WATANI International
19 December 2010
Metro extension
Earlier this month the French Development Agency (Agence Française de Développement AFD) signed a loan agreement with Egypt for ER44 million to finance the second phase of Line 3 of the Cairo Metro network, which is planned for completion in October 2013. This will extend the line from Abbasiya in Downtown Cairo by 7.12kms through four new stations to North East Cairo (Heliopolis).
The agreement was signed by France’s ambassador to Egypt Jean Félix Peganon, AFD regional director Jean Pierre Marcelli, deputy governor of the Central Bank of Egypt Hisham Abdel-Hafez, and Atta al-Sherbini, head of the board of directors of the National Authority for Tunnels.
France has already financed the same phase with a ER200 million loan; and the AFD, since it opened in Egypt in 2007, has offered financing to 12 different projects in water services, transportation, environment and power.
Egyptian Americans music
Earlier this month Berklee College musicians treated young Egyptians to an interactive and highly engaging concert. A large number of Berklee College musicians are visiting Egypt upon an initiative by Egyptian-American singer and songwriter Yasmin Tayeby, a graduate of the Berklee College of Music. Yasmin is back in the Egyptian music community after being described by Nile FM as a distinguished talent following a magnificent performance at the Pyramids. The musicians held several performances in cooperation with Egyptian bands at the Gezira Youth Centre, the Integrated Care Society Theatre, and al-Sawy Cultural Wheel.
Meeting old friends
The French Cultural Centre in Cairo in cooperation with the union of the graduates of the Jesuit School in Cairo—the Collège de la Sainte Famille—last month held several reunion gatherings in Egyptian institutions for French-Egyptian writer Gilbert Sinoué to meet old school friends and classmates.
Sinoué was born in Egypt in 1947. In 1985, aged 18, he travelled to Beirut, leaving there for Paris in 1968. In Paris he studied the classical guitar and wrote songs for famous French singers including Claude François and Dalida. “The three novels Des jours et des nuits, Avicenne and Le livre de Saphir were the ones that most let me feel the advantage of writing,” Sinoué said.
Sinoué’s two latest novels, Le Souffle du Jasmin and Le Cri des Pierres, were published in April and September 2010. They are the story of four families (Egyptian, Palestinian, Jewish and Iraqi) from 1920 to 1990. Through their lives the entire history of the Middle East is explained.
Intercultural festival
For the second successive year, the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures held its Alexandria Intercultural Festival, Farah al-Bahr 2010, at the Qaitbey Citadel in Alexandria last November. Farah al-Bahr literally means the celebration or rejoicing of the sea. The festival was opened by Marc Franco, head of the European Union delegation in Egypt; Belgian ambassador Bruno Néve, and Ali Maher, director of the Anna Lindh Network in Egypt.
This year’s festival entered a new phase with international bands arriving from Europe, a wide selection of workshops, film screenings and discussions, an international parade, the involvement of contemporary and traditional artists and projects by members of the festival’s Egyptian network. Among the several organisations supporting the festival were the Egyptian Tourist Authority (within the framework of Alexandria as the Capital of Arab Tourism), the Spanish Embassy, UNESCO, the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Goethe Institute, the British Council and the French Cultural Institute.
European and Egyptian bands such as Casa Patas from Spain, Ialma from Belgium and the Egyptian bands Massar Egbari and Nass Makan, gave magnificent performances that reflected the culture of their countries.
“The festival aims to use folk art to support the idea of knowing the other’s culture, as well as encouraging bilateral understanding between the peoples of the Euro-Mediteranean region,” said Andrew Claret, executive director of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation. “Farah al-Bahr is an important cultural and artistic event on the international level, he said.
“It gives young people the opportunity to explore other culture and the arts of the neighbouring countries”, Ali Maher added.
Women play football
The U.S. Embassy in Cairo staged a series of international women’s football workshops across Egypt from earlier this month. American football experts Mary McVeigh and Ben Gucciardi, from the Soccer Without Borders organisation, worked with Egyptian players and coaches in Cairo, Alexandria, Ismailiya and Qena to hone their football skills and strengthen international contacts through the universal language of sports. McVeigh, a former All-American and assistant coach at Dartmouth College, and Gucciardi, founder and director of Soccer Without Borders, will lead workshops for the young Egyptian athletes as well as training sessions for Egyptian women’s football coaches. Participants gained valuable coaching tips and practiced a wide range of football skills including shooting, positioning and physical fitness.
Worthy cause
On the occasion of the United Nations Day the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Egyptian Red Crescent organised a blood donation campaign under the slogan “Thanks for Egypt”. The event took place on 24 October at the WHO premises and was attended by the heads of all the UN organisations in Egypt, UN staff and Goodwill Ambassadors, who donated blood to the blood bank.