andsnow debris around him, so wegathered he must have been killed inan avalanche. I thought of giving up,and it was a difficult decision for all ofus whether to continue up or go backthat day. I had been preparing for yearsfor all kinds of dangers, and I knew thatthere are always deaths on Everest, butit is different when you see it face toface. In the end, we all made thedecision to resume climbing that sameday, but not before the situation hadtested all our resolve and made us thinkof turning back and ending theexpedition altogether.

After spending a night at camp three,we descended back to camp one andthen to base camp the day after that.We even descended lower in the valleyto Pangboche village at 4,000 metersfor rest and waited for a good summitweather window before going back upagain. By comparing various weathermodels, we were inclined to believethat the period between May 16 and18 would present a good summit

opportunity, and so we began makingour way from base camp five daysprior to that.We progressively climbedall the way back to camp three andstarted using bottled oxygen from thatpoint onwards.

From camp three to camp four, wecontinued to negotiate the upperreaches of the Lhotse Face and cameagainst two additional challengesknown as the Geneva Spur and theYellow Band.The Geneva Spur is ananvil-shaped rib of black rock. Fixedropes assist climbers in scrambling overthis snow-covered rock band.TheYellow Band is a section of sedimentarysandstone, which also requires about100 meters of rope for traversing it.Once we crossed the Yellow Band, wewould be back on Everest and only afew hours climb away from camp four,also known as the South Col. It is atthe South Col that we spent a fewhours trying to melt snow for waterand get some rest before trying for thesummit. However, the extreme altitudeof 7,950 meters and the resulting lackof oxygen at roughly 7 percent doesnot allow the climber any sleep orappetite to eat. It was a painful fewhours to nightfall before we continuedour climb and the final push to thesummit.We climbed in the dark so thatwe could get to the top in the lightand also descend before nightfall. Fromhere, clear weather and low winds arecritical factors in deciding whether tomake a final summit attempt. Even hereif weather does not cooperate, wecould be forced to descend, sometimesall the way down to base camp, whichcan be very disheartening.

Finally, we began our summit pushon May 16 at 10:45 pm, reaching firstthe steep Balcony at 8,500 meters,which is a precariously small platformoverlooking the Tibetan Plateau. Fromthere, we continued up a ridge toward

Raising the Egyptian flag on the summitof Yanapaccha in the Peruvian Andes inAugust 2005; bottom: sipping tea neartemple ruins in Manzushir Khiid,Mongolia in January 2003

23

the South Summit.This is perhaps themost exposed section of the climb, as amisstep to the left or right would sendone 2,400 meters down the southwestface, while to the immediate right isthe 3,050-meter Kangshung Face. Justbefore reaching the South Summit, wehad to negotiate a series of imposingrock steps.We would negotiate one andfeel like we had achieved our goal onlyto find that there was still further to go.In a world where one had to fight forevery breath, it was mentally crushing.

When I reached the South Summit,I felt for the first time that I couldreally make it to the top. From there, Ifollowed the final knife-edge summitridge and climbed the Hillary Step, anearly vertical 10-meter rock face,before walking the final steps to thetop of the world. I remember walkingthose final steps and thinking tomyself,“I did it.” It was very surreal.When I got to the top, it was a clearday with the closest cloud a fewthousand meters below us. I could seethe curvature of the Earth, and I felt

that I could see the whole planetbefore my eyes. I can’t really tell youwhat I felt at the top; it was a mixtureof very deep and strong emotions. I saton the summit to catch my breath andtook the Egyptian flag out of myrucksack and held it close to me for awhile before taking any photos. It wasa very special feeling. I spoke to mymother and brother via satellite phone.As soon as I heard their voices, I begancrying and my words came outintermittently and with great difficulty.It was a very emotional moment. I wason the summit for 40 to 50 minutesbefore we started to think of ourreturn journey, which, albeit shorter,was in many ways more dangerous.

The Art of DreamingEverest for me is more than just amountain. It is my very personaldream that was achieved through yearsof hard work and perseverance.Everyone in this world has their ownEverest to climb, and if we want toachieve these lofty goals and leave our

mark in the world, then we need tolearn to master the art of dreaming.That involves as much pondering andgazing into the sky as it isunderstanding that the road willalmost always be hard and long.

