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By Claire Davenport

Breaking Silos

Large global issues such as climate change are difficult to tackle across sectors. Scientists, politicians, local governments and corporate industries often get isolated in their efforts to address environmental challenges, coming up with solutions that are narrower or smaller in scale.

Laila El Baradei with Public Policy Hub members, photo by Ahmad El-Nemr

"When you're just adopting the views of a single entity or governorate, you focus on its needs only," explained Laila El Baradei '83, '85, professor in the Department of Public Policy and Administration and director of AUC's Public Policy Hub. "But environmental issues, in particular, cut across all boundaries, and there is a need for different ministries to talk to one another and figure out the responsibilities they have to shoulder in order to achieve their common objectives."

The Public Policy Hub at the School of Global Affairs and Public Policy (GAPP) bridges the divide between research and implementation, offering well-researched solutions to Egypt's policy dilemmas around climate change and beyond.

Policy Proposals

The Public Policy Hub was co-founded by El Baradei in 2017 to advance evidence-based policy recommendations that meet the needs of government organizations. Participating graduate students and alumni from AUC and other universities work in teams to tackle policy issues identified by Egyptian government bodies, developing creative and cohesive policy solutions to the problems Egypt faces.

The hub is currently focused on climate change policy issues, which include examining the effects on agriculture and tourism in Egypt, mitigating the impact of climate change on Egyptian cities, studying the localization of climate change alleviation and adaptation efforts, as well as evaluating the current impact of these strategies.

When creating a public policy recommendation, there is a lot for the researchers to consider: existing data, how other countries have tackled similar issues, what is administratively feasible and politically acceptable, affordability and any challenges they foresee.

After a weeklong intensive training and four months of research on a given subject, each group is assigned a mentor and works to create a policy research paper, policy brief and advocacy tools, such as graphics and animated videos, to raise broader awareness. The groups then present their work at an annual conference held by GAPP, an event often attended by sector leaders and government representatives.

A Hub for Impact

By allowing government agencies to propose issues for the researchers to tackle, the hub has a unique ability to affect government decisions and have its policy recommendations taken into consideration.

"What's unique about our Public Policy Hub is that we follow a demand-based approach, and we are very proud of that -- so it's not us the researchers and academics who decide what the policy issues or research problems are, but it's the government agencies that do so," explained El Baradei.

To date, the hub has published 40 papers that have more than 8,200 downloads across 112 countries, and it has tackled issues as diverse as child marriage and care for the elderly.

Beyond the hub's impact on influencing policy decisions and legislation, it is also an incubator for the next generation of policy leaders.

By putting together reports and taking part in the day-to-day operations of policymaking -- from navigating scheduling to parsing through data -- researchers leave the hub well-equipped to enter the policy sector and bring their climate insights to bear through their future work.

"We hope that the focus on climate change is continuous and sustainable," said El Baradei.

 

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By Katie Marie

Ahmed Sameh (MA '18, MA '20) is on a journey to help himself and others get in touch with their authentic selves.

In the nearly 10 years since he founded his social enterprise Emmkan, it has grown from a career guidance hub for young people to become Egypt's first organization for developing social and emotional learning (SEL) workshops and tools that help people of all ages to better understand themselves and others.

Sameh at AUC New Cairo, photo by Ahmad El-Nemr

"When you're connected to your true self, you are way more confident, more at peace when it comes to mental health and less fearful of judgment or failure," Sameh explained. "Better social and emotional awareness enables you to live more intentionally. It lets you have healthier, more harmonious relationships."

For much of the company's existence, Emmkan has focused on supporting and teaching Egyptian youth. Starting just two years after Sameh graduated with a bachelor's in computer engineering and an MBA in marketing, the company originally aimed to help students explore their personalities and make better career decisions.

Almost immediately, though, Sameh's focus began to shift.

"Instead of using the safe space we created to discuss career or academic choices, many of the students talked to us about stress and challenges in their lives. Some had experienced severe traumas and didn't have an outlet to deal with them," Sameh recalled.

Today, Emmkan offers workshops and retreats to K-12 and university students at schools across Egypt, including AUC. Through its free Student Ambassador program, Emmkan also trains and mentors high school students, empowering them to lead community development and volunteer projects.

Digging Deeper

In 2015, after several years as a practitioner, Sameh felt compelled to return to school -- this time to AUC, where he obtained two master's degrees in international and comparative education and philosophy.

"I only had a very basic introduction to the humanities in my own undergraduate degree, and felt like I needed to expand my own knowledge in order to be able to dig deeper in our work," Sameh explained.

"Better social and emotional awareness enables you to live more intentionally. It lets you have healthier, more harmonious relationships."

Bringing together educators from different fields, AUC's Department of Educational Studies (formerly the Graduate School of Education) provided Sameh with the opportunity to connect with and learn from other practitioners. "Many of the students are teachers or administrators working on the ground," he said. "This experience has given me one of the most powerful networks I have in my career."

During his master's studies, Sameh also learned the professional language needed to explain his passion. "At the Comparative and International Education Society's 2016 conference in Vancouver, I attended a workshop about social and emotional learning. I had never heard the term before, but I understood that it was exactly what I had been trying to do. I finally knew how to explain Emmkan's mission."

Play to Learn

The card game, Share, photo by Ahmad El-Nemr

More recently, Emmkan has sought to broaden the reach of its programs, sharing SEL knowledge via its Instagram, TikTok and YouTube channels. It has begun to develop learning tools for adults, the first of which is an SEL card game called Share. Several editions of the game have been published, including versions for friends, families and married couples -- the last of which has become a bestseller. Share is tailored to the Egyptian social context, and the decks are bilingual in both English and Arabic.

While anyone can purchase the game, it has become a popular tool among life coaches, psychologists and others working in SEL and mental health.

"Our pivot to focus on all ages is really aimed at amplifying the impact of SEL to the community level. Adults, especially parents, or couples with these skills can create a more supportive environment for children to grow in," Sameh explained. "If SEL is adopted more widely, this will create increasingly authentic and balanced communities. The change would be massive."

