"akhbar el mahrousa" june 2012
DESCRIPTION
The sixth issue of our newsletter “Akhbar El Mahrousa” covering our programs, activities, and updates of the last month.TRANSCRIPT
About Nahdet El Mahrousa:
Nahdet el Mahrousa (NM), or "Renaissance of Egypt", seeks to
make a positive and lasting impact on Egypt's cultural, economic,
and social development by activating and engaging young
Egyptians. NM's flagship program, the "Incubator of Innovative
Social Enterprises", leverages the ideas of high-potential
changemakers and empowers them to act as drivers of social
innovation in Egypt. Since its founding in 2003, NM has incubated
over 40 social enterprises--in areas such as youth development,
education, employment, healthcare, and culture--which currently
reach and impact over 10,000 individuals in Egypt. NM is an
Egyptian NGO registered with the Ministry of Social Solidarity.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:
Updates from our newly incubated social enterprises More on page 2 & 3
Our Social Innovation Starts With YOU! winning incubated social enterprises are shinning! Find out how on page 4&5
Challenging the status
quo! Read about our mature social enterprises More on page 6
Salon El Mahrousa & Monthly Mondays in May More on page 7
NM Partnerships More on page 7
Egyptians who make us proud
Meet them on page 8
Nahdet el Mahrousa (NM) leverages the ideas and power of social innovators to tackle Egypt's toughest challenges. By activating and engaging young professionals, we make a positive and lasting impact on Egypt’s social, cultural, and economic development and help Egyptians take ownership of their country.
The first incubator
for “early stage”
youth-led social
enterprises in
Egypt and the
region
Akhbar El Mahrousa June 2012, Issue No.6
Akhbar El Mahrousa P a g e | 2 JUNE 21ST, 2012
Newly incubated Social enterprises
Over the past 8 years NM has supported more than 40 social enterprises from across the Education & Employment, Environment, Self-expression, Citizenship & Civic Engagement and Public Health fields and that in turn have been impacting over 50,000 beneficiaries annually.
. Engineering Support Society (ESS) is a virtual network that
aims to connect young professionals in the field of engineering to turn their innovative ideas into reality. ESS’s founder, Mohamed Mamdouh, gave a talk on Innovation at TedxAUC: “Why the sky is blue” a talk about “Redefining Education”. ESS is also preparing for its first big event next month that aims to encourage engineering students to turn their ideas into commercially viable businesses.
For more information please visit:
http://www.engineeringsupportsociety.com
http://www.facebook.com/Engineeingsupportsociety
HarassMap is a volunteer initiative that works to end social
tolerance for sexual harassment through community outreach programs and internet- and sms-based reporting. They are also winners of The BOBs (Deutsche Welle Blog) award for Best use of Technology for Social Good. HarassMap also released their first annual report at Salon El Mahrousa and continues to spread awareness through round table meetings like Tweet Nadwa that was held in Nazra organization for feminist studies.
For more information please visit: Website: www.harassmap.org Facebook: HarassMapEgypt/info Email: [email protected]
Nawaya (seed / intention) is a not-for-profit social enterprise that
promotes sustainable agriculture. Over the past 3 months, Nawaya has organized several micro organisms and composting at Fagnoon’s agricultural plot. In celebration of Novartis’ 16th annual community partnership day, Nawaya partnered with Novartis and the right to live Association (RTLA) to plant 150 trees that represent “Seeds of Hope”. This event engaged 400 Novartis employees with team members from both Nawaya and RTLA shedding a light on the importance of urban farming For more information please visit: http://www.nawayaegypt.org Or watch a video on the project: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ADb5jiFqv4
Akhbar El Mahrousa P a g e | 3 JUNE 21ST, 2012
YESMENA (YES Middle East & North Africa) is a social
entrepreneurship initiative providing pro-bono
management consulting to micro, small and medium size
businesses and to non-profit organizations in the Middle
East & North Africa region.
YESMENA provided mentorship to young entrepreneurs at the
Startup Weekend Cairo & Startup Weekend Alexandria.
YESMENA is also currently accepting a new round of consulting
projects and has launched "Express Projects", a platform for users
to freely post in and comment on social enterprise projects.
YESMENA is working on launching mawelni.com, a crowdfunding
platform for project and idea owners in the Arab World to raise
funding through donations from individuals. Check it out at
www.mawelni.com.
For more information please visit: www.yesmena.org
Organ Transplant & Donation Initiative (OTDI) is
a growing public health movement that aims to
take the lead and change the present
misconceptions and misinformation about organ
donation and transplantation.
On May 3rd OTDI had its first seminar titled "Organ
Transplantation: Legality, Morality and the Future". The
event was held at the National Hepatology and Tropical
Medicine Institute and targeted young doctors and medical
students. Dr. Ahmed Ghali, Dr. Saad El Din Helaly and
Dr. Hany Dabous were among the key speakers and
discussed varying topics including: Diagnosing Brain Death
to Religion, Medical Advancement as well as Research and
Transplantation.
