How the Egyptian society views mental health!!!

In Egyptian society there are an estimated 18 million people, or thirty percent, who suffer from psychological ailments. Three million of these have cases of depression, according to Dr. Ahmed Okasha. Many people have serious psychological problems that require proper diagnosis, treatment and perhaps a pharmaceutical remedy to counter a mental imbalance. However, if I was suffering from depression, I would not visit a psychiatrist or psychologist. Personally, I have the preconception that psychologists offer an expensive therapy that’s presented as an easy solution to very difficult mental problems that can weaken one’s ability to live well. And I also believe that psychiatrists aren’t always working in the best interest of their patients, rather that they cater to a plethora of pharmaceutical industries that curry favor with them in various ways.

Psychologists are paid to listen to patients and to try to help them with their problems by talking. Some psychologists work for the government and others operate privately. It is my thinking that the primary motivation of psychologists is to be paid. So, in one way, it does not benefit psychologists to solve their patients’ problems as efficiently as possible. For this first reason I am skeptical about the benefits of sessions with psychologists. Secondly, I don’t see in what ways a psychologist could help me sort out my hypothetically depressed state of mind better than I could. If anything, I would feel more depressed to be in that situation, sitting in their office and complaining about why I cannot function because I feel the world is not worth living. I imagine the response to my criticisms of life or my own ability to live life would be very annoying, because, being in that narrow frame of mind, I would feel like the doctor could not identify with me. If I were to seek help with my life condition, paying money for it would not be alright with me as it is my opinion that there are others who could do a better job helping me – without asking for money in return. I feel that family, local religious leaders and friends are all much better alternatives for having a therapeutic talk.

Psychiatrists are not only paid by their patients but also have been reported to be paid by pharmaceutical companies to push pills. This is particularly true in developing countries where there is little or no regulation of medical practice, prescribing drugs and dispensing drugs. In these countries, the idea of malpractice lawsuits against doctors is absent. Psychiatrists and pharmaceutical companies both benefit from these conditions. If a pharmaceutical company wants to make more profit from their products or to popularize a new drug, there is the possibility that developing countries can be exploited for this reason. And because developing countries, such as Egypt, have a shortage of psychiatrists compared to their population afflicted with mental ailments, chances of the general over-prescribing of drugs is higher. It is apparent from the many scandals that have been exposed in connection to this nefarious relationship that psychiatrists are demanding favors from the drug companies that are providing them with the sometimes unnecessary and even potentially harmful drugs they prescribe.

Most people in Egypt, I believe, would feel the same way about depression but some maybe for different reasons. Although there is generally a skepticism I think they share with me, the actual reason most would also not seek psychological therapy for depression is shame. The majority of people here belong to extended families who all rely on each other. So I believe most would not like to feel that they are admitting to a problem in their life. Rather, they would seek help from religious healers, who have a major role in primary psychiatric work here. They deal with minor psychiatric problems through devices such as amulets and incantation rituals. About 60 percent of out-patients at the university clinic in Cairo serving the poor members of the population have consulted a traditional healer before going to see a psychiatrist, according to Dr. Okasha. While most Egyptians are against this type of psychiatric help for fear of shame and economics, I would not seek psychological help because I don’t think it’s the best way of dealing with depression.

References
“One in every three Egyptians a psychological case, expert says.” Deutsche Press-Agentur. June 6,1997.
Okasha, Ahmed. “Focus on psychiatry in Egypt.” The British Journal of Psychiatry. 2004. .
Khan, Murad Moosa. “Murky waters: the pharmaceutical industry and psychiatrists in developing countries.” Psychiatric Bulletin. 2006. .

The Future of Social Networks & Agumented reality

Social Networks like (Facebook, MySpace, and Friendster) are the reason behind capturing the attention of millions of users and millions of dollars investments. According to the Social Networking Services (SNS) in their annual 2006 repot stated that, the 10 most popular websites viewed on the internet 40% of them are accounted for social networks like MySpace and Facebook.