 

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By Kara Fitzgerald Elgarhy

Da7ee7 is by all accounts a success story. Amassing more than 1 billion views since its establishment in 2014, the online edutainment show hosted by Ahmed Elghandour '16 has captivated and enlightened viewers across Egypt, the Arab world and beyond with equally funny and smart takes on subjects from the science of migraines to the history of the Berlin Wall.

Taher El Moataz Bellah

However, Taher El Moataz Bellah '14, in writing his latest book, El Da7ee7: Behind the Scenes, did not set out to outline a success story. In fact, he didn't even originally plan to write a book about Da7ee7. El Moataz Bellah instead sought to write about a series of contemporary startups. When he first began writing in 2018, Da7ee7 was only one of the chapters, but in 2019, after five years of episodes and becoming a smash hit on YouTube all over the Arab world, he decided it deserved its own book.

Still, the idea was not to celebrate or memorialize. For El Moataz Bellah, the show was a case study. "You examine a case study not to idealize the protagonist but to take away learnings and build from it," he said.

El Moataz Bellah did not write El Da7ee7: Behind the Scenes like a typical case study. Rather, the book is written in the format of the show itself -- the same dialect, the same quippy and comedic style. "I wanted this book to target young audiences of the show who hadn't read books before; I was hoping this would be their first book," El Moataz Bellah explained. "So I zoomed in on this story about a familiar subject in a familiar language. I hoped that readers would hear Ahmed's voice narrating the story."

The book plays on the same synergies of education and entertainment as its subject matter -- the synergies that attracted El Moataz Bellah first as an avid fan of the show, then as a contributing writer and, most recently, as its storyteller.

Reading as a Gateway

In telling the story of Da7ee7, El Moataz Bellah looked through the lens of his own tenure with the show and the nature of the time it emerged. He also looked to the early formative experiences of Elghandour that made Da7ee7 possible.

For instance, El Moataz Bellah attributes Elghandour's status as an avid lifelong reader to simply having so much time and few options for entertainment during his childhood in Saudi Arabia. "He had nothing to do but go to the bookstore and sporting club once a week," he explained. "So at 10 years old, he read his first complete novel and got hooked. By middle school, he was reading about the 2008 financial crisis and World War II."

In fact, El Moataz Bellah describes reading as Elghandour's first and core superpower, responsible in large part for the others. On road trips with his family from Medina to Jeddah, Elghandour -- the eldest of five siblings -- would pass the hours telling stories from what he read. To El Moataz Bellah, "he was a storyteller long before he knew it." But he still had to practice. "In his initial videos, he was an average performer. But he was consistent. With discipline, he transformed. You can track it on YouTube. Video by video, he became more and more comfortable."

Finding the Formula

When Elghandour first started Da7ee7, El Moataz Bellah was one of the earliest admirers, hooked even before the viral 2016 episode inspired by the movie Interstellar. El Moataz Bellah would share every episode and exchange articles and commentary with fellow AUC alumnus Elghandour.

In 2018, around the same time that he received a scholarship for his master's study, Elghandour signed a deal with Post Office, a production startup that produced the pilot and coordinated an agreement to air Da7ee7 episodes on AJ+.

Somewhere in the midst of traveling back and forth between Hong Kong and Cairo, he realized he could no longer continue as the sole content creator and presenter. So Elghandour reached out to El Moataz Bellah to join a new team of writers. El Moataz Bellah describes this move -- giving up the one- man venture for a diversely interested and talented team -- as ultimately responsible for the longevity of the show and evidence of Elghandour's strength as a leader: "He had to be mature enough to be willing to delegate," El Moataz Bellah said.

The new team and new way of working inherently adjusted the show's formula, from sharing purely scientific findings and studies to addressing a wide range of fields. Viewership rose as a result. "One of the questions asked when looking at some big and bold topics was, 'Will the Arab audience care?' And it was clear that yes, they do," El Moataz Bellah recalled. "They don't just want local news and comedy. They want to know what is happening in the world and become global citizens. That is one of the reasons episodes like Brexit did really well."

The show's expansion in scope has meant a virtually bottomless source of content. This added to other proven elements of its appeal, like the timeliness of introducing an online show and a general departure from political satire.

The AUC Years

Elghandour's tenure at AUC also reflects this combination of circumstance and choice. His family supported him to attend AUC after years of fostering his love of reading and intellectual curiosity with the best international education they could afford, sending him on his own to Egypt and giving him the freedom to decide what to study.

At AUC, Elghandour benefited immensely from the rich intellectual activity on campus. El Moataz Bellah describes, "He fed on it, metaphorically and literally." Indeed, during his time at AUC, Elghandour started a WhatsApp group called AUC Food, which published information about events and activities that offered both interesting scholarly opportunities and free food.

Tracing Elghandour's journey through these formative vignettes in El Da7ee7: Behind the Scenes allowed El Moataz Bellah to tell the story of Da7ee7 the way he sees it: "It's not just a story of a genius but also the luck and privilege of having a loving family and inherent ability transformed through a world-class education and hard work."

Now at Harvard Business School, El Moataz Bellah is all too familiar with case studies, and he continues to reflect on his own takeaways from observing, contributing to and studying Da7ee7 -- chief among them, the power of communicating big ideas through entertaining characters and narrative. It's a thread that's clear in his El Da7ee7a ("The Nerds") series, his biography of Princess Diana and his upcoming work about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

 

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"Many things combine to show that Midaq Alley is one of the gems of times gone by and that it once shone forth like a flashing star in the history of Cairo. Which Cairo do I mean?" writes Naguib Mahfouz in the opening lines of his 1947 novel named for its setting.

That question -- Which Cairo? -- may be the central consideration for students who take AUC's new class, The World of Mahfouz, a 300-level course offered in the spring and designed by Dina Heshmat, associate professor of Arabic literature in the Department of Arab and Islamic Civilizations.