The best way I found to tackle agoal like Everest is never to focus onthe summit itself; if you do that, justlike any colossal task, it will mentallycrush you. Over the years andespecially on the mountain itself, Ifound it useful to break down thegoal into smaller, more achievableparts.Accomplish the smaller goalsalong the way and rejoice in each andevery one. It is really the journey andwhat we learn along the way thattruly matters.

If I had one wish for all of us, itwould be that we always listen andfollow our hearts in everything we do.That way, we always pick the rightdreams; those are our own dreams andnever someone else’s. So happydreaming, and I wish us all excitingand rewarding journeys. r

Volunteering in a four-week community-service project in El Cacao village, Nicaragua in April 2003

MappingMigration

An international expert in demography and sociology,

Philippe Fargues brings a wealth of experience to AUC’s

Forced Migration and Refugee Studies program


Ahm

ad E

l-Nem

r

25

Constantly on the go fornearly 30 years, PhilippeFargues, new director of

the Forced Migration and RefugeeStudies (FMRS) program, hasdeveloped an interest in demographyand refugee issues that has taken himaround the globe. From Lebanon andCameroon to Egypt and Italy,Fargues has examined manypopulation issues firsthand, immersedin the diverse cultures and languagesthat form their milieu.

“A society is not something thatyou look at from a distance,” saidFargues. “You need to share problemsand observe traditions.You must liveamong the people.”

Born and educated in France, witha doctorate in sociology from theSorbonne, Fargues can trace hisinterest in the Middle East back to hisadolescence in Paris during the1960s.“When I was young, NorthAfrica was very much in the lives ofFrench people,” said Fargues, referringto the newly affirmed independenceof Algeria and the strong divide acrossFrench society between those insupport and those in opposition. ForFargues, whose trip to Algeria as a17-year-old marked his firstindependent travel experience, NorthAfrica served as a portal to the rest ofthe African continent and the largerMuslim world.“I discovered the Arabworld through Algeria,” he said.“Despite all of the politicalresentment on both sides, I found thatI was warmly welcomed.That iswhen I decided to learn Arabic.”

After completing his undergraduatedegree in Arabic language and MiddleEast studies from the School ofOriental Languages in France, Farguestaught demography for two years atthe University of Paris. He thenmoved to the Lebanese University,where he created a master’s programin demography and took studentsacross the whole country for fieldresearch.“It was an incredibly fruitfultime for me. I was not onlydiscovering a country; I wasdiscovering the whole Middle Eastthrough my work,” Fargues said.

With the outbreak of civil war,Fargues left Lebanon and relocatedto Cameroon for three years, wherehe assumed a United Nationsposition at the Regional Center forDemographic Studies. He thenreturned to Lebanon despite thecontinuing civil war. “Once you’velived in the Middle East, you have akind of nostalgia for the region,”he explained.

Fargues spent the next several yearsbetween demographic researchprojects in the Arab region, the Ivory

Coast and his native France. In 1992,he came to Egypt, working as directorof the Social and Economic ResearchCentre.There, he completed andpublished the first Cairo Census fromdata collected in 1848. In addition, heserved as visiting professor at HarvardUniversity and was head of aEuropean Commission project onmigration in Italy. His recent decisionto join AUC as FMRS director stemsfrom his belief that Cairo is an idealsite for a migration and refugeestudies program.“There is a strongneed for a migration and refugeestudies center in the Arab world,” hesaid.“Migration is a critical issue inthe Gulf, not to say anything ofSudan, Libya, Palestine or Lebanon.There is no better place in the regionto work from than Cairo.”

Fargues has many ideas forstrengthening the teaching, researchand service components of FMRS,the three pillars upon which hebelieves the program is built. Hisplans include introducing a master’sdegree, incorporating more socialwork into the curriculum anddeveloping more research projects.The aim, he noted, is to increase localand regional awareness of migrationand refugee issues.

“Egypt is unique,” Farguesexplained.“It not only receives asignificant number of refugees; it alsosends migrants around the world.There are not only success stories,but also emerging problems that mustbe studied.” r

By Larissa Lawrence

“There is a strong needfor a migration andrefugee studies center inthe Arab world. ...Thereis no better place in theregion to work fromthan Cairo.”