The basic functionalities for social networks such as MySpace and Facebook like showing the friends’ lists, messages, walls, events, commenting, and groups help most people to stay connected and be available online most of the time and be able also to upload media stuff.

The main function of the internet is to be a medium for connecting people and using the internet for mailing and by introducing the social networks, we created a virtual online community that can gather and publish information to be spread around the world. The social networks are now moving to be the next market for advertisers and marketers to provide this huge community with online shopping and offer incentives to encourage them.

Social networks are designed to help people to work in groups and get together in common activities and interests. But there are some users who connect to others with no reason other than boosting the number of friends list in their profiles. For me, I think it is meaningless because now people will be connecting to each other with out anything in common.

The primary activity of some people on the social networks is to connect with other people and as a result become boring and meaningless to other people who feel offended by these kinds of activities. These networking sites have different features and functions but they “share common goal which is to create a large community on the internet that share common social interests and relationships.” (John Breslin, Stefan Decker).



The next step in social networks will be something revolutionary like augmented reality in which these networks will be accessible from mobile phones and you will be using them more and more. People are more used to do social things on the internet like playing games or working or talking and in fact more people find it more comfortable to socialize from their bed. Another important thins will surprise the world is that you can search for your friends on these social networks by “location which can decrease the privacy to its minimum levels” (John Breslin, Stefan Decker).



References :
1- John Breslin, Stefan Decker, "The Future of Social Networks on the Internet: The Need for Semantics," IEEE INTERNET COMPUTING, Vol. 11, 06, pp. 86-90, NOV. /DEC., 2007.

2- Michael J. Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication atIowa State University, is author of Interpersonal Divide: The Search for Community in a Technological Age (Oxford University Press) ,Section: Chronicle, Careers, Volume 52, Issue 21, Page C1


3- Boyd, d. m. & Ellison, N. B. (2007). Social network sites: Definition, history, and scholarship. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 13(1), article 11.

How to avoid internet censorship?

In many countries, there is this form of internet censorship and it might be in the form of banning online websites or censoring such popular websites as YouTube or Face Book. The definition of internet censorship is that you get the control of allowing access of information on the internet for the public use. The internet control or censorship varies from country to another. Censoring the internet was a starting point for people to look for other resources to get access for restricted sites using such as anonymous proxy servers.

According to Reporters without Borders, Egypt is on the list of 13 enemies of the internet. Egypt practices the most extreme form of internet censorship. Moreover, in other strict countries such as Iran, officials might imprison internet users for accessing blocked websites.

Countries with high internet censorship always claim that they are blocking pornography websites but as a matter of fact they block websites that have opposite political views of the government and they also block religion controversial websites because officials think they are offensive.

Not only governments that block websites, but also many companies censor and watch the internet in the offices and block websites that are not related to the employee’s working environment and that’s part of the IT department at companies.

While most governments and business companies try to restrict the way people use the internet, new techniques are being created to over come these restrictions and be able to access censored websites.

There is this popular software that most of the people use to over come censored website called The Onion Router (TOR) provides to users the option to stay invisible from traffic analysis. The idea of this software is based on changing the Proxy addresses around the world so that we you try to explore censored website, you go through series of connections to reach your website.

Censoring the internet differs in seriousness based on the regulation of country or company. Tight controls over the internet usage took away the user’s privacy rights. These regulations force users to seek help and search for software or website to be able to access censored websites.

Hackers

In this blog I’m talking about how we can protect our data from hackers.
Let’s start by what do hackers want?

Most hackers are thieves and they may be looking for credit card information or they might want to get access to some sensitive property or some other copyrighted works. They do this because they can use for their own benefits or they just might resale it to other people online. Not only this but also they want to use your own computer to send spam email files to your contacts so that they can manage to hack them too.

The second issues is that how do hackers gain access to your account?

From my experience dealing with computers, I know these names or programs that can seriously damage my computer or make it remotely controlled such as worms, viruses, and Trojan.