Throughout his life, Mahfouz penned 36 novels, 25 screenplays and 15 short story collections, along with several short fictions based on his dreams, according to AUC Press. The World of Mahfouz syllabus includes the novels Midaq Alley, Palace Walk and The Thief and the Dogs, but it likely won AUC's Core Curriculum Course Competition in Fall 2022 for its multidisciplinary approach.

In addition to reading source materials, students in the course also watch Hassan Al-Imam's film adaptation of Midaq Alley and the TV series Bayn al-Qasrayn as well as hear guest lectures from history and film studies scholars.

Dina Heshmat. Photo by Ahmad El-Nemr

"I have quite a long relationship with his literary universe," said Heshmat, who analyzed Midaq Alley for her PhD and has previously taught a freshman-level course on the author called Reading Mahfouz. "It was interesting to put together a course about him because he is so important in Egyptian and Arabic literature, and many of his works have been living on in Egyptian and Arabic culture through film."

Through various media, the course explores the author's vast array of work in terms of its influence on film, TV and literature, but also on Cairo itself -- the way that Mahfouz was able to depict the physical, social, political and economic dynamics of the city and its people. That opens up opportunities for AUC students to have wide-reaching discussions about society.

Weaving Past and Present

Though Midaq Alley revolves around the residents of a single street in Cairo in the 1940s, the students making their way through the novel's English translation by Humphrey Davies during the spring semester were keenly aware of its broader relevance.

"We were talking about the syntax and writing style of Mahfouz, how he created symbols for the characters and how these characters have an origin in our society," said economics sophomore Sohayla Eid. "Not society back then only -- you'll find these characters here in modern life."

To discuss "the world of Naguib Mahfouz" is to consider the interplay of multiple worlds: the old and new, rich and poor, East and West, religious and secular, cultural and institutional, home and alleyway, the city and the world.

Midaq Alley is full of characters who struggle with the friction between their personal desires and ambitions and the binds of societal norms. A well- respected dentist turns to thievery in order to provide his services at a low cost, a young woman who dreams of being rich and liberated becomes a prostitute, a young man who has no desire to leave the alley does so in order to impress the woman he loves.

Given the dichotomies Mahfouz's characters struggle with, it's easy to see why author Elif Shafak implied that Mahfouz himself was "a writer torn." Despite the black-and-white nature of moral codes, "Mahfouz's Cairo was a fluid world," wrote Shafak. Though the characters are symbolic, they aren't fixed.

In other words, as the students studying the novel noted, they're real.

"We were talking in class about how universal and realistic his characters were," said Miriam Elsebai, a political science sophomore. "They were neither super evil nor super good. There are always these contradictions that represent reality. It's a clear mirror reflection of society nowadays."

Midaq Alley, a book written more than 50 years ago, has prompted students to consider modern contradictions. If Mahfouz were alive today, the 20-year- old speculated that he might write about the duality presented by social media and its effects on young people.

"Midaq Alley is not depicting a society that ended; it's depicting an everlasting struggle," said Elsebai. "There's always conflict between people's moral goals and social laws. No matter how 'woke' we are or how much we evolve, one way or another, these struggles will be there."

The students also drew comparisons between the novel and their own experiences living in the midst of international warfare. Eid pointed out that one of the characters in the book, a businessman, makes money off of the conflict. "I was connecting it to what is happening now, like for example in Egypt, many challenges facing society are a direct result of the Russia-Ukraine war -- how the behavior of people is the same and how people are taking advantage of the war and political situation we're going through," she said. "So whenever I read Mahfouz, I definitely think of politics."

The Power of the Pen

Plenty of people think of politics when they think of Mahfouz.

His 1959 novel Children of Gebelawi, or Children of the Alley, which Mahfouz said was inspired by the 1952 Revolution, had to be published abroad because its content was deemed controversial. In 1994, the author was stabbed in the neck by someone believed to be angry about the book's depiction of Islam (though it's been reported that the assailant hadn't read the book).

Mahfouz described himself as becoming the victim of a clash not unlike one he might have written as allegory. "I simply got caught in the middle, in the battle between the system and the Islamists," he said -- another complex struggle with the author at its center.

"Students are often genuinely surprised by how daring he can be in his works, how relevant some of the works are to today's society."

 

As such, the World of Mahfouz course also touches on the author's life and political involvement. It would be impossible, if not irresponsible, not to.

"His well-known Children of the Alley is an opportunity to open discussions in class about censorship," Heshmat said. "Students are often genuinely surprised by how daring he can be in his works, how relevant some of the works are to today's society and how close they sometimes are -- obviously not systemically -- but how close the ideas, the emotions can be to a more contemporary context."

After watching a documentary about Mahfouz's life, the students in the course did note his ability to subtly weave his opinions about politics and society into texts. "He was so politically smart," said Elsebai, adding that while she doesn't expect everyone outside the classroom to be well-versed in Mahfouz, she does try to use what she's learned from him out in the real world.

"Talking about it in class won't be useful unless we actually use what we learn in our daily lives," she said. "It's like we're integrating these lessons within our social discourse, making conversations about them strong and powerful."

So Mahfouz's impact lives on. The Egyptian author's work becomes another tool in the student arsenal -- a way for them to better understand and engage with the complexity of the world around them -- as all good literature should.

"To those who disagree with my views," the author wrote in the dedication for Children of Gebelawi, "I dedicate lines I have written for a society that can only be made better through culture."

 

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By Abigail Flynn

While planting trees at a public school in New Cairo last spring, mechanical engineering sophomore Hassan El Hassan met a seventh-grade girl from the school who blew his mind.

"She already knew coding languages that university sophomores and juniors haven't touched," he said. "My mindset about public school students immediately changed -- I was inspired to help them succeed."

El Hassan met this student and other "hidden gems," as he calls them, as part of a new, multidisciplinary outreach initiative from AUC's Middle East Institute for Higher Education (MEIHE) aimed at creating school-university partnerships that promote community engagement, empower public school students and foster sustainable development.