For those who have found leisure between classesplaying basketball, volleyball and tennis on theMain Campus’s two courts or exercising in the

limited space of one of the gyms, major improvementsawait them on the new campus. Students will have theirpick from numerous sports facilities, housed in a massive,state-of-the-art athletic complex, one of the best of itskind in Egypt. Besides supporting extracurricular anduniversity team events, the complex will be able to hostnational tournaments.

The sports complex, comprised of various distinctcomponents, is divided into indoor and outdoor

Ahead ofthe Field

At AUC’s new campus, a

world-class sports

complex will feature one

of the most advanced

facilities in the region

Top: View of the indoor main court; right: soccer and field seating for 2,000 people

facilities. Among the amenitiesincluded in the indoor facilities are amartial arts studio; six squash courts;a main court, which canaccommodate handball, volleyballand basketball matches, providingbleacher seating for 2,000 spectators;a volleyball and basketball trainingcourt; a 400-meter running track;multiple rooms outfitted withequipment for weight-lifting,aerobics, table tennis and fitnessinstruction; an abundance of cardiomachines; and locker rooms,equipped with saunas and space forphysical therapy.

“The main aim of the new sportsfacilities is to provide the highest

quality of sports services to all AUCstudents, which is in line with theinstitution’s overall objective ofbuilding a world-class university onthe new campus,” said MohamedFeteha, associate dean of students anddirector of student services.

Measures have been taken to makethe new sports complex an invitingplace for students to spend their freetime, while improving their overallfitness. A small example of theinnovative approach taken indesigning the various aspects of theindoor sports facilities are the widecorridors used to house cardiomachines, which Ashraf Salloum,director of new campus planning anddesign, likens to galleries. “This is atrend that’s very popular in otherschools because people want to meetfriends when they go to the gym;they don’t want to be isolated,” hesaid, referring to the machines liningthe corridors. “The placement of themachines allows people to bothoversee and be seen by others.Thisencourages social interaction at the gym.”

The outdoor facilities, situated

between the student housing villageand recreational area, are equallyimpressive.They are made up of twobasketball courts; a main soccer fieldwith a running track; a trainingcourt for soccer practices; six tenniscourts, one of which is flanked byspectator bleachers; one handballcourt; four volleyball courts; and anOlympic-size pool. “It’s exciting tothink about the potential of thesenew facilities in changing the role of sports at the university,” saidMohamed Taher, associate director of the sports department.

The sports complex is set one levellower than the rest of the buildingson campus to preserve the consistentsilhouette of a level skyline.Toppingthe martial arts studio, a roof terracewill not only offer a sweeping vistaof the grounds, but is also designedto accommodate sports-related socialevents, such as award receptions andluncheons during tournaments.Witha glass facade, the southern wall ofthe indoor courts overlooks theoutdoor facilities and providesnatural light. r

By Larissa Lawrence

Left: Sports complex landmark; bottom:View of the Olympic-size swimming pool

Is Egypt Preparedfor Bird Flu?

AUC Professor Tarek Hatem is helping develop a nationalplan to contain the outbreak of bird flu in Egypt

Utilizing management tools and skills,Tarek Hatem, professor of strategicmanagement and international business

at AUC, has spearheaded a national project todevelop a stakeholder plan to combat bird flu inEgypt. Since the first reported case in Egypt inFebruary 2006, the virus has infected 37 people.Thanks to Hatem, the team of experts he leadsand the efforts of various governmentalorganizations, Egypt now has a national plan thatplaces it in a better position to combat bird flu.

How did the idea for such a project come about?

Donor countries wanted to help Egypt fight avianflu because the disease is a global concern, not justa domestic problem.To do that, the Egyptiangovernment had to develop a comprehensivestrategic plan.The actual initiative came from theDutch agricultural consular, which previouslycommissioned a similar study in our fishery sector.I was appointed as a strategic manager to lead ateam of consultants and oversee the different phasesof a stakeholder plan that was later integrated into anational plan for Egypt to combat avian flu.

Why bring in a strategic management expertto handle the avian flu crisis?