For more information, please visit:
https://www.facebook.com/otdi.eghttps://www.facebo
ok.com/otdi.eg
Akhbar El Mahrousa P a g e | 4 JUNE 21ST, 2012
Mashrou3 Al Mareekh (MM), previously known as “Project Yourself”, is an Egyptian movement dedicated to promoting self-expression among young people.
On the 27th of April, MM celebrated one year of Mareekh in Minya. Mashrou3 Al Mareekh will be holding an open mic in Mansoura in a couple of weeks; the exact date will be announced on their facebook page.
Info:
Website:http://www.mashrou3almareekh.com Twitter:@mashrou3mareekh Youtube:http://www.youtube.com/mashrou3almareekh Blog:http://mashrou3almareekh.blogspot.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/Mashrou3AlMareekh
Bosletak.com aims to unveil human potential through an online platform that helps Egyptian youth realize their potential and discover their appropriate educational and career paths.
Bosletak is preparing to launch an upgraded version of its website with a new feature to promote training programs according to user preference as well as a platform for idea-sharing. Bosletak is also working on developing an iOS and Android- based educational game “Mathgician”. Bosletak has been networking heavily; it participated in the “CEDO 2012” job fair in Cairo University and the “Strategic Management Unit” career development event in the Arab Academy for Science and Technology’s Business School in Alex. Through cooperating with CEDO, Bosletak successfully matched and employed a Marketing & PR Executive as well as two interns. The Bosletak team is constantly engaged with students and interest around them is on the rise as their newsletter has 300 new subscribers in May only.
Info: Website: www.bosletak.com E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: www.facebook.com/Bosletak Twitter: @Bosletak Youtube: www.youtube.com/Bosletak
The Social Innovation Starts With YOU! Competition
WINNERS
Akhbar El Mahrousa P a g e | 5 JUNE 21ST, 2012
Kherna.com is an online social platform for all good-cause organizations and individuals to communicate and keep track of all the new initiatives and activities.
As you drive by Tahrir, Dokki, Kit Kat, or Wadi el Nil, please smile because you are about to drive by one of Kherna's billboards!! Info: Website: www.kherna.com E-mail: [email protected]
CORD is a social enterprise that aims to commercialize science by spreading awareness on marketable technology and the culture of smart entertainment.
CORD’s project leader, Mohammed ElRaffie, has been nominated by Ashoka Arab World and shortlisted to be an Ashoka Fellow.
Info: Website: www.cord-eg.com E-mail: [email protected] Facebook: www.facebook.com/Competition.Of.Robot.Design Twitter: @CORDinc Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/CORDchannel
Oyoon Art Group offers a safe and open space to promote education through art amongst Egyptian youth.
Oyoon, in collaboration with Mashrou3 Al Mareekh, organized a spontaneous open
mic in a café next to the Stock Market for the first time; it was a great success and
they will continue to hold bi-monthly open mics around the downtown area. On
Saturday the 26th of May, Oyoon organized a freedom of expression day at 10
Mahmoud Bassiouny to promote its cause and activities. On the 1st week of June,
Oyoon is conducting an illustration and animation workshop for disadvantaged
children in collaboration with COSPE in El-Saf and El-Dessamy villages in Giza - the
output would be a 2 minute film and comic book.
Info:
Here’s where you can find Oyoon Art Group
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oyoon-Art-Group
Twitter: @OyoonArtGroup
Loving Hearts (Omahat El Badeelat): Through adequate training and rehabilitation of orphanage workers, Omahat El Badeelat aims to address the problems related to low levels of training and capacity building offered to orphanage workers and foster care workers.
The team has launched its website and trained 20 foster care workers, is conducting the second phase of their trainings, and is working on an advocacy model to apply the model for orphanage trainers on a nationwide scale.
Info: Website: pearls4development.org Email: [email protected]
Akhbar El Mahrousa P a g e | 6 JUNE 21ST, 2012
The Incubator of Social enterprises
Career Entrepreneurship & Development Office (CEDO) bridging the gap between the outcomes of the educational system and needed input for the job market. The office provides a fair chance to youth for capacity building, empowerment, and career advancement.
CEDO has organized the Annual Employment Fair at the University of Cairo. The event was organized at the Faculty of Engineering on Thursday, May 9th, 2012. The event is considered a great opportunity to reach out to a group of enthusiastic young people with distinctive potentials and remarkable talent. Employers found it very helpful as they continue to perform their functions and carry out their operations during this critical time in Egypt. 32 companies and entities joined the fair. Over 10,000 students and graduates visited the fair. The fair created around 587 job opportunity and 802 internships. Due to the success of the employment fair, CEDO will be organizing similar events in the Faculty of Science and the Faculty of Computer Science & Information Technology.