After intensive preparation which included workshops, meetings and coaching, AUC students began volunteering at the schools in a variety of ways, starting with eco-friendly projects like making crafts from recycled materials, conducting theater workshops under the theme "sustainability" and planting gardens.

"Instead of just explaining the importance of sustainability, we wanted to practice it in real time," said Malak Zaalouk '71, '76, professor of practice and MEIHE director. "Having the students plant fruit trees and vegetables on their school campuses gives them a sense of belonging and lasting impact on their community."

Filling the Gaps

Public schools in Egypt face a number of challenges, from overcrowding in classrooms to a lack of amenities and deficit of teachers. These partnerships seek to address these issues. By organizing school-based enrichment activities in subjects like digital literacy and English, for example, MEIHE supports informal, student-led learning activities -- freeing up valuable time for teachers to focus on lesson planning and delivery.

"We want to use our resources at AUC to empower these students, helping them see that they have a role to play in the success of their schools and communities," Zaalouk said. "This is how public schools become more effective."

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Despite issues with staffing and amenities, students at Egyptian schools continue to strive for excellence. Haggar El Khatib, a biology senior, recalled her experience volunteering. "Engaging with public school students has opened my eyes to the daily challenges they face," she said. "They have ideas and talent, but lack a proper channel for them. This program is that channel."

"Instead of just explaining the importance of sustainability, we wanted to practice it in real time."

El Khatib believes that as the initiative grows and strengthens, the students benefiting from it today will return to their schools as university students in the future to conduct similar activities -- creating a chain of giving.

Shifting Culture

While spring planting and summer workshops served as short and intermediary phases of the program, MEIHE also introduced formal fully fledged community-based learning courses this fall for AUC students as part of the school-university partnerships.

These courses cover citizenship education, sustainable development and digital literacy through neighborhood engagement programs. "By actively participating in their communities, AUC students develop a heightened sense of social responsibility and contribute to the betterment of education in Egypt as a whole," Zaalouk said.

In this, MEIHE hopes to establish a lasting and supportive relationship between AUC and the New Cairo Educational Directorate through a renewed agreement with the Ministry of Education. The practice of school-university partnerships was established through past agreements with the ministry, largely supporting teacher agency. This time around, the focus is on student agency.

As the initiative paves more avenues of support for students, teachers and education in Egypt, El Hassan is sure that the hidden gems at these schools will begin to shine as bright as the gifted young coder he met last spring. "The future of Egypt is in good hands -- if we support people like her," he said.

 

By Dalia Al Nimr

In his book, Age Is Just a Number, the late Charles Eugster recounted his experiences as a retired dental surgeon. He revived his passion for competitive rowing at age 63, ventured into bodybuilding at 87 and embraced sprinting for the first time at 95. His remarkable achievements include securing 40 gold medals in World Masters Rowing, claiming world championship titles in 200-meter indoor and 400-meter outdoor races, and setting world records for his age group in various sports. Eugster died in 2017 at age 97.

While not everybody can be record- breaking athletes at an older age, it's up to each individual to make the most of their time in this life. "Age is really just a number," said Mohamed Salama, professor at AUC's Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology. "Healthy aging is all in the mindset."

This year, Salama is launching "AL- SEHA [Health]: A Longitudinal Study of Egyptian Healthy Aging," the first nationally representative panel study on aging in Egypt. The first of its kind in the Middle East, the study aims to fill knowledge gaps to help set policies and effective healthcare strategies that improve the lives of the country's elderly population.

AUCToday spoke with Salama on AL-SEHA and what it takes to be happy and healthy.

What is healthy aging?

The word "health" in itself does not connote the absence of disease. Healthy elderly people still have illnesses. The true definition of health is improving one's quality of life. This notion of health is becoming correlated with the term "happy aging," whereby as people age, they are content, independent and engaged in community activities while maintaining a good physical quality of life.

A 2023 paper published in Cell journal argues that aging is a reversible process, based on experiments with mice. Can aging be reversed? Can the body "reset itself?"

Reverse aging is too ambitious. Such experiments have been successful with reverse aging in mice through gene manipulation in a controlled experimental setting. However, humans have different exposures and ways of living. So theoretically yes, the body can reset itself in a controlled environment, but realistically, this can't happen because you can't control all of the variables around you. This is the problem with basic research: oversimplification.

What's a more realistic approach?

Applied research, which is more accurate and aims to improve quality of life while postponing or slowing down the aging process. It's normal to have a decline in cognitive and other functions as you get older. Our role as scientists is to postpone this to 80 or 90 years of age, especially since life expectancy is increasing. So we're looking at a gradual, not sharp, decline that can be accommodated and doesn't hit elderly people hard.

How does that happen?

There are two tracks to study aging: purely biological, which ignores the complexity of human beings, and a social science path, where scientists study human experiences throughout life. The best approach merges both tracks, and this is where longitudinal studies come in.

How does the AL-SEHA study work?

Before getting into the aging phase, which begins at around 45 or 50 years of age, we follow up with individuals who are in good physical and mental health. We do this every couple of years for a decade or two. At age 60, we examine when the decline happens and identify possible contributing factors: Is it specific experiences they went through, such as work, diet, sports or marriage? Is it where they live or how much education they have completed? Embracing the complexity of human beings is a main pillar in longitudinal studies, and such determinants provide us with real-time data to analyze.

"We need to embrace aging and understand its determinants. It's a normal process."

How do you use this data to assess cognitive aging?

We identify modifiable risk factors. So far, there are 12: lower levels of education, physical inactivity, air pollution, excessive alcohol, smoking, head injury, infrequent social contact, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, depression and hearing impairment. If we can control them, we'll probably be able to postpone, decrease, slow down and, in some cases, eliminate the risk by up to 40%. We basically match each of these lifestyle aspects with biological factors.

Can you illustrate this from everyday life?