Hackers can gain access to my computer by searching for the security holes which they can gain access without problems. These holes are existed in most programs we use for online communications.

Hackers use some hacking programs that are designed to figure out the access of accounts or the passwords. These programs are based on combining numbers and letters until it matches the password and can easily gain access to accounts.

The other thing that is commonly used on the internet is this message that you find on your inbox list which requires to send back your information such as passwords and birth date and some other personal information and hackers fabricates these messages to be sent from the hosting web site server and this is the trick where most people do not pay attention to and send back the information and this makes it for hackers to gain access to thousands of websites and accounts.

The third and final issue is about how to foil a hacker?

People should protect their computers by installing firewalls and anti-virus software programs so that they can keep track of any unexpected virus that could be targeting your own computer.

You can also use external hard drives as they provide automatic back up for information and data saved on them.

Egyptian Museums

Egypt is rich with many museums, in fact there are more than 34 museums all over Egypt, and they are divided into:

1- National Museum:

They usually have collections from a specific period, or part of the Ancient Egyptian history

Such as:

* The Egyptian Museum:

In 1834 Mohamed Ali decreed an administration for the antiquities. He also ordered constituting the first museum in Al-Azbaquia. In 1858, August Mariette was in charge of the Egyptian Antiquities Institution and he built a museum in Bulaq, which opened in1863.



In 1891, the antiquities were transferred from Bulaq to the Palace of Giza (Saray El-Giza). In 1902 the present museum was built. It has about 120,000 objects on display, and several hundred thousand are still in the vaults.

* The Coptic Museum
* The Islamic Museum
* The Greco-Roman Museum

2- Local Museum:

They are mostly located in the capital of a local province. They usually have a collection of antiquities that have been found within the borders of the area

Such as:

* Elephantine Island Museum
* Luxor Museum
* Museum of Mellowi
* Menia Museum
* Beni Seuf Museum
* New Valley Museum
* Ismalia Museum:
* Port Said Museum:
* Tanta Museum

3- Contemporary Museums:

They exhibit relics from the era of Mohamed Ali and his family

Such as:

* Mohamed Ali Basha Museum in Shoubra
* Prince Mohamed Ali at Manial palace:
* Museum of Gayer Anderson
* Elguhara Palace Museum
* Royal Chariots Museum at the Citadel
* Royal Chariots Museum at Boulak
* Police Museum
* Royal jewellery Museum at Alexandria

4- Site Museums:

They are usually attached to specific sites, and are small in size. They exhibit the artefacts that have been found around the archaeological site, instead of keeping the finds in a local antiquities store

Such as:

* Tanis Museum (San EL Hagar)
* Karnis Museum (Kom Oushim)
* Solar boat Museum (southern side of Khufu’s Pyramid)

Theme and other miscellaneous Museums:

These museums were built to exhibit a particular type of artefact

Such as:

* The Nubian Museum
* The Maritime Museum
* The Military Museum.
* Agricultural Museum
* Islamic Pottery Museum

The Main Air Pollution in Cairo

There are numerous sources to air pollution in Egypt, as in other countries. However, the formation and levels of dust, small particles and soot are more characteristic in Egypt than presently found in industrialized countries. Some of the sources for these pollutants, such as industries, open-air waste burning and transportation, were also well known problems in most countries only 10 to 20 years ago.

Another important source for particulate matter is the wind blown dust from the arid areas. These particles are, however, to be found in the larger particle fraction. We will show, for instance from data collected at Tabbin in southern Cairo, that the inhalable (thoracic) particles (diameter less than 10 micrometer, PM10 ) are mainly generated from industrial processes.

To illustrate the magnitude of the suspended particulate matter problem, Figure 2 shows the percentage of exceedance of air Quality limit value during the year 2001.



Figure 2: The percentage of Exceedance of PM10 to Air Quality Limit value of Egypt during the year of 2001.


