Egyptian Experience - 3rd Edition

The International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations – Egypt (IFMSA-Egypt) is an independent, non-governmental and non-political federation of medical students’ associations in Egypt recognized by Ministry of Solidarity under the number 3115-Alexandria.

IFMSA-Egypt’s history dates back to 1968 and was known as the Egyptian medical Students’ Associations (EMSA-Egypt) till 2007.

IFMSA-Egypt is run for and by medical students on a non-profit and voluntary basis. We represent all Egyptian Medical students, through our 23 Local Committeess all over the faculties of Medicine in Egypt.

IFMSA-Egypt is a unique structure, composed of 6 Standing Committees and 3 support divisons, allowing all medical students to simply contribute and have an influence on Global Health.

Our Mission is to offer future Egyptian physicians a comprehensive introduction to public health issues by taking part in the international medical student community to broaden their sperctrums and reach their full potential.

Editorial Team Dear Readers, We thought a lot about what to write because speaking about Egypt in a few pages leaves you with a sort of hard challenge but also with magnificent sense of honor This magazine is just a hint of the marvelous, extraordinary and breathtaking journey you will experience in Egypt through IFMSA-Egypt ...Hope you like it .

Editor in chief Editors

Eslam Fouda

Esraa Ateya Sohaila Elmehiy Abdel Rahman El Bakary Nowrus Emad

Designers Mohamed Meshref Hassan Aboul-Nour Mohamed El-dakrory

Welcome Ramy Ahmed Genaid IFMSA-Egypt president Egypt has been a destination for travelers for more than 7000 years. Since then, it has always been known that what marks us most is neither our monuments, nor our weather, and not even our heritage that was nurtured by various cultures. It’s our hospitality and our love to people from all over the world. As medical students from Egypt we are keen on doing our best to show our colleagues from all around IFMSA all the aspects of the Egyptian personality. In these few pages we will try to give you glimpse of what is waiting for you in Egypt, not in just our words but in yours as well.

National Exchange officers Dear medical students worldwide, Are you eager to visit the Pyramids and discover secrets of the Pharaohs? tEnjoy snorkeling in the Red Sea between the exotic fish and coral reefs? Set off on a desert safari and enjoy sand-boarding?

Still wondering where to go for IFMSA exchange? IFMSA-Egypt proudly invites you to our homeland to spend one of the best months in your life, where you can find a comfortable stay, reliable contact persons, magnificent social program and a well-organised internship or research program in one of our 23 faculties of medicine all over Egypt under the supervision of experienced internationally recognized professors and tutors.

Through this magazine we hope you can find all your answers and concerns.

Amr,Karim and Shenawy.

The Myth Of Osiris And Seth By : Eslam fouda The story of Osiris is one of Egypt’s most ancient and interesting myths. It is also one of the most beautiful love stories of all time. It was an important story to the Egyptians because of its primary religious meaning in the ancient Egyptian religion and also because Osiris’ was the king of Egypt who was resurrected as the “King of the dead”.

In the beginning, there was the sky god Geb and his wife the earth goddess Nut. Nut gave birth to four children: Osiris, Isis, Set and Nepthys. At the time of Osiris’ birth, a loud voice was heard all over the world, saying, “The lord of all the earth is born.”

Osiris was the oldest and so became king of Egypt, and he married his sister Isis. He grew and became a mighty king and taught his people agriculture and animal husbandry. Osiris left to bring his teachings to other lands. While he was away, he left his wife, Isis, in charge. She ruled the country in the same manner.

But Osiris had an enemy, his jealous brother Seth.

Seth began scheming against the great king. He aligned himself with Aso, the queen of Ethiopia. But nothing could be done while Isis ruled the country because of her extended authority. Upon Osiris’ return, an evil plan was put into action. Seth secretly acquired the measurements of Osiris and began having an amazing decorated box built to fit those measurements. When the box was finished, Seth had a great feast to which he invited Osiris. When the feasting was done, Seth had the box brought out.

He promised to give it to whoever fit into it. Each one tried to fit into the box until it was Osiris’ turn.