Take education, for example. The number of years of education is directly proportional to cognitive functions. The more educated you are, the lesser the chance of cognitive decline. Continuing education and graduate studies are even better. Also, people who are skilled in memorization have a high cognitive reserve, meaning their brains are resilient to new demands and damage and are therefore less likely to develop cognitive diseases later on. Family coherence, or the degree of love from primary caregivers, also affects cognitive functions among the elderly. Even coffee can protect against neurological diseases and cognitive decline. Studies have shown that four cups of coffee a day could help prevent Parkinson's and dementia. On the other hand, stress, trauma and pollution can negatively affect cognitive processes.

Why are aging studies important?

There has been a growing global interest in healthy aging studies because they reveal the challenges and opportunities that will face the world in the future, especially in low- and middle-income countries that suffer from a lack of data in this field. Aging studies can help prevent the development of major diseases, such as cancer and dementia, including Alzheimer's.

What is different about the study you're conducting?

AL-SEHA is the first to apply the U.S.- based health and retirement survey, which has been implemented on a global scale, to the Middle East. With longitudinal studies, it's important

to understand the human condition in one's own country versus others. For example, a study conducted in a war-torn country will be different from one where there is no conflict because human experiences and exposures stand in stark contrast.

Why start with Egypt?

Egypt is the most populated country in the Middle East and the third in Africa. Although the country's population is relatively young, the number of elderly people is rising. Egypt is in an ideal position to prepare its population for healthy aging to help reduce access inequities and age-based discrimination while facilitating the evaluation of current health policies.

How big is the project?

It started in 2021 with a pilot study in coordination with AUC's Social Research Center and will expand to include about 20,000 participants aged over 50, representing all of Egypt's governorates. The study will span at least 10 years, with researchers following up with participants every two years to track changes in their health. We will collaborate with government agencies, civil society and nonprofit organizations in Egypt, in addition to the SHARE project, which researches the connection between policy and quality of life for European citizens and beyond.

What's the main message you wish to convey through this research?

Aging is not a disease. If people view aging as a biological problem or illness, their life expectancy falls back four years. There is still a misconception that the elderly should retire and stay at home. On the contrary, working reduces the chances of a sharp decline in health and cognitive functions. We shouldn't make the elderly feel like they have a problem. There will be some decline, of course, but one can remain healthy at 70, 80 and even 90 years of age. We need to embrace aging and understand its determinants. It's a normal process and shouldn't be accompanied by major morbidities or lethal diseases.

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By Abigail Flynn

Transforming abandoned tires and old washing machine drums into living room furniture, Ibrahim Abougendy '14 turns trash into treasure with the startup he co-founded, Mobikya. Abougendy upcycles waste materials into colorful and comfortable handmade furniture, such as chairs, mirrors and couches.

Abougendy also co-founded two other startups that utilize eco-friendly and biodegradable designs. His water bottle line, Qarura, uses a special clay mix "pottery" that boosts the alkaline content in water and requires less energy in production, while his pottery-based coffee brewing tools from his company Gahawena require less energy than traditional copper.

Outside of the home, Abougendy's work supports local animals. He helped design shelters out of tires, or "Sheltires," which optimize the heat-trapping capacity of rubber tires to offer a warm retreat for stray cats.

"Waste is actually raw material," Abougendy said. "What keeps me persistent against all odds is my passion to be an accelerator for a paradigm shift to happen."

 

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By Yasmin El-Beih

Today, more than 180,000 users in Egypt have replaced their short-distance car, cab or ride-hailing trip with an electric scooter or electric bike at least once, thanks to Rabbit Mobility, a clean-tech startup with the ambition to revolutionize how we take short-distance trips while bettering the planet in the process.

Co-founders Kamal ElSoueni '13 and Mohamed Mansoury '14 came up with the idea in 2019 after working for a couple of years in global management consulting firms based in Dubai and London, respectively. Returning to Egypt for vacation, they both noticed an increasing reliance on cars, even for short-distance trips.

Mansoury and ElSoueni hope to expand Rabbit's operations outside of Egypt

"When you're traveling a lot and you come back home, you really feel the difference," ElSoueni described. "We started to notice a grayish black cloud forming over the city, which we had never noticed when we lived in Egypt, and we were always complaining about traffic. In 2018, while visiting the United States, I came across a massive electric scooter company, and that's when we started thinking about applying similar solutions in Egypt."

ElSoueni and Mansoury held focus groups through their own networks to tackle transportation-related inquiries that might aid their blossoming business idea. They found that regular cycling wasn't highly popular given the hot weather for much of the calendar year in Egypt, making it an uncomfortable option for commuters. "I myself used to cycle to AUC for a semester or two as a student, but I always had to shower once arriving to campus before heading to class, so I was able to relate to the feedback we got from the focus groups," said ElSoueni. "We thought that if we removed the element of effort, it would make life easier. We also learned through some of the ride-hailing apps operating in Egypt that around 50% of the trips are for a distance less than 3 kilometers, while 70% are for a trip that is less than 8 kilometers."

The data posed a tremendous opportunity for a business idea -- and for the environment. By mid-2019, ElSoueni and Mansoury had both quit their management consulting jobs to make Rabbit a reality.

"By replacing car rides with electric scooters or electric bikes, you're relying on electricity instead of fossil fuels," Mansoury said. "From this simple shift, you save a lot of carbon dioxide emissions. We estimate that we've saved more than 50,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide emissions just this year."

Although their fast-growing userbase is mostly comprised of riders under 40 years of age, a reflection of the growing youth population in Egypt, up to 10% of their customers are over 45.

User segments also differ in every governorate or city where Rabbit operates. In Tanta, they found that nurses at the public hospital were taking a couple of rides every day between 1 and 2 pm. Through making a few feedback calls, the Rabbit team realized that the nurses were not only using Rabbit bikes and scooters for their daily commutes, they were also going back home for lunch using the eco-friendly vehicles, as they found them safer, faster and more cost-effective than taking a taxi.