Avian flu has been tackled so far from a humanperspective; there has been a lot of talk about

By Ingrid Wassmann

Dan

a Sm

illie

29

vaccines. However, bird flu is really anagricultural problem.We need tocompletely restructure Egypt’s poultrysector, but the country lacks thestrategic management expertise.Youdon’t just need technical experts onavian flu to develop a vision for thepoultry sector; you also need someoneinvolved in strategic management toensure that all stakeholders areparticipating in the development of aplan.This participatory approach shouldfacilitate the implementation of thenational plan.

How did you go about the plan?

The first step was to hold a conferencethat brought together the variousministries, large poultry investors,families raising poultry in their homesand non-governmental organizationsrepresenting poultry producers.Theaim was to gather the differentperspectives of these stakeholders inorder to come up with a balanced planthat would meet their needs, as well asidentify the responsibilities of eachstakeholder because the issue is notjust the government’s responsibility.Wethen held a workshop and seminar topinpoint the main priorities of theplan.All the recommendations wereintegrated into a comprehensivereport.This report, along with otherreports developed by the ministries ofhealth, agriculture, land reclamationand others, were integrated into anational plan that has been submittedby the Egyptian government to ourpartners in development.

What are the main prioritiesidentified in the report?

Raising public awareness about thevirus, temporarily lifting tariff barrierson imported poultry, compensating

local poultry growers, preventing thespread of the disease and restructuringthe poultry industry.As for now, thethree main objectives of thegovernment’s national strategy are tocontrol the outbreak of the H5N1virus, prevent any further transmissionfrom birds to humans and minimize therisk of a pandemic.

Is there reason for people to panic?

No.There was a period last year whenpeople stopped eating chickenaltogether. Now, the public is lessalarmed and more aware that thedisease comes about through infectionfrom live poultry, not from eatingcooked chicken. Besides, there are a lotof lessons that Egypt has learned fromother countries such as Indonesia andVietnam, and that is exactly what wehave set out to do with thegovernment. It is a continuouslearning process; we have not found all

the answers. But at least now, as a resultof this plan, the responsibilities ofconcerned sectors and parties havebeen identified, and necessary action isbeing taken.

What are the main challengesEgypt is facing today in its fightagainst bird flu?

First, we need to change the popularpractices of at least 4.5 million familieswho are raising poultry in theirbackyards and rooftops, especially indensely populated urban areas. It isimportant to point out that theoutbreaks are occurring in backyardsand on rooftops, not in the commercialpoultry farms. In addition,compensation needs to be offered tothese families as an incentive for themto report any outbreaks.

Second, the number of slaughterhousesin Egypt needs to be increaseddramatically.At the current rate, we

Mar

yam

Far

rag

will only be able to reach the numberof slaughterhouses and adequatefreezing capacity needed by 2010. More importantly, thoseslaughterhouses must meetinternational standards; otherwise, itbecomes difficult for the governmentto implement the laws that wereestablished in 2006 to close livepoultry shops.

Third, we need to encourage citizensto eat frozen rather than live poultryand educate them about the virus bymobilizing informed individuals to goout and raise awareness.

Fourth, the government needs toincrease its stock of poultry vaccines,even though a quarter billion doseshave been imported.

Finally, bird flu is affecting the incomeof a huge number of Egyptians and is also impacting their nutritional intake. Because poultry representsapproximately 30 to 40 percent of theprotein intake of the average Egyptianhousehold, a major reduction ofpoultry consumption can eventuallybecome a food security issue.

What measures are being taken toaddress these issues?

Plans are underway to expand existingslaughterhouses and build new ones inline with international standards, as wellas keep poultry farms under rigoroussurveillance. Egyptian veterinarians arebeing trained to carry out outbreakinvestigations and sample collections.Egypt’s General Organization forVeterinary Services, which will becompletely upgraded and restructured,is providing free vaccination to all birdsraised in rural backyards. Quarantinemeasures are being put in place to

contain any outbreak.The governmentis also working to enhance and accreditlocal labs and improve the testingstandards in all governorates acrossEgypt. In addition, media campaignsare being developed, and mosques and churches are encouraged todisseminate information about the virus. Hygiene-educationcampaigns are also being conductedin the countryside to educate childrenand adults about the virus and to teachwomen and girls, the prime targetaudience, how to dispose of dead birdsand cook poultry for safe humanconsumption.