He layed in the box suspecting nothing.

Seth’s accomplices nailed the lid shut and threw it into the Nile River. Osiris was never seen again, walking in the land of the living.

When this news reached Isis, She cut off a length of her hair and put on her dress of mourning and began her journey to find the body of her husband.

Meanwhile, Isis makes her way to the land of Byblos to recover the body of her husband. In Byblos Isis sits by a fountain and talks to no one, except the queen of Byblos’ maidens. To these maidens she is quite pleasant, she told them that she was an Egyptian head-dresser and braided their hair and breathed on them a wonderful perfume sweeter then the most fragrant flowers. Upon their return to the palace, the queen asks them, how they came by such wonderful perfume. They told her of the beautiful stranger they had met. The queen requested that Isis be brought to the palace where. She was appointed to be the nurse of one of the young princes.

One night Isis built a fire and thrust the child in it. The queen wailed in terror and ran to save the child. Isis turned on the queen and rebuking her sternly, revealed her true identity. Explaining to the queen that with her magic she was tempering the child to be a god.

But now his immortality was lost. Isis explained to the queen why she had made the journey to Byblos and her desire to have the giant pillar in which her

husband was encased and the queen granted her wish.

The pillar was taken down, and the great box was revealed. Isis took the chest and returned to Egypt but the mighty pillar which was worshiped from that day forward remained in Byblos and when she arrived to Egypt, she opened the box and cried her dead husband and her sister; Nephthys joined her in her sorrow. The sisters turn into Kites and circle the chest screeching in mournful tones. But Isis’ thoughts soon turned to her infant son, Horus.

She had left him in Buto and now had to retrieve him. She hid the box in a secret place, and went after her son.

That night, while hunting by the light of the moon, Seth stumbled upon the finely decorated box. He was blinded with rage at the sight of his brother. He ripped Osiris into fourteen pieces and scattered them throughout Egypt. Isis learns of this new crime, and her grief is renewed. She once again sets out to find her husband’s remains. She used a boat made out of papyrus reeds to conduct her search. It was believed that, because of this, a crocodile would never attack a papyrus boat, fearing that it might contain the mighty goddess. Where ever she finds a piece of Osiris, she buries it, and builds a shrine in that place. This is the reason that Osiris has so many tombs in Egypt.

In my opinion this story shows us the true meaning of love which can beat all the obstacles.

AL-MOEZZ LI-DIN ALLAH STREET Al-Moezz Li-Din Allah street is one of the oldest streets in Cairo, nearly one kilometer long. A UN study found it to have the greatest concentration of medieval architectural treasures in the Islamic world. It is regarded as a witness to the great era of Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt. The street is named for the fourth Fatimid caliph Abu Tamim Ma’ad Al-Moezz Li-Din Allah who sent his great military leader Jawhar Al-Siqilli who conquered Egypt to end the Abbasid Caliphate, and founded the city of Cairo and the great Al-Azhar mosque.

Al-Moezz street has two main gates; the northern gate, next to Al-Hakim mosque, is called Al-Futuh Gate, from where the armies go for battles, and the southern gate, next to Mu’ayyad mosque, is called Zuweila Gate with its twin minarets facing old Cairo. Zu-

By: Yassin Omar

weila Gate witnessed the famous story at which Sultan Qutuz responded to the message of Hulago, the leader of Maghoul, by killing the six envoys,”halving them at the waist,” and displaying their heads on the gate.

The area around Al-Moezz Street as well as the main street itself contain many historical buildings showing magnificent sets of the Islamic Architecture ranging from the era of Amr Ibn El As, the first Muslim Arab leader to conquer Egypt, to the Tulunid Period, the Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mamluk, Ottoman over to the Mohamed Ali Era. New amazing cultural, historical, architectural experiences you never imagined about Egypt are waiting for you at Al-Moezz Li-Din Allah street. Enjoyment is guaranteed.

Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 BY : Amr Aboelnaga “A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality. “–John Lennon, That’s literally what happened in Egypt with a dream of building a state of the art children’s cancer hospital [CCHE] that would be free of charge for all children regardless of race, creed or ability to pay, to alleviate suffering and provide hope to children with cancer and their families.