Besides a relentless vision to become the go-to solution for any trip under eight kilometers, be it commutes, first-mile/last-mile or delivery services, Rabbit has other audacious goals on the horizon.

"For us to achieve this vision, it's going to require a lot of expansion into many locations, as well as development to our tech," said Mansoury. "Right now, we only have electric scooters and electric bikes, but our short-term plan is to also introduce electric mopeds. We've already brought in our first prototypes and are working on this."

The co-founders have shortlisted potential countries for expansion, with urban issues and infrastructure similar to Egypt. Rwanda, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and South Africa are new markets Rabbit has set its eyes on. In many of these locations, Rabbit has already begun securing international partners to support their process.

Mansoury and ElSoueni credit the milestones they have achieved to their supporters and mentors, a tight-knit community of fellow startup founders. From Ayman Ismail '85, '87, associate professor in the Department of Management and AUC Venture Lab founding director, to former AUC President Lisa Anderson, there are many who have assisted in their journey, along with the networks, resources, global experts, advisers, research papers and reports at their disposal -- much of which came through their access as former management consultants.

They also have a third co-founder, Bassem Magued, whom they call a "borderline genius." Magued helped in restructuring Rabbit as it took off and in nailing the app's geographic accuracy.

"We see a lot happening, with the potential for much more, not only in clean transportation but also clean tech across the Middle East and North Africa," asserted ElSoueni.

 

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EWART MEMORIAL HALL
 

In 1925, an anonymous donor offered AUC a gift of $100,000 for the construction of a 1,150-seat auditorium. She requested that the auditorium be named after her grandfather William Dana Ewart, who had in the past visited Egypt for health reasons. Since then, Ewart Memorial Hall has housed musical and theatrical events, including Egypt's renowned singer Om Kolthoum and AUC's own Osiris Singers. Egyptian presidents have attended events at the hall, and in the 1970s, when the Cairo Opera house burned down, it became one of the venues for the Egyptian opera and ballet. 
 

HILL HOUSE
 

AUC Tahrir Square campus, downtown, October 2016.

Hill House was named after William Bancroft Hill and his wife Elise Weyerhaeuser Hill. William Bancroft Hill served on AUC's Board of Trustees for almost 25 years, including 20 years as chairman. Hill House started as a student dormitory when it was first opened and later became AUC's main library in 1959, holding 60,000 volumes at the time. It was remodeled in 1984 to house the University bookstore, classrooms, offices and meeting rooms. The Weyerhaeuser family, who donated $150,000 for the original construction of the building that opened in 1953, also financed Hill House's remodeling, which was completed in 1986. 
 

TAREK JUFFALI ENDOWED FELLOWS PROGRAM

Suad Juffali, AUC advisory trustee and chair of the Ahmed Juffali Foundation, established the Tarek Juffali Endowed Fellows Program in counseling psychology and community psychology and named the Tarek Juffali Professorship in Psychology, both in honor of her late son. She also established the Suad Al-Husseini Juffali Scholarship for students from Palestine and named the Serenity Room at the AUC Library and La Palmiera Lodge female student dormitory, among many of her generous contributions. She received the Global Impact Award in 2017 from AUC for her leadership in philanthropy. 
 

BARTLETT FAMILY LEGACY

The Bartlett family has a long tradition of giving to AUC. Thomas Bartlett, who served as AUC president from 1963 to 1969 and as interim president from 2002 to 2003, has made numerous contributions to the University, most notably, establishing -- with his wife, Mrs. Mary Louise Bartlett -- The Bartlett Room student lounge at AUC New Cairo. 
 

Sharing his father's passion for education and for AUC, Richard Bartlett, chairman of the Board of Trustees, has served as a trustee since 2003. Richard Bartlett has contributed significant time and energy to the University, as well as philanthropic support for numerous programs and scholarships. In 2011, he established the Molly Bartlett Endowed Scholarship in his mother's name to support top-performing Egyptian public school students who wish to attend AUC. He also contributed to the Access to Knowledge for Development Center. In 2018, Richard and his wife, Kerri Bartlett, gave $2 million to establish The Bartlett Fund for Critical Challenges, an endowed fund to encourage research and other projects that address defining challenges shaping Egypt and the region. Through this fund, AUC will play a leading role in developing creative responses to challenges, such as issues of sustainability, poverty, demographics, health, education, urbanization, water resources, governance and regional politics.

Richard and his brother Paul, both AUC trustees and Princeton University graduates, established the Bartlett Family Fund for Innovation and International Collaboration between AUC and their alma mater. The 150-meter-long Bartlett Plaza, a hallmark of AUC New Cairo and the principal outdoor location for AUC's largest events, including commencement and alumni homecoming, is made possible through a generous donation by Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bartlett. In addition, Thomas, Richard and Paul have all provided support for the Center for Arabic Study Abroad Endowment Fund.

JAMEEL: 'LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON'

In 1982, prominent Saudi businessman Abdul Latif Jameel donated $5 million, the largest gift that AUC had ever received at the time, to build the Abdul Latif Jameel Center for Middle East Management Studies and the Abdul Latif Jameel Chair in Entrepreneurship. Located on AUC's Greek Campus, the building accommodated the steady growth of the student body in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as well as the increasing demand for management, engineering sciences and other professional programs.

In 2009, Yousef Jameel '68 inaugurated the Abdul Latif Jameel Hall on the New Cairo campus in the name of his father. The building houses the School of Business and School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, in addition to the Kamal Adham Center for Television and Digital Journalism and The Photographic Gallery. A pioneer in his own right, he also established the Yousef Jameel '68 Science and Technology Research Center in 2003. At that time, there were no research facilities in Egypt capable of developing micro/nano devices. Jameel had the vision to create such a center of excellence at AUC in the field of nanotechnology, bringing together top-notch researchers and scientists from around the world.

