Following its big success in 2016, 2017, and 2018, the Traverse Summit is gearing up for its 4th edition. Organized by career and personal development edtech startup iSpark, the Traverse Summit is an annual conference that brings together high school students, inspirational young speakers, education experts, career coaches, as well as representatives from local and international universities. Set to kick off on Friday October 11th at the Arabella Country Club in New Cairo, the 2-day summit will feature prominent speakers from all walks of life, including Ahmed Mourad, bestselling author of Diamond Dust and The Blue Elephant, eco-startup Greenish founder Shady Khalil, Yomeddine producer Dina Emam, and comedian Marwan Younis. With the aim of connecting Egyptian youngsters with educational and career advancement opportunities, the Traverse Summit adopts engaging and interactive methods, such as workshops and competitions. Themed ‘A trip to the future’, this year’s edition of the Traverse Summit will also include mentorship sessions in the fields of aerospace engineering, robotics, and music production. Expected to draw more than 2000 attendees this year, the Traverse Summit is considered one of the biggest events of its kind in the MENA region….
‘Mona5na’: the Startup Raising Egyptian Youth’s Awareness on Climate Change
“I want you to panic,” 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg told world leaders at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting earlier this year. Over the past few years, young people have rallied older generations to act more promptly on the issue of climate change. Known to be the largest climate strike in world history, the September 20th Youth 4 Climate strike drew around 4 million protesters, many of whom were schoolchildren. Expected to reach 1.3 billion people by 2030, the world’s young population will constitute the bigger part of those affected by climate change. Noura Abdel Ghafar, founder of ‘Mona5na’ (Our Climate), wants to create a new generation of Egyptian youth that have better climate literacy and knowledge in order to effectively face the challenges of the future. “I want to help young children grow and become a generation that is fully aware of the future issues facing them,” Abdel Ghafar tells Egyptian Streets. “They are the ones who will lead the world in the next couple of years.” With a special interest in the environment from a young age, Abdel Ghafar first studied chemical engineering at university before moving…
‘I Chose the Wrong Father for My Children’: Stories of Single Mothers in Egypt
Single motherhood is a social concept that is clouded with stigmatizing notions across the world, and Egypt is no different. According to data from the Egyptian Statistics Observatory, there are more than 12 million single mothers in Egypt as a result of divorce, separation, common law marriage, and widowhood. To this day, divorce is considered the number 1 culprit for destroying the nuclear family, and women carry most of the blame for not creating a ‘stable household’ for their children. After graduating with a degree in architecture, Samia* married a man eight years her senior and gave birth to a son soon after. As they approached their third year of marriage, tensions were rising between them, but she found herself pregnant with her second child. His contribution to the family and to the parenting of their child was almost non-existent financially, physically, and emotionally, Samia* says. She was four months pregnant when she took her son, moved out, and separated from her husband due to his neglect of the family. “He used to leave the house at eight in the morning and come back home at eight in the evening…
Waste Collection App ‘Dawar’ Launches in Cairo
Minister of Environment Dr. Yasmine Fouad stated on the sidelines of the Green Economy and Sustainable Development Conference that the ministry has completed the preparation of the first waste collection application for monitoring the places of garbage in the neighborhoods of Cairo. The application, ‘Dawar’, was experimented in Maadi and Tora neighborhoods to ensure its success, the Minister said. It allows users to report garbage on Cairo’s streets and links the Waste Management Authority, the relevant district office, and the Environment Ministry to jointly coordinate pickups. To achieve the new vision for waste management for 2019/2020, the government witnessed the closure of 35 random dumps in six governorates and the establishment of factories to recycle waste. Dawar is also one of Environ-Adapt services, a waste management solutions company in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment of Egypt and GIZ. The minister added that the cooperation protocol signed between the ministry and the company to control and manage the waste system will be applied in 7 governorates: Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Qena, Assiut, Gharbiya and Kafr El-Sheikh. Cairo has a huge waste problem that is difficult for authorities and the Zabbaleen waste…
Rare Rhino Sighting Not Actually in Egypt