Egyptians and people from all over the world and most particularly in the Arab world have contributed generously to make that dream come to reality wishing to improve the future of our countries and our children, both the sick and the healthy. And here we are the CCHE 57357 which has been built completely by donations, stands as a true example of the goodness of mankind and what can be achieved when people work together for a common goal.

For, not only is this project attempting to increase the childhood cancer survival rate in Egypt from less than an estimated 40% to the Western rates of 7580% overall survival, it is also attempting

to create a new system of healthcare where management and treatment utilize the most scientific approaches practiced today. With 4 years of operation completed, 75% overall survival has been achieved.

After the great success the hospital achieved with 187 beds capacity and a large outpatient facility that is able to accommodate 300 patients per day, the Children’s Cancer Hospital Foundation which is running this huge project still have four critical challenges to accomplish to make a successful health sciences facility: 1. A Health Sciences Training Academy for upgrading the CCHE staff as well as providing training opportunities for the country and the region in healthcare.

2. Research Institute 3. Treatment expansion projects: Tanta (the heart of the crowdly populated Delta in Egypt), 60 bed, and phase 2 building (in Cairo) 350 beds.

4. Patient/family guest house and student/staff residence complex.

Top Ten Of Egypt By : Sohaila Elmehiy 1-The pharaohs: The ancient Egyptians who created their own history, their own civilization were truly genius even in the modern age we couldn’t discover all their secrets like mummification, the study of astrology, even the mathematics and geometry.

2- Mummies: mentioning mummies is related to horror movies although only great kings and queens were blessed by mummification to save their bodies and save their greatness. You may want to ask how could they do it ??! actually Nobody knows.

3- Ahly and Zamalik: the most famous competitor teams in football. We can say that woman may get divorced because she is a fan of Al.Ahly and her husband is a fan of Zamalek. So can you imagine how much they are adored in Egypt ?

4-The Pyramids: the amazing structure which puzzled over the whole world. What inside the pyramids? We let you discover it.

5- Oum Kalthoum: the star of the East who wasn’t just a great singer but also, the great Egyptian who travelled around the world to raise money for our military.

6- Revolutions: Egypt means revolution and revolution means Egypt. Since 1952 the revolutions became a habit in Egypt so if you walk in the street and you found some protests don’t worry it is one of our new traditions and remember to have your picture with them.

7- Khan alKhalili: No word can describe this place. How can I describe the beauty, the history, the family spirit which dominates the place there. We will let you describe it in your own words .

8- The Nile: The main artery which provides Egypt with water, electricity, fish and fertilized soil.

9- Sinai: the land of prophets. The true meaning of beauty with its pure sky and wonderful landscapes, Sinai is heaven on earth.

10- Koshary: this delicious combination of rice Macaroni, lentil, onion and tomato sauce makes you don’t want any thing more in this life.

Epic journey in Egypt

By : Omar Hesham

Saint Catherine of Alexandria was both a princess and a noted scholar, who became a Christian around the age of fourteen, and herself converted hundreds of people to Christianity. Her superior intelligence combined with diligent study left her exceedingly well-versed in all the arts and sciences, and in philosophy. Having decided to remain a virgin all her life, she announced that she would only marry someone who surpassed her in beauty, intelligence, wealth, and dignity. This has been interpreted as an early foreshadowing of her eventual discovery of Christ. The Roman Emperor Maxentius scourged and imprisoned her , Upon his failure to make her yield by way of torture, he tried to win the beautiful and wise princess over by proposing marriage.

The saint refused, declaring that her spouse was Jesus Christ, The furious emperor condemned Catherine to death on the spiked breaking wheel, but, at her touch, this instrument of torture was miraculously destroyed.

Maxentius finally had her beheaded. It’s believed that angels carried her corpse to Mount Sinai, the Eastern Emperor Justinian had established what is now Saint Catherine’s Monastery which is Located at the foot of Mount Moses, and dating back to the

sixth century, St Catherine’s Monastery is considered to be the oldest working Christian monastery in the world and is on the UNESCO world Heritage Site.