Suspended dust (measured as PM10 and TSP) can be seen to be a major air pollution problem in Egypt. PM10 concentrations can exceed daily average concentrations during 98% of the measurement period. The Exceedances are highest in industrial areas. On the other hand it seems that the natural background of PM10 in Egypt may be close to or around the Air Quality Limit value. These levels can be found also in areas where local anthropogenic sources do not impact the measurements. Further measurements may be used in the future to quantify the relative importance of the different sources relative to a background level that varies dependent upon the area characteristics.

In addition to particles, also SO2 in urban areas and in industrial areas, as well as NO2 and CO in the streets may exceed the Air Quality Limit value.

you can also get more information through Ministry of State for Environmental Affairs

"Souk El-Sayarat" Cars Market in Egypt

If you are looking for a good deal on a used car or are looking to get a good price selling your own automobile, Souk El-Sayarat (the cars’ market) is your destination.

Souk El-Sayarat is where people in the know go to buy and sell cars or simply check the latest offerings in the used car market. It is the place to find almost every car model and make popular or unpopular, luxury or economy, coupe or sedan, in all different colors and fit for every price range.

"I prefer coming to Souk El-Sayarat because there is a wide variety of choices," said Hussein Mohamed who was looking to buy a car. "Here, I can see and examine the cars myself rather than reading about it in classified ads," he added.

Located on the outer edge of Nasr City in the Tenth District, the popular car market is one of the town’s modern-day landmarks. The wide parking lot covers more than 20 acres teeming with around 20,000 cars and their owners from around the country.
Once you enter Zaker Hamdy Street with your car, brokers will surround you asking you to name your price. Some will even shout out a price at you even if you are just passing by.


Usually, some car owners put their cars outside the market area if there is no room inside or if they don't want to pay the LE 10 ticket. While you may find good deals outside, the real fun begins when you enter the market itself.

Practice your negotiating skills before you arrive though, and don’t shy away from driving a hard bargain. Prices are anything but fixed.

Here’s a useful tip: Look for cars surrounded by brokers, seek out the owner and seal the deal. Usually the car is a catch.

Another tip: avoid brokers. Usually, the brokers are unemployed men who come from other governorates to make commission off any sale they can make, which means they push up the price. They are not to be trusted, plus they don't have any kind of license. It is best to deal directly with the car owner.


Once you find the car at the price you want, take it to the nearest car service station with the owner to make sure its mechanics are in order.

The market was the source of numerous complaints from residents in the surrounding buildings because of the noise and crowd it brings. This led the Cairo governorate to issue an official decision to close the market. However, it is still held every Sunday and Friday.

At Souk El-Sayarat, you will find people offering to wash your car, sell you water, hot and cold drinks or koshary as well as car parts and accessories.

Two final words of advice: Don't try to double park your car outside the market because there are traffic police everywhere ready to fine you.

Secondly, take precautions to protect yourself from the sweltering summer sun like an umbrella

Project #3

The Radio news wrap



The Radio Voicer



And now we are back with our latest environmental news about climate change.

Lead in:

Climate change is a countdown to the catastrophic global crisis. That war -world war III- will be harder and more destructive than the last two ones. We -humans- are the weak guys… but our Enemy is not Climate change. It is our interests, benefits and welfare which push us to destroy our priceless Ecosystem which cannot be replaced and soon, cannot be repaired.

I would like to introduce Dr. Jerry Leach, the director of the American studies center at the American University in Cairo and he is doing couple of research about global warming effects on Egypt.

Dr. Jerry, how could global warming affect Egypt?

Dr. Leach: “first of all, global warming is ofcourse a real phenomenon and well documented by the scientists of the world over the last 50 years so it is simply no doubt what so ever that the phenomenon exist and the human activities are a large part of the reason that is happening and ofcourse that the phenomenon that is the impacts of global warming have already started.”



Also I would like to introduce Heba Mohamed, junior assistant at GTZ, German Technical Corporation- Cairo office, she is working on the application of renewable energy in Egypt and she is doing couple of research on the climate change.