In the past few hours, footage of a huge wild rhinoceros strolling the streets of Cairo have circulated social media. Amid the amazement and surprise of those present, people were keen to document this rare sighting. Footage re-uploaded by several sources of the same scene has stormed Facebook under the title “rhinoceros roam the streets of Cairo in a unique scene.” The videos generated more than 80,000 views in just an hour and thousands of likes and comments. Interestingly, what made viewers think that this happened in the streets of Cairo is that some people spoke in Arabic, but the incident was not in Cairo, but this Does not negate the fact of the video. The truth of the matter is that this incident took place on a street in Nepal, specifically on the main street in the village of Seoraha in Nepal. This is a frequent occurrence in Nepal, especially in that region, because there is a national park called “Chitwan”, located near Seoraha. In the Seoraha, the government puts up banners along the streets with animals, saying animals may appear on the streets. A similar incident took place…
Remains of Ptolemaic Temple Found in Sohag
Remains of an ancient Egyptian temple belonging to a Ptolemaic ruler have been uncovered in northern Sohag, as per Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities. Unconventionally, the temple remains belonging to Ptolemy IV were found during drillings to implement a sewage drainage project in the village of Kom Shakau. As such, the drilling project has been halted and an archeological mission has been assigned to rescue the remainder of the ruins. Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, stated that the discovery includes limestone walls and floors as well as segments of the temple’s walls bearing the name inscriptions of Ptolemy IV. Ptolemaic IV was the fourth ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt. He has a tumultuous reign inside Egypt and strained relations with the country’s neighbors over its Levantine territories. Moreover, head of the Central Department of Antiquities of Egypt, Mohamed Abdel Badie stated that the mission revealed the southwestern corner of the temple and a part of the north to south wall. The findings bore repeated views of the god Hapy, carrying offerings alongside depictions of birds and animals. The news was announced on the Ministry of Antiquities’ Facebook…
Sudanese Film ‘You Will Die at 20’ Wins Best Narrative Feature Film at GIFF
For the first time in its history, Sudanese feature film ‘You Will Die at 20’ directed by Amjad Abu Alala won the Best Narrative Feature Film award at El Gouna Film Festival’s third edition. This is the first Sudanese narrative feature film to ever participate in the festival. Its international debut was in late August during the Venice Film Festival, where it won the Luigi De Laurentiis Award and was nominated for Fedeora Award. ‘You will Die at 20’ also participated in the internationally renowned Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) earlier in September. Inspired by Sudanese folktales, the film follows a prophecy of a child who was augured to die at the age of 20. On the Simaya, the naming ceremony of her firstborn child’s naming ceremony, Sakina, played by Islam Mubark receives a devastating prophecy by a traveling sheikh who announced that her son, Muzamil, who is also the protagonist in the film, would die in two decades. Muzamil, played by Moatasem Rashid then as a teen by Mustafa Shehata, means, “wrapped in clothes” after his forecasted future. His mother Sakina mourns over her son’s life while she raises…
Egyptian Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah Detained
Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah was reportedly detained this morning while leaving probation in Dokki police station. Lawyers informed his family that he was taken to the State Security prosecution, though there is still no information on the accusations or the case. “Five years in prison weren’t enough. Five years of him spending 12 hours a day in isolation in a police station aren’t enough. They had to rearrest him again. He has to go through this again,” Mona Seif, Abd El Fattah’s sister, wrote on Twitter. https://twitter.com/Monasosh/status/1178177031751770114 Last week, Egyptian human rights lawyer and political activist Mahienour El-Masry was also reportedly arrested outside of the State Prosecution Office in Cairo. Her place of detention remains unknown. Earlier this year in March, Abdel Fattah was released from prison after spending five years behind bars. Throughout his lifetime, Abdel Fattah has been arrested or investigated by Egyptian authorities on several occasions due to his political activism. On 7 May 2006, he spent 45 days in detention for demonstrating for an independent judiciary under the rule of President Hosni Mubarak. Later on 30 October 2011, he was arrested for inciting violence at…
Mo Salah to Be Appointed Pharaohs’ Team Captain
Famed Egyptian player and Liverpool winger, Mohamed Salah, is set to be the Pharaohs’ national new captain, as per Egypt Today. The decision was taken by Hossam El Badry, Egypt’s national team new manager replacing Mexican Javier Aguirre. Announced on Saturday, the decision is meant at smoothing tension between Salah and the Egyptian Football Association while highlighting the importance of Salah’s inclusion in the national team. Recently, the EFA and Salah have been at the center of dispute due to the former’s failure at voting for the popular player in the FIFA’s best player award. The EFA commented about the incident, calling it an “unintentional mistake”. According to the BBC, Fifa stated “The signatures on the voting forms were in capital letters and thus seemed not valid” and that the forms lacked the obligatory ratification of the EFA general secretary. The Pharaoh’s captain position is currently held by Ahmed El Mohamady. El Badri, the first Egyptian manager in four years, was appointed following Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah Al Sisi’s decision that the country would hire a national coach rather than a foreign one. Egypt’s outstanding 1-0 defeat against South Africa, held…