Website: www.cedoegypt.org
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/cedo
The Misriyati program focuses on promoting the
values of tolerance, peace and diversity among young Egyptians through an innovative curriculum. The project has an established curriculum and teaching methodology. At the end of each cycle of workshops, participants are requested to brainstorm on means of contributing to their communities. Misriyati organized one day Non Violent Communication training with Lebanese trainer Tanya Ghorra. Tanya introduced the NVC tool modeled by Marshall Rosenberg (check www.cnvc.org) quickly spreading around the globe. The training first addressed communication basics, before introducing the NVC specifics: facts, feelings, needs and requests. Participants then explored how NVC can help in conflict situation. Be ready for the next round!" Misriyati is looking for volunteers willing to translate educational material from English to Arabic... Volunteers can work from NM or from home. They will be provided with a computer if needed. It is a great volunteering opportunity for those interested in peace education, training design, and Arabic language :) Please contact: [email protected]
Akhbar El Mahrousa P a g e | 7 JUNE 21ST, 2012
The Egyptian Economy and the Future—15 May2012
Dr. Samer Atallah
What are the short term and long term challenges facing the Egyptian economy? What are opportunities that lie ahead? What should take the top priority now in policy making? What are the trade-offs of the possible economic policies? All these questions with a focus on: Egyptian budget deficit Unemployment Inflation Labor market Credit market Energy and food security
HarassMap 1st Annual Report Release—9 May 2012 What about Sexual Harassment in Egypt? After launching in December 2010, HarrassMap, winners of this year’s BOBs award for Best use of Technology for Social Good, is proud to present their first annual report at Salon El Mahrousa.
Esseily at NM المحروسة في عسيلي As part of our Monthly Mondays Gatherings for NM incubated social entrepreneurs and NM Members, we decided to invite experts with inspirational success stories to share their experiences.
Ahmad El Esseily, writer & director joined our gathering to share his story and talk to our social entrepreneurs about how to challenge the status quo.
The International Youth Foundation and Nahdet El Mahrousa in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation are implementing Egypt@Work. This four year program will collaborate with local implementing partners to provide 10,000 disadvantaged youth with the skills, knowledge, and opportunities needed to find and maintain employment or to start new enterprises
The Egypt@Work (E@W) is proud to announce that their 3rd round of funding, the targeted RFA, has been issued during the month of May. Guided by the findings of the initial phase of the E@W Labour Market Assessment (LMA), the targeted RFA has focused on 4 main sectors; agribusiness, food and beverages services, manufacturing and telecommunications. Under the auspices of the E@W team, potential partnering NGOs would also be required to conduct their own dual-client assessments in their local implementing areas as part of the programme’s efforts to pinpoint local labour market issues. To further enhance our market understanding and identify pressing gaps, the E@W team is currently undergoing the 2nd stage of the LMA during which the team is meeting and interviewing private sector stakeholders located in Greater Cairo. The last stage of the LMA would include implementing focus group discussions with educationally disadvantaged youth to dig deeper into the main obstacles to maintaining sustainable sources of income.
For any questions, please email the team at: [email protected]
NM Partnerships
SALON EL MAHROUSA
NM Monthly Mondays
Akhbar El Mahrousa P a g e | 8 JUNE 21ST, 2012
EGYPTIANS WHO MAKE US PROUD
Egyptian Company KarmSolar Wins HCT-Wharton Innovation Tournament 2021 A group of eight Egyptians from Helwan University thought of a brilliant idea and decided to pursue it in their senior year as their graduation project. Their path to success started when they were chosen by the Young Innovators’ Awards (YIA) program in 2011 and were given technical and financial support to bring their idea to life.
The main concept of the smart breadboard is to connect the components of an electronic circuit without the need of using bridges and wires. The old method of wiring connections arises the problems of complexity, inefficiency, unreliability
KarmSolar, Egyptian Company, Wins HCT-Wharton Innovation Tournament 2021 The HCT-Wharton Innovation Tournament, held last May in Dubai, challenged entrepreneurs to produce innovative solutions to enhance sustainability by reducing the effects of greenhouse gases, or controlling consumption of non-renewable energy resources. An initial 118 applicants were winnowed down to 12, which were invited to attend the Tournament, for a full day of mentoring sessions followed by a full day of presentations and judging panels. Five made the final cut. The winning team, KarmSolar, won AED 40,000 (~$10,800) for their innovative solar energy-based water pumping solution. By helping farmers pump and conserve water through a solar-powered management system, it aims to transform economies by reducing dependence on diesel as well as food imports.
The firm lists the following six advantages of using their off-grid pumping solution:
1. Designed as a standalone solar pumping system allowing for easy replication & scalability;
2. Lifetime of the solar pumping system is 25 years;
3. No price exposure risk;
4. Instantaneous solar energy management services & support;
5. Minimal long-term recurring costs;
6. Environmentally friendly.
“We believe our project will help modernize the agriculture sector and support a sustainable increase in food production by providing agriculture farms with an affordable and efficient solar energy solution,” said KarmSolar team CEO Ahmed Zahran, an esteemed NM founder and member. To find out more about KarmSolar, please visit: www.karmsolar.com https://www.facebook.com/KarmSolar