Increasing access to quality education, Jameel launched the Yousef Jameel MBA Fellows Program in 2004. The program continued for more than a decade, with more than 150 graduates. He also funded the Yousef Jameel '68 GAPP [Global Affairs and Public Policy] Public Leadership Program, supporting 300 fellows in 12 cohorts of 25 Egyptian graduate students per year. When AUC's PhD program began in 2010, he initiated the Yousef Jameel '68 PhD in Applied Sciences and Engineering Fellowships. AUC's first PhD graduate, Yosra El Maghraby '04, '08, '14, was a recipient of this doctoral fellowship, which graduated more than 40 students.

Supporting Scholarships

ABDALLAH JUM'AH STUDY ABROAD SCHOLARSHIPS

Abdallah S. Jum'ah '65 served as president and CEO of the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco), the world's largest oil-producing company, from 1995 to 2008. He established the Abdallah Jum'ah Study Abroad Scholarships in 2015 to support undergraduate AUC students seeking a study-abroad experience for one semester in order to expand their horizons and broaden their cultural perspectives. He received a Global Impact Award from AUC in 2016 for his innovative approach to business and strong interest in developing leaders.

"Before joining AUC, I hesitated on whether I wanted to join AUC or study abroad. But during my freshman year, I realized that the opportunities that AUC offers are not to be found elsewhere. ... And the study-abroad [scholarship] opportunity only adds to this rich and versatile experience. AUC is preparing future leaders who understand a world beyond their own. We know what it means to compete on local and international scales."
Seif Hamed '17 
Business Administration 
 

MOHAMMAD ABUGHAZALEH '67 ENDOWED PALESTINIAN SCHOLARSHIP 

Former AUC Trustee Mohammad Abughazaleh '67 has been serving as chairman and CEO of Del Monte Fresh Produce Company in Jordan for more than two decades. In 2006, he established the Mohammad Abughazaleh '67 Endowed Palestinian Scholarship at the University to support five deserving and talented Palestinian students. A total of 17 students have benefited from this scholarship. In 2005, Abughazaleh received the Distinguished Alumni Award from AUC.

"Thank you for believing in me and giving me this opportunity. You have helped me work toward accomplishing my goals and building my future."
Ayah Harhara, business administration

JOHN AND GAIL GERHART ENDOWED PUBLIC SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP
 

Named in honor of AUC's late ninth President John D. Gerhart, the John and Gail Gerhart Endowed Public School Scholarship was established in 2002 to support talented students from Egypt's public schools. A recipient of an honorary doctorate from AUC in 2002 and the only president to hold the title of president emeritus, John Gerhart was a firm believer that an essential aim of a liberal arts education is to instill values of service and civic responsibility among students. More than 230 AUC friends have provided generous support to establish this scholarship in his name, including his wife, Gail Gerhart, who has made significant contributions to AUC.

"Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. My time at AUC has completely changed who I am. I hope to take what I have learned and work to improve both my immediate community and entire country." 
Mohamed Ibrahim 
Electronics and Communications Engineering

ABDULHADI H. TAHER ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIP

The Abdulhadi H. Taher Endowed Scholarship supports Egyptian and Saudi Arabian students with outstanding academic performance. Currently, eight students are studying at AUC as recipients of this scholarship. Following in their father's footsteps, Nashwa and Tarek Taher have created transformative experiences for AUC students, including the Nashwa A. H. Taher Arab Women Scholarship in 2004.

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to study at the most prominent institution in my country" 
Nouran Barakat 
Undeclared Freshman

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULKARIM A. ALLEHEDAN SCHOLARSHIP AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH FUND 

Established in 2015 by the late Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulkarim A. Allehedan, the fund aims to support talented Arab students and encourage specialized scientific research in uncommon disciplines in the Arab world. As the late Allehedan put it, "I come from a modest family, and I didn't get the chance to be educated. After researching, I found that the best place for me to put this endowment would be at a university in Egypt, and I found that The American University in Cairo is the best University in Egypt. ... I am one of the believers that Arabs would not exist without Egypt, and Egypt would not exist without Arabs. And if Arabs are not well-educated, they will not be strong."

"As both a student and a member of the research community at AUC, I would like to thank [Sheikh Allehedan] for his support of innovative research. That support will allow us to have strong academic careers and give us opportunities to develop our skills." 
Ahmed El Sayed '15 '17 
Pursuing a PhD in Applied Sciences at AUC

AL GHURAIR STEM SCHOLARS

Supported by Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education, one of the largest privately funded philanthropic education initiatives in the world, the Al Ghurair STEM Scholars program creates opportunities for underserved, high-achieving Arab students to pursue an undergraduate or graduate degree at leading universities in the region, including AUC. Launched in 2016, the program has supported more than 150 students at the University, helping them pursue their dreams of a high- quality STEM education. With a Master of Science in nanotechnology, Menna Hasan (MSc '18) is the first AUC alum of Al Ghurair STEM Scholars Program.

"This scholarship has been a dream, getting a chance to travel outside of Yemen to receive a proper education. Getting a scholarship, what can I say, it's like a passport in my life. I can never thank the foundation enough. Never."
Mohammed Al-Sabri 
Mechanical Engineering

By the Numbers

Since the 1970s, more than $100,000,000 has been raised to support scholarships and fellowships.
 

Approximately $630,000,000 financial support given to students since 1975.
 

More than 3,000 students per semester have received any form of financial assistance in the past five years.
 

Approximately 6,000 donors since the 1970s.
 

Yousef Jameel '68 is AUC's single biggest supporter of education, funding research as well as master's and PhD fellowships. 
 

AUC'S TOP DONORS IN THE PAST 100 YEARS
 

$5 MILLION+
 

Abdulla Al Ghurair Foundation for Education

Sheikh Faisal Kamal Adham
 

Dr. Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor Hon LHD

Sheikh Mohammed Bin Abdulkarim A. Allehedan*

Dr. Sarwat Sabet Bassily*

H.R.H. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz Alsaud Hon LHD

Mr. Mohamed Shafik Gabr '73 
 

Sheikh Abdul Latif Jameel Hon LHD*

Mr. Yousef Abdul Latif Jameel '68, Hon LHD 
 

$1 MILLION+

Abraaj Group

Mr. J. Dinsmore Adams, Jr.

