Club ID 86630

EGYPTAIR

MS804 –

Karim Swellam

Tears were shed at our meeting on

24th

May as we remembered the 66

people who lost their lives on Egypt

Air Flight MS804.

Club President Sherif Abdel Aziz

called for a one minute silence, and

this was followed by a prayer and

the lighting of a candle.

Rotary member Danielle Gilles

attended the meeting. Her beloved 32

year old son Karim Swellam was on

the flight.

Karim was travelling with his

fiancée Isabelle to Egypt to attend a

cousin’s wedding in Cairo.

MAY NEWSLETTER

MAY 2016

What’s Inside:

• EGYPTAIR MS804

• BREAST CANCER AWARNESS

• DISTRICT EVENTS

• FIRST ANNIVERSARY

• 10th

COMMUNITY FORUM

• RAMADAN 2016

• 70th

BIRTHDAY

• YOGA ON THE BEACH

Danielle’s son Karim Swellam was

born in Alexandria in 1983.

Karim was athletic, charismatic,

sensitive, a hard worker, a strong

business leader, and had a passion

for travel.

Karim was also passionate about

sport, and enjoyed rugby, squash,

and swimming.

In October 2014, Karim started his

company Hydraulec in D’Argenteuil

which specialized in thermal

equipment and air conditioning.

For six years, he joined the barracks

of D’Argenteuil as a volunteer fire-

fighter where he achieved the

position of lieutenant.

This was the last photo that Karim

sent to Danielle. He and Isabelle

enjoyed walking in the countryside

at weekends.

Karim Swellam achieved so much:

an amazing life to be celebrated. Our

hearts are with Danielle and her

family during this unimaginably

difficult time.

BREAST CANCER

AWARENESS –

27TH MAY 2016

Breast cancer survivor and Rotarian

Mick Verhoogen has started a

Rotary Club of Red Sea - El Gouna

Pink Ribbon Committee to raise

awareness of breast cancer and the

importance of regular check-ups.

Working together with Gouna

Technical Nursing Institute, the first

breast cancer awareness event was

held on Friday 27th May at 3 pm at

El Gouna Church.

The event was aimed at the Arabic

speaking women in the community

of El Bustan in El Gouna, and

around 75 women attended.

A slide show presentation was given

by Ms Heba Boshra from GTNI, an

experienced Egyptian nursing

faculty member specialising in

women and family focuses practice.

She talked about the importance of a

healthy lifestyle to help prevent

cancer, about attending

mammogram and ultra-sound

examinations to detect abnormalities

in the breast, and gave a

demonstration of breast self-exam.

Pink ribbons, which are the symbol

of breast cancer awareness, were

distributed to all the women who

attended.

Women over 40 years of age can

attend free mammograms at the

mobile breast screening unit at

Hurghada General Hospital.

DISTRICT

EVENTS 2016

Incoming President 2016-17 Dr

Rafeek Ramzy has been busy

attending Rotary District events in

Cairo this month. On 13th

May 2016,

the Public Image Seminar was held

at the Marriott Hotel in Zamalek,

Cairo.

Minister of Tourism Yayha Rashid,

attended and spoke about efforts to

increase tourism to Egypt.

On 14th

May, Dr Rafeek Ramzy also

attended the District Training

Assembly which was held for

Incoming Presidents and Honorary

Secretaries in Cairo.

FIRST

ANNIVERSARY

CELEBRATION

Rotary Club members and their

partners enjoyed a wonderful dinner

to celebrate the first anniversary

since the official charter date of 20th

April 2015. Meeting for sunset at the

top of the Golf Tower, a five course

dinner followed in The Rotisserie

Restaurant run by Steigenberger

Golf Resort.

Speeches were given by Club

President 2015-16 Sherif Abdel Aziz

and Club Founder Dina Nashed

congratulating the Rotarians on

their successful achievements over

the past year. Incoming President

2016-17 Rafeek Ramzy also spoke

proudly to members, completing the

formalities before welcoming the

newest member Raymond Riad with

the official Rotary pinning

ceremony.

10TH

COMMUNITY

FORUM

Urban Agriculture and Urban

Gardening

The 10th

Community Forum was

held on Sunday 29th

May 2016 with

three fascinating presentations about

urban agriculture start-up

businesses from Cairo.

The first was by Biogas People who

produce biogas in large black plastic

tanks to be used for cooking.

The next presentation by Schaduf

was about creating green spaces in

Cairo. They have created rooftop

farms and gardens, and vertical

garden walls.

You can see an example of a vertical

garden on the wall of the Fanadir

Hotel in El Gouna.

Schaduf help install farms on

rooftops in low income

neighborhoods, and then help

market and sell the fresh produce.

The third business start-up

presentation from Cairo by

Agrimatic was about producing soil-

less high quality agriculture. Again

this is a solution for roof top

sustainable farming using aquaponic

and hydroponic systems.

There were also two interesting

presentations from Berlin and about

urban agriculture, one of which was

about a community garden called

‘Himmelbeet’ using old wooden

pallets as growing containers that

are hired out to anyone interested in

growing their own food.

The final presentation was about

agriculture in the Red Sea region,

presenting facts and figures about

the types of crops and fedans used in

the Red Sea Governorate for

farming

The community forum was closed by

Prof. Dr. Rudolf Schäfer, Study

Dean of Department of Urban

Development at TUB, and

Moderator of Community Forum

2030.

RAMADAN 2016

Preparations have begun early for

Rotary’s help for those in need

during Ramadan which starts on 6th

June 2016. Medicine, clothing, and

toys have been sorted and will be

distributed in Hurghada during the

Holy Month.

Weekly Meeting

31st May 2016

For our final weekly meeting in May,

we had the great pleasure to

welcome again Mrs Aisha Abu El

Nour, novelist, journalist, and

member of Rotary Club Shams

October.

Mrs Aisha is one of the founder

members of RC Shams October

which was established in April 2014.

The club has achieved many

impressive projects. A rural area

near to 6th

October was chosen for

an eye medical convoy with Magrabi

Hospital, and a football ground was

prepared for the children.

They are also supporting literacy

projects, not only for children but

for adults too.

A Hepatitis C awareness program

was held in an area with 5000

residents, and water and sanitation

projects were organised in Ben Suef

Governorate where 215 homes have

been connected with clean water.

70TH BIRTHDAY

CELEBRATION

Rotary Member and Rotary

Foundation Committee Chair Mick

Verhoogen celebrated her 70th

birthday this month. She held a

wonderful private party in the

gardens around the swimming pool

at her apartment.

Guests included a visiting Rotarian

and his wife from Rotary Club

Brussels Coudenberg in District 2170

Happy Birthday Mick!!

YOGA ON THE

BEACH

With all the hard work it is great to

have the opportunity to relax

together and strengthen bonds of

friendship between Rotary Club

members. During Earth Week 2016

we entered the Recycled Raft Race

and after finishing in 9th

position, we

were lucky enough to win free yoga

sessions.

On 12th

May, we claimed our prize

with a private class at Kiteboarding

Club El Gouna along Mangroovy

Beach with Yoga Instructor

Christine Haar.

DDDistrict 2451 Club President: Sherif Abdel Aziz

Club Founded 20th April 2015 Meeting every Tuesday at 7.30pm

at El Gouna Library

Website:

www.rotaryredsea-elgouna.org

FACEBOOK PAGE:

ROTARY-CLUB-OF-RED-

SEA-EL-GOUNA