Mount St. Catherine: Mount Catherine is the highest peak in Egypt with a height of 2,642m(8668 feet). It has a great collection of red granite rocks with 10 million year-old black volcanic rock formations. The interconnected labyrinth of valleys were created by the rains and melting snow. It’s a more challenging experience with more spectacular views than Mount Sinai. Climbing Mount Catherine is a moderately challenging 1 day trek. You will need to be able to walk uphill for a period of 5 – 6 hours and then have the knees to descend continuously for a further 2 - 3 hours (no major issue for a regular walker). Once you reach the summit you can enjoy the panoramic 360 degrees view of the high mountain region of Sinai.

The Real Taste Of Joy

By :Esraa Ateya

Ramadan; it’s not just a religious occasion, it is a cultural festival. The whole country is covered with colorful lights, it’s like being in a 30 day carnival. It’s the month of generosity and kindness. Children buy Ramadan lantern (fanos). Mothers cook the most delicious kinds of food, sweets and drinks. They share their food with friends, neighbors, poor people and their relatives.

Each family invites the people they know in order to have breakfast (Iftar) together. All kinds of charity activities reach their peak in this month.

Eid-El-Fetr (The lesser feast); amazing generous Ramadan ends with three days feast called Eid-El-Fetr, in which people celebrate the end of fasting that lasted for 30 days. These three days are full of family visits, picnics, BBQ’s and charity. The whole idea of the feast is the spread of happiness among people, plus..., any kind of problems become forgotten.

El-Moulid; a public religious festival and one the most spectacular traditions for Muslims in Egypt. It means “Birth”. One of the biggest Moulids of the year is the celebration of prophet Mohamed’s birthday besides Moulid “El Sayed El Badawy” & “El Sayeda Zeinab”.

People buy lots of occasional candies such as Hummuseyya, Semsemeyya, Sudaneyya. “Moulid dolls” or “ Aroset El Moulid” is a main part of this occasion. Children watch the “Tanoura dance” and play in amusement parks.

Eid-El-Adha (feast of sacrifice); new clothes, toys, presents, it’s Eid-El-Adha. People make special efforts to play and listen to a sermon at the mosque. You can see the happiness in children’s eyes, holding lots of money as a present from their parents & relatives, this is called “Eideyya”, they buy whatever they want. Many people travel to Mecca for Hajj, and may purchase an animal known as “Udhiya” if they can financially afford it and give its meat for poor people, orphans and anyone in need.

Another SRT to tell After a successful first SRT and amazing feedback the OC got from all the participants, IFMSA-Egypt exchange team was really enthusiastic and eager to make another story to tell but even much better, they decided to make it a lifetime unforgettable experience. Under the glistening oriental sun and over the beautiful Red Sea coast, IFMSA-Egypt held a memorable gathering of 70 medical students from all over the world for its Sub-Regional Training for the 2nd year in row.

Dedicated to the training of exchange people of the IFMSA, the 2nd IFMSA-Egypt SRT brought to together a series of workshops, training sessions and small working groups

in a collective program in a period of 3 unforgettable days joining sessions, workshops and parties you wouldn’t miss.

The SRT took place on the coastal city of Ras Sudr right on the dazzling blue Red Sea in Paradise beach hotel to where the trip was destined on the 9th of May Cairo International Airport to breath taking Red Sea resort for an opportunity to introduce all the participants to the global environment of the IFMSA. 15 Training sessions to develop and nurture various skills members would utilize during their IFMSA journey ranging from communication and presentation skills to leadership ,designing skills and external representation. The training in the SRT program were carried out by 9 great IFMSA trainers including IFMSA TO members and International Teams members who conducted various IFMSA training topics in an awesome way that amazed the attendance.

Alongside the training held in our SRT, Small Working Groups and workshops

By : Amir Hamdy were conducted including Projects management, research opportunities and how to spend a year as an exchange officer introducing participants to the collaborative process of producing the best outcomes and solutions to empower our Standing Committee.