Is the virus being successfullycontained as a result of thesemeasures?

We are not seeing any new infectionsin the commercial farms where thereis growing awareness and hygienicpractices. However, bird flu is largelyaffected by the seasonal migration ofbirds, and the virus is modifying and accommodating itself to theexisting vaccine.

Is Egypt better prepared tocombat the spread of avian flu asa result of this plan?

Definitely, the government and thevarious ministries are in a betterposition now to react because a lot ofknowledge has been gained throughthe plan and there is bettercoordination between the differentgovernment bodies.There is also moreawareness about the virus.Nonetheless, we have to realize that allwe can hope for is to limit and containthe disease and not to completelyeradicate it. Bird flu is like influenza; wehave to learn to live with it and limitits effect.r

Bird flu, otherwise known asavian influenza, is a viral diseasethat can cause illness in birds.It has existed for more than 100 years.

H5N1 is the contagious andpotentially deadly subtype,propagated and carried bymigratory birds. It istransmittable to humansprimarily through direct contactwith infected poultry or surfacescontaminated with poultryexcretions. Cases of humaninfection from the virus havebeen reported as early as 1997.However, since 2003, outbreaksof the disease, which began inSoutheast Asia, have hit manycountries simultaneously.

According to the World HealthOrganization, the H5N1 virus hasinfected 329 people worldwidesince 2003, killing 201. Inaddition, around 250 millionpoultry have been culled as aprecautionary measure. Althoughmost human deaths haveoccurred as a direct result of bird-to-human contact, healthofficials fear the virus couldeventually mutate to a formtransmittable from human to human.

Bird flu symptoms are similarto the common flu: fever,coughing and aches, primarilyaffecting the respiratory system.Currently, antiviral vaccines suchas Tamiflu are administered bothfor treatment and prevention.

What isBird Flu?


31

Around the World

President David Arnold presents an AUC Press book to NabilFahmy ’74, ’77, Egypt’s ambassador to the United States

Tawhida El Askary ’96,AUC Trustees Dina Powell and James Bond, President David Arnold and SherryArnold at a reception in Washington, D.C. for AUC friends and alumni hosted by Nabil Fahmy ’74, ’77,Egypt’s ambassador to the United States, and his wife Nermine Abdel Naby ’75

Gathering held in May 2007 in Seattle foralumni working at Microsoft

Reception for alumni and friends at the Westin SeattleHotel in May 2007

A reception for alumni and friends was held at the Bankers Club in San Francisco in May 2007

United States

31


Classes of ’56, ’57, ’58, ’66, ’67 and ’68 gather fora reunion at AUC’s new campus in May 2007

Alumni gathering held at MORE café and restaurant in Dubaiin June 2007

United Arab Emirates

Egypt

United Arab Emirates

33

’72 Maria Adamantidis is a journalistwho has held top editorial positionsin magazines for 20 years. She hascrossed over to the book writing andpublishing field in 2002, working asbook editor for Greek and Englishworks. She has published two books,A Greek Promenade in Cairo and GreekSports in 20th Century Cairo.Adamantidis has been living inGreece since 1972. She and herEgyptian-Greek husband hold Egyptclose to their hearts and never missan opportunity to return and visitold haunts. In 1988, AUC held anexhibition of Adamantidis’sphotographs of Greek locations inCairo titled “Places of the Heart.”She can be contacted [email protected].

’74Elma Anne-Marie Drosso iscurrently living in London.Aftergraduation, she received her doctoratein economics and taught the subjectin British Colombia, Canada. Shewent on to receive a degree in lawand worked as a member of anadministrative tribunal in Vancouver.She published her first collection ofshort stories, endorsed by Alaa AlAswany, author of Yacoubian Building.

’75Mohamed Saad is a professionalchemical engineer with a BSc andMSc from Georgia Tech in the UnitedStates. He owns a company based inArizona that specializes in engineeringconsultation, innovative softwaresolutions and training for waterdesalination, in addition to an Arabic-English translation and interpretation

business. He is fond of photography,Arabic poetry and calligraphy.

’84Ehtesham Ali is country head ofoperations at the Dubai Islamic BankPakistan and chair of the InternationalChamber of Commerce’s bankingcommission, Pakistan chapter. She hasmore than 20 years of bankingexperience covering Pakistan andother international locations.

