Egypt Cancer Network 57357 Prepares for Ramadan, Hosting Events and Online Fundraising Campaign

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ECN is in the “Ramadan Ramp-up” stage, preparing to host our biggest Ramadan campaign yet. There are two components to this campaign that we would like you to know about.

The first is featured on our website as our “Ramadan 2012” campaign at the following site: www.egyptcancernetwork.kintera.org/Ramadan . If you are interested in helping ECN fundraise for its initiatives in the realm of pediatric oncology in Egypt, you can use the aforementioned fundraising platform to fundraise either as a team – made up of friends, coworkers, or family members – or as an individual.

Your progress will be monitored on the site after you register your or your team’s information. The purpose of the online platform is to encourage people to donate directly to your initiative. An individual or team can set a fundraising goal and time period within which to have it met. We would like to encourage all of you that are committed to ECN to register as an individual or a team and ask people to donate their Ramadan zakat to your cause via the fundraising platform. One of our goals this Ramadan is to fundraise at least $500,000 for our projects with Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 and others, and we expect our online fundraising platform to significantly contribute to this. Please spread the word to your friends and family about it, and visit the website above to register and get started! For more information, please email info@egyptcancernetwork.org .

The other component to our campaign involves our network of national chapters. We will be hosting fundraising events in celebration of Ramadan all throughout the United States, including in Los Angeles, CA, Dallas, TX, Dearborn, MI, Washington, DC, and New York City, NY. Please stay tuned to our Facebook group at www.facebook.com/egyptcancernetwork to keep informed about upcoming events in your area.

Please help us in our efforts by donating your zakat to ECN and sharing our cause with us. ECN thanks you for your help and enthusiasm!

Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef hosted a comedy show at the College of San Mateo in San Mateo, California on the evening of June 16th, 2012. The show, entitled “America in Arabic”, was conducted completely in Arabic. During the show Mr. Youssef endorsed ECN, and ECN is proud to report that all of the proceeds from the event were donated to Egypt Cancer Network 57357 and AFNCI.

In addition to touring the world and hosting comic performances, Mr. Youssef is also a cardiothoracic surgeon and host of the popular Egyptian show “El Barnameg”.

ECN is grateful both to Mr. Youssef as well as the many wonderful organisers who helped provide support to ECN by bringing Mr. Youssef to perform in California. Following the performance, Mr. Youssef released this statement:

“To all the wonderful people of the Bay Area:

I just wanted to say, from the bottom of my heart, a great big thank you to the team that put this together from within your community. Nabila Mango: for her tireless efforts to put on this great event, may she be sustained in health! Hussein Moustafa, without whom we might never have been able to do anything in the Bay Area at all, and whom we cannot thank enough; Dina Ghobashy, whose assistance cannot be forgotten; and the great crew of Zawaya, who have done so much for the cause of Arab-American artists in general and this event in particular. Join me in thanking them for such a wonderful job! And I urge you to support the cause that the event will go to support: the Egyptian Cancer Network. The revolution is for those in need, and the Egyptian Cancer Network is for those in need. Thank you again, and see you soon.”

“How CCHE Brought Me Back to Egypt and is Helping to End the Brain-Drain”, by Dr. Hoda M. Amer

Upon my completion of my fellowship in pediatric pathology from Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, I was faced with a serious personal and professional dilemma: was I to return to Egypt, where I was born and raised, or should I remain in the United States, my adoptive home where I had completed many years of medical training?

The decision did not come easily to me. I reflected heavily on my time spent in the United States, not only during my fellowship, but also while completing my residency in anatomic pathology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry in Newark, New Jersey, prior to my fellowship. I also ruminated over my accomplishments in Egypt, including graduating with a degree from the Kasr el Aini Medical School in Cairo.

Part of my dilemma was a lack of knowledge about what kind of opportunities existed for pediatric pathologists in Egypt. I wanted to find a way to put my hard work in the academic and medical realm to practice in a meaningful way. The majority of my friends at home did not hide their pessimism on the subject, and the chances of me returning to Egypt to give back to my country seemed slim.

Suddenly, I had a breakthrough upon hearing the suggestion of my program director, a Syrian-American doctor by the name of Dr. Samir Kahwash. He had attended a conference at particularly unique children’s cancer hospital located in downtown Cairo, Egypt known locally as “57357” or Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 (CCHE). He spoke to me very seriously about returning to Egypt and looking into this phenomenal institution as a potential employer. I was soon being given advice by many others who had heard of the hospital and its accomplishments, all of whom believed in the potential of the combination of my academic training and CCHE as an incredible, revolutionary institution.

I am now a proud, full-time member of the CCHE staff, and under the direction of our fantastic pathology department leader, Dr. Hala Taha, we attend to over 3,000 pathology cases per year. We are the only pathology department in Egypt to provide intra-operative consultation for brain tumors and other highly technical, scientific testing procedures.

At CCHE, I was able to bring my two different backgrounds together and solve my personal dilemma. Each contributor, be them staff, advisers, patients, or donors, sustains and builds this hospital day by day. Anyone who has ever suffered the detrimental effects of cancer, either directly or indirectly, can sympathize with the difficulties associated with the disease. When dealing with cancer cases in Egypt, there are many potential additional components to the situation endured by a cancer patient, including extreme poverty and lack of access to cancer treatment and education.

CCHE is also facing a dilemma, as it needs your donations in order to survive and give the youngest of Egypt’s population with cancer a chance at life. CCHE is fully dependent on donations from the Egyptian and the global communities and can only continue to provide free care to pediatric cancer patients with your help.

Please consider donating to the sustenance of CCHE through Egypt Cancer Network (ECN), the organization responsible for raising money for CCHE and supporting cancer initiatives throughout Egypt, at the following link: www.egyptiancancernetwork.org/donate

Also recall that ECN is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization and that any donation you make will be tax-deductible within the United States.

Your donation is greatly appreciated and will to help fortify the medical infrastructure of this hospital, which in turn helps to bring intellectual capital back to Egypt from abroad, fighting the brain-drain that Egypt has witnessed over the past three decades.

With many thanks,

 

Dr. Hoda M. Amer, Fellow of the College of American Pathologists

 

The Evolution International Film Festival, held on March 17th, 2012 launched its first annual festival from four international locations, including one in Los Angeles, CA, USA.

The purpose of the festival is to spread cultural awareness, enabling both filmmakers and their audience to experience the intricate traditions of each culture and country represented. Festival co-founder and partner of Ber-Waz Films Mahmoud Awad, in addition to fellow Ber-Waz Films partner and marketing executive Hany Motaweh, heavily promoted Egypt Cancer Network 57357.

In doing so, the Ber-Waz Films team produced an awareness campaign clip highlighting the importance of Children’s Cancer Hospital Egypt 57357 and showcased it at the Evolution International Film Festival. They also generously donated this moving video.

ECN thanks Ber-Waz Films and the Evolution International Film Festival for their promotion of our work and goals.