Sheikh Kamal Adham*

Mr. and Mrs. Moataz Al Alfi

Dr. Hamza Bahey El Din Alkholi

H.H. Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Mohammed Al-Qasimi Hon LHD

Sir Nadhmi Shakir Auchi

Mr. Theodore S. Bacon, Jr.*

Mr. and Mrs. Paul H. Bartlett

Mr. Richard and Mrs. Kerri Bartlett
 

BP USA

Dr. Barbara Brown and Dr. Steven C. Ward
 

Mr. and Mrs. Richard M. Cashin
 

Commercial International Bank (Egypt)
 

Paul I. and Charlotte P. Corddry

Mr. Miner D. Crary, Jr. and Mrs. Mary Crary*

Mrs. Mary Cross*

Mr. Hassan '73 and Mrs. Jill Dana

Mrs. Elizabeth S. Driscoll

Mr. Hesham Helal El Sewedy '88

ExxonMobil Corporation

Mr. Paul B. Hannon Hon LHD

Dr. and Mrs. Elias K. Hebeka

Dr. and Mrs. Ahmed M. Hassanein Heikal

HSBC Bank Egypt S.A.E.

Mrs. Hadia Abdul Latif Jameel

Mrs. Suad Al-Husseini Juffali Hon LHD

Louise Moore Pine Trust

Mr. and Mrs. Bruce L. Ludwig

H.E. Mr. Mohamed Loutfy Mansour

Mr. Hatem Niazi Mostafa* and Mrs. Janet Mostafa

Mr. Youssef Ayyad Nabih*
 

Sheikh Abdul Rahman Hayel Saeed '68

Saudi Arabian oil Company (Saudi Aramco)

Schlumberger Stichting Fund

Sheikh Mohammed Wajih Hassan Abbas Sharbatly '89

Dr. William K. Simpson Hon LHD*
 

Dr. Abdulhadi Hassan Taher*
 

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation 
 

The Ford Foundation

The Selz Foundation 
 

The Tokyo Foundation

*Deceased

Hon LHD Honorary Degree

 

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By Devon Murray

H2O Woes

While water covers around 71% of the Earth's surface, the lion's share of this precious resource lies in the oceans (97%) and is too salty to be used for agriculture, drinking water and industry. Moreover, pollution, waste and the unequal distribution of resources have put a strain on the planet's freshwater supply, with areas on each continent experiencing water scarcity, according to UN-Water.

Egypt is particularly hard hit when it comes to water scarcity due to rising temperatures, a drier climate and a growing population driving up water demand.

"In Egypt, the annual water share per person is 540-560 cubic meters. The water poverty line, however, rests at 1,000 cubic meters per person per year, meaning that Egypt is missing almost 50% of its needed water supply," said Egypt's Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Hani Sewilam, AUC professor and founding director of the University's Center for Applied Research on the Environment and Sustainability (CARES).

And the problem extends beyond H2O.

"This is a multifaceted issue," Sewilam said. "You cannot work on water scarcity without considering food and energy."

Sewilam: "The sky is the limit. This could be the next food production revolution." Photo by Ahmad El-Nemr

Like most countries in the Middle East, Egypt consumes 80% of its water for food production and agriculture. Adding another layer, agriculture requires energy -- whether it be for irrigation, processing, storage or transportation. Considering the intricate and dynamic relationship between water, energy and food is known as the water-energy-food nexus. It is within this nexus that Sewilam, CARES and student researchers operate, working to find a solution that considers all three sectors.

(Aqueous) Solutions: The Three S's

Desalination -- the removal of salts and minerals from a substance -- has been around for ages in theory and practice. However, it is not seen as a "green option," according to Sewilam, because it uses a lot of energy and creates brine, a highly concentrated salt solution that occasionally contains chemical residue.

"With the existing technology, brine is disposed of in the sea or thrown in the desert," he said.

Harnessing the three S's of Egypt's abundant resources -- sun, sand and salty water [seawater and brackish water] -- Sewilam's Water-Energy-Food (WEF) Nexus Model uses solar panels to power reverse-osmosis desalination. This technique sends water through a synthetic lining to purge the water of unwanted molecules and impurities, like salt and dirt.

"After desalination, we work to get more out of each drop of water," Sewilam said. "The freshwater will be used to produce fish. The waste from the fish can be used as fertilizer for crops, while the excess cleaned water from the crops can be given back to the fish."

As for the brine, it can be used to produce small crustaceans for feeding the fish and algae, which have become a major component in producing biodiesel, he explained.

At COP27, Sewilam will receive the 2022 Water-Energy-Food Ecosystem Nexus Award from the European Union's Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area, known as PRIMA, for his WEF Nexus Model.

More Crops Per Drop

At AUC, the model is already in use on a limited scale at CARES, with preparations to upscale for commercial use in motion. On the state level, it is slated to be used in some of Egypt's major green development projects, such as the 1.5 Million Feddan Project, New Delta Project and buildout of the Sinai Peninsula.

For now, Sewilam and his team have turned their attention to fine-tuning the model by increasing crop yield to make the model even more economically viable and working toward zero waste to make the model more sustainable.

CARES, which is part of AUC's Institute of Global Health and Human Ecology, is sharing its knowledge with the community. Last fall, the center launched its Water-Energy-Food Technologies Diploma, which combines expertise in engineering, hydrology, irrigation and solar technology to prepare students for facing Egypt's climate challenges. CARES also partners with the International Desalination & Water Treatment Group, transferring research findings and know-how directly to the market in Egypt and the region.

Sewilam believes that implementing the WEF Nexus Model will not only be a major first step toward solving the water (and food) crisis in Egypt and the region, but will also create a ripple effect globally, causing a major shift in world food security.

"The sky is the limit," he said. "This could be the next food production revolution."