’85Suzan Minas is married to LibaridKarkour, and they have three sons,Arpen, 19; Haro, 18; and Alen, 14.

Walid El-Zare is currently a

regional manager at Pirelli, a vehicletire supplier in Saudi Arabia. He hastwo children, Marwa and Abdulla.

’87Osama Hanna (MBA ’94) isworking with ADCO, the national oilcompany in Abu Dhabi as seniorcontracts engineer. He started hiscareer with Schlumberger for fiveyears, after which he joined El EzzGroup as factory technical manager.After receiving his MBA, he workedwith Halliburton, eventuallyrelocating to the United ArabEmirates. Hanna is married to Nanaand has two children, Merna andKarim. He would love to hear fromhis colleagues at [email protected].

Class Notes

Salma Al Bakry ’79, ’96, wants togive Egyptian children the best of

both worlds. She wants them toreceive a high standard of internationaleducation while preserving theircultural identity.“After teaching atprivate universities in Cairo, I felt thatmany Egyptian students are missingsomething important: a strongacademic foundation and a sense ofidentity. It is harmful to have studentswho are neither American norEgyptian,”Al Bakry said.“I kept askingmyself, How do we give students anexclusive level of internationaleducation and at the same time makethem proud of who they are?”

Al Bakry pondered this question somuch that it became the topic of herdoctoral dissertation, and later thedriving force behind the NewGeneration International Schools,which she opened in 2005 to help

instill in students a love of theirlanguage, religion and culture.“Moststudents in international schools actAmerican and are taught to beAmerican,” she said.“I decided thatthere is a gap to fill, so I put my PhDdissertation into action. I want studentsto love their language and religion.I want to serve my country in a waythat would bring forth a newgeneration that can meet the challengesof today’s world and at the same timebe proud of our cultural identity.”

Alumna Works to Foster Cultural Identity

’90Amr El Husseini is married to DinaSarhan ’89.They are co-founders andmanaging partners of a foodconsultancy and training companythat offers a wide array of culinaryservices; consultancy for hotels,restaurants and cafes; as well ascooking courses for amateurs andprofessionals.The couple has twochildren, Nour Addin and Tamara.

Azza Aly, a senior policy officer atthe Department of the Premier andCabinet in Australia, is currentlypursuing a doctorate in media studies.She also gives lectures to third-yearsociology students.Aly recentlypresented a paper on the historicalroots of Al Qaeda ideology at aconference in Canberra,Australia.

’93Youssef Hafez earned an MBAfrom Maastricht School ofManagement in Cairo in 1998. Heworked for Shell Egypt for four yearsbefore moving to Exxon Mobil. InSeptember 2005, he relocated withhis family to Brussels, where he iscurrently leading Exxon MobilEurope downstream integratedbusiness teams. Hafez is married toMaya and has one boy, Hani, 4.He can be reached [email protected].

’94Mariam Ayad worked for fouryears as assistant director of theInstitute of Egyptian Art andArchaeology at the University ofMemphis,Tennessee. She will be avisiting scholar at New Hall Collegein Cambridge, England for the2007-08 academic year and wouldlove to hear from alumni in the areaat [email protected].

Ossama Al Mohtaseb is anoperations manager for oil and gasAramco sectors at Rawabi Tradingand Contracting Company in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia. He ismarried to Rania Tawabini and hasthree children, Ziad, 7;Yasmeen, 5;and Tameem, 2.

’95Karim Nasr is sales and operationsmanager for the Middle East atTecWel, a Norwegian company basedin Abu Dhabi.After graduation, heworked for Halliburton Egypt as alogging field engineer until 2003, thenrelocated to Sondex, UAE as a tractorspecialist for two years. Nasr marriedMariam Yacoub ’03 in July 2001, andthey were blessed with Marian inApril 2002. He would like to hearfrom his colleagues at [email protected].

Shima Barakat (MA ’98) set up acompany in England,Value inEnterprise, which helps managementovercome the problems they face asthey try to become moreenvironmentally and sociallyresponsible.After receiving herdoctorate, Barakat lectured at theUniversity of Strathclyde in Scotlandfor two years.