The journey was concluded on the 12th of May with a group trip to the fabulous wonder of the world, the Giza Pyramids, and a night out with a dazzling atmosphere and cultural spirit in Khan El Khalili famous bazaar.

Summing up, the experience was a truly unforgettable one and the skills, knowledge and friendships everyone took home were those to keep forever.

Mohammed Salah “The Egyptian Messi”

By : Ahmed Hesham

After the huge transfer to Chelsea FC one of the biggest football clubs in England and Europe, Salah undoubtedly proved himself as one of the best in the Egyptian football history.

Mohamed Salah Ghaly is an Egyptian footballer who plays as a winger, he was born on the 15th of June 1992 in a small city called Basion, El Gharbia.

He graduated from the academy of the Egyptian football club Al Mokawloon Al Arab and joined the first team, making his debut being substituted in on the 3rd of May 2010 in a 1-1 draw against Mansoura. During the 2010– 2011 season Salah advanced and became a regular in the team. He scored his first goal for them on 25 December 2010 during the 1–1 away draw against Al Ahly SC. He remained a regular for El Mokawloon, playing in every game for the ‘Mountain Wolves’ during the 2010/11 campaign.

Swiss Super League side FC Basel had been monitoring Salah during that most impressive of debut seasons and, after meeting club representatives after a fund-raising friendly in honor of the Port Said Stadium disaster, signed a contact just a month later.

Salah scored on his unofficial debut on 23 June 2012 against Steaua Bucureşti during a friendly match, a 4–2 defeat. He made his official Basel debut in a UEFA Champions League preliminary stage match against the Norwegian club Molde on 8 August, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute.

He made his league debut on 12 August against Thun, playing the full match. He scored his first league goal a week later, the second goal in the 2–0 home win against Lausanne. However, it was his performances against Spurs on April 2013 in the

Europa League which truly enabled him to make his mark on the continental scene. In aiding Basel to victory over the Londoners, in penalties after the tie finished 4-4 on aggregate, Salah and his club had reached the semi-finals of the tournament.

They met Chelsea after that who, under Rafa Benitez, eventually lifted the trophy but a fine strike from the Egyptian youngster gave them hope of an up-set.

Despite disappointment in Europe, FCB romped to victory in the domestic league while reaching the final of the Swiss Cup. 2013 continued to be a milestone year for Salah, now a full international for the Pharaohs, as he converted his first Champions League strike against Macabi Tel Aviv in August. Drawn in Chelsea’s group, though, they faced a daunting away tie at Stamford Bridge in Jose Mourinho’s first European game back in England. Salah stole the limelight, however, after scoring the equalizer as the Swiss champions defeated the Blues 2-1 in one of the shocks of the season to date.

It alerted Liverpool to his qualities and Rodgers is believed to have sent scouts to monitor his situation throughout the season.

However, eventually Jose mourinho managed to clinch the deal, On 23 January 2014 Chelsea announced that a deal had been agreed with Basel to bring Salah to

London for a fee reported to be £11 million, with the player scheduled to undergo a medical and agree to personal terms. On 26 January 2014 Chelsea announced the signing of Salah, making him the first Egyptian to sign for the club.

About his career with the national team, Salah made his debut for the Egypt national football team on 3 September 2011 in the 2–1 away defeat by Sierra Leone, having previously made 11 appearances for the Egypt U-20 team and Egypt U-23 team, representing Egypt in both 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics.

He scored his first goal for Egypt’s first team in the 3–0 win against Niger one month later. He later scored a goal in the 93rd minute in stoppage time against Guinea to give Egypt an important 3–2 away victory in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.

On 9 June 2013, Salah scored a hat-trick and registered an assist as Egypt won their fourth consecutive match in the World Cup qualifiers.

In the following match, he scored the goal that sealed qualification for Egypt. Salah later scored his sixth goal in a qualification match to the joint-top scorer among all African teams in the qualification stages.

Egyptians pin great hopes on this young talent to end the drought and achieve the dream reaching the world cup in 2018 after 28 years of absence.

No doubt this brilliant young talent has a great future ahead, just remember the name, Salah.

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