’96Hala Mattar is very proud to haveengraved her name on a brick onAUC’s new campus. She would bedelighted to hear from her classmatesat [email protected].

Waleed Nassar is a photographerand owner of Madeena360 Studio,which provides photography servicesfor tourism, real estate and education.He is married to Rania Zaki ’97 andhas a son, Seif.

’97Nariman Nasef is working withCognos Inc. in Ottawa, Canada. Sheis pursuing her master’s inengineering management. She ismarried to Maged Elaasar ’96, whoworks at IBM while pursuing hisdoctorate.They have two children,Mirna, 9, and Kareem, 5.The couplewould like to hear from theircolleagues at [email protected].

’98Ehab Shoukry (MSc) received hisdoctorate in mechanical engineeringfrom West Virginia State University.He is a project manager at a leadingcompany in South California. He isgrateful to his alma mater and to hisprofessor Salah El Haggar. He hastwo children, Merna and MichaelDavid. He can be reached [email protected].

Khalil El Bawab worked at ArabBank for nine years after graduation,after which he joined EFG-Hermes asvice president of fund management.He completed his MBA in bankingand finance and got engaged toMarwa Emam, assistant manager at the Egyptian Gulf Bank’s credit department.

’99Basel Hegazi is operations managerof logistics at the supply chainconsumer department of Johnson &Johnson Middle East, based in Dubai.Hegazi has been working with thecompany for the past seven years. Heis married and has three children.

Hoda Mojadidi was one of the fewAfghans at AUC. She is married toRiaz Rayek and has three children,Zohal, 3; Elyas, 2; and Haris, 2 months.She would be delighted to hear from


her classmates [email protected].

’00Tamara Yousry is an eventscoordinator at the CommunityServices Association in Maadi.Previously, she was an executiveeditor at Enigma magazine.

’01Moataz Attallah (MSc ’03) marriedDr. Rania Salama, generalpractitioner and graduate of AinShams University’s medical school, inJanuary 2007. He finished his PhDresearch and is currently a researchscientist at the Materials ScienceCentre at the University ofManchester in the United Kingdom.

’03Marwa Farid is a project trainingmanager at Midwest UniversitiesConsortium for InternationalActivities and the University ofIllinois. Previously, she was outgoingmilitary shipment assistant, protocolassistant and general consularinformation assistant at the U.S.Embassy in Cairo.

’04Reham Gad was married in August2004. She worked at the UnitedNations High Commissioner forRefugees for five months beforerelocating with her husband toSeattle,Washington. She has twins,Yusuf and Noor, who were born inDecember 2005.

’06Mahmoud El Gallad (MBA)worked in the civil sector for fouryears, then moved to other businesssectors. He is currently a seniorquality analyst at Mobinil.

Mahmoud El-Sarrag is technicalpackaging manager of the fabricand home care group at Procter andGamble. He married Yasmin Fouad,a student at the Faculty of ArtsEnglish section, in August 2007.

’07William Hummel graduated inJune 2007 with a degree in MiddleEastern studies and economics. Herecently began working at Penn,Schoen & Berland doinginternational political and corporateconsulting. He currently resides inWashington, D.C. and can bereached at [email protected].

Special Programs

Amy Margaret Wilson (YAB ’04)graduated from the University ofBristol, England after being awardedthe Richard Bradford McConnellMaster of Arts Studentship inMediterranean Archaeology. Shewas also named studentrepresentative of the same program.Wilson presented her dissertationlast spring at the 58th annualmeeting of the American ResearchCenter in Egypt in Toledo, Ohio.Wilson’s thesis is titled “FromTradition to Trend:The Development of a TaniteRepertoire of Morturary Texts (21st - 22nd Dynasties).” It dealswith the royal tombs of Tanis thatdate to the third intermediateperiod of Egyptian history.

In Memoriam

Reem Abaza ’99 died in August 2007.

Bassem Gouda Aboul Enien ’04died in September 2007.

35

Mohamed El Araby ’03, ’06, retail roamingteam leader at Vodafone Egypt, marriedSarah El Hawary, graduate of applied arts,on July 7, 2007 at the Movenpick Hotel inCairo.The couple traveled to Spain for theirhoneymoon

Dina Samir ’03, marketing coordinator atAA-Technologies, married Bahaa Gamil,telecommunications and network systemdevelopment specialist at AUC, on August 4,2007 at Kasr El Dobara EvangelicalChurch.The couple spent their honeymoonin Antalya,Turkey.They are pursuing theirgraduate studies at AUC in journalism andmass communication

Weddings


Rarely are we allowed an opportunity to break theroutine in our lives to ask meaningful questionsabout who we are and how we’ve gotten to

where we are. Having graduated from AUC last June, thisseems like an appropriate opportunity to revisit a questionwhich I have entertained many times in the past: How did I,as an Ecuadorian girl at 18 years of age, with no family orfriends in Egypt and certainly no knowledge of Arabic, endup living in this country entirely on my own for four years?Or most importantly, how has this experience converted thatwide-eyed 18-year-old into the person I am today?

The journey has been long, and picking a moment in timeand turning it into a beginning is always a challenge. I’d startby saying that I got to AUC by public bus, and the momentI crossed the university gates, I knew that the first phase ofmy life in Egypt had ended and another one was beginning.Yet little did I know that my first year in Cairo beforecoming to AUC was the lens through which I would cometo experience my undergraduate life.

I had come to Egypt right after my high schoolgraduation for the purpose of discovering what life in aMuslim country is like, as well as to learn Arabic and Islam,a religion I practiced openly and freely, but which few couldunderstand back in Ecuador, a Catholic country. In Egypt, Istudied Arabic and religion at a private center affiliated withAl-Azhar University.At the time, I was not fully aware ofAUC’s existence, and in any case, my original plan was tostay in Egypt for only a year.

During that first year, I had the unique opportunity toexperience an Egyptian lifestyle radically different from theair-conditioned lifestyle I would later be exposed to atAUC. Landing at Al-Azhar and with nobody to show methe posh side of Cairo was not entirely my choice. I reallythought that was what all of Egypt looked like.“Fine,” Ithought.“If this is the way it is going to be, so be it.”Andoff I went to take 25 piaster bus rides and go groceryshopping in the aswaq-al-shaabiyyah (local market). Most ofmy classmates at Al-Azhar depended on the universitystipend to make ends meet every month.Therefore, I soonadjusted my ways to dress and act in a manner sensitive totheir realities.

Armed with a willingness to be flexible to theexpectations of my host country and blessed with an innate

propensity for closeobservation, I set offto explore anddiscover. I found outthat wearing a khimar(long veil) and longskirt enabled me tomove around in different places safely and undisturbed, so Isoon opted for that style of dress. For a year I wentunnoticed, observing and learning as never before.

As a woman coming from another side of the developingworld, the realities I witnessed in Cairo should not havetaken me by surprise, but the fact is they did. My life inQuito had been almost as sheltered as the lives of theAUCians I’d come to meet a few months later.Thus, I wasdeeply affected by experiences such as having the socialproblems of the Global South mirrored in an old womansitting next to me in the bus. More painful was the suddenawareness of my own helplessness and the realization thatthe cost of the ticket for an old man in the bus, which Iyearned to pay very much, was worth nothing compared tohis dignity.

Having made the decision to stay in Egypt, I enrolled atAUC in Spring 2003. Needless to say, my first impulse whenI got off the public bus and into the Main Campus was torun away.Again I was being challenged to face the unknown,be flexible and adapt. I stayed. I pursued an undergraduatedegree in political science, and I discovered several places Icould call home: academia, Model Arab League and ModelUnited Nations.

I have come to think about my year at Al-Azhar as thecause for my critical view of realities I consider alien to thelife of the standard Egyptian and of my own privilegedposition in this new social setting. I also see it as that whichallowed me to match dry academic concepts to humanfaces that continue to reside in my memory. I am nowready to part with a broad smile on my face. I know thatwherever it is that my journey takes me next, I will remainforever thankful to a country and its people who welcomedan 18-year old traveler as one of its own.

Janan Delgado ’07 majored in political science at AUC and wasa member of the Model United Nations and Model Arab League.

Akher Kalam

Akher Kalam is an open forum for members of the AUC community.We invite you to share your thoughts on any topic of your choice.Submissions should be sent to [email protected] and may be edited for length and clarity.

Fitting In

fall 2007 ()

Documents