Mohamed:”climate change will affect many things, the first change will be a rise in sea level, this will make the Nile Delta go down under water, ofcourse this would have negative impact on agriculture which is only concentrated in the Nile Delta, thus leading to huge food crisis as we end up with no crops. Also another effect will the desertification in North Africa as the direction of the Nile changes we will face water scarcity. Besides the environmental problems, there will be negative socio-economic impacts.”

There are some important impacts that I’d like to share with you according to Dr. Leach.

Dr. Leach: “in the case of Egypt, it a big consequence of global warming for Egypt, ofcourse is that some portion may be even all of the Nile delta will go under water and ofcourse become not useful for farming and not useful for the housing of the population.”

To sum up Floods, Hurricanes, Environmental damages will affect people as they will lose their jobs… they will search for a safe place and leave the coastal zone. Climate scientists have warned that the Nile not only could suffer a decrease in water flow of up to 75% by the end of the century, but also a rise in sea levels would threaten to flood around 20% of the Nile delta. With further threats from increasing desertification, between two and fourteen million people could become refugees due to the environmental damage. Briefly, Climate change is the end of Egypt.

Thank you and have a good day

Selling animals at Friday Market

Many rich people prefer to have expensive pets and animals to show off, but behind that hundreds of businessmen are working and trading animals to make profits exceeding millions of pounds every year.

There are two parts of this business, first as a businessman you import dogs, and cats from other countries, and specialized people take care of animals and make sure they are able to reproduce. The second part is through illegal channels like Friday Market in old Cairo because the goods on sale there are stolen, second-hand or brand new but flawed. If someone is looking for spare parts, this is the place to go.

Friday Market is located under El-Tonsi Bridge in the middle of the City of the Dead, not far from Salah El-Din Citadel. It is similar to the flea market in Paris, Petticoat Lane or Brick Lane in London.

Some of the main attractions of Friday Market are animals. Pet-lovers and owners are in the market to buy or sell cats, dogs, foxes, bats, turtles, wolves, snakes, or even crocodiles at reasonable prices compared to city shops. Pet food and accessories are also on sale.

In this market, everything is sold and bought with no government control. The market serves a variety of people from the rich and the poor. According to Mohamed Saber, secretary at Cairo Governorate head office, said that "we planned to relocate Friday Market to ease the crowd and control the chaos in 2004, but these plans evaporated with the shortage of financial funds. Officials wanted to move the market near Al-Azhar Park because over there security and everything can be controlled."

In the Friday Market, Manal Eissa, animation team member at the national circus, said that “I just sold this 3m yellow snake for 15 thousand pounds.” “I bought it for 5 hundred pounds when it was only 50cm,” she said.

“Animals are like antiques, the older they are, the more expensive to buy” said Eissa. When she mentioned that it could be a successful business if you have someone expert that can deal with medications and food. If you hire some animal specialist you can open dogs’ farm and make a lot of money by selling pure kinds of dogs.

According to Gamal Abd-Allah, owner of animals shop, he confirmed that “trading animals does not make expected profits and it has high risk at the same time.” He added “it is risky because you are dealing with a living animal that can easily get infected with diseases and if you did not pay attention it might die and you lose your money.”

Abd-Allah refused to say the prices of animals and commented saying “some people might find the prices ridiculous but at the end, there are levels as you can buy dogs starting from 3 hundred pounds till thousands of dollars.”

Nevin Hosny Hamad, veterinarian and owner of private animal clinic, said “there is a rising interest of people in owning animals nowadays; it is becoming like a fashion.” There is high demand on animals particularly dogs, especially in new cities because people use them for security reasons as Hamad elaborated.

This helped people understand more about how to raise their pets, but there are some common mistakes that people still do, for instance, dogs depend on their friends who are responsible for feeding them so people need to spend more time with their pets.

Hamad confirmed that cats and dogs are fashion like cars and clothes. The popular dog is German Shepeard and the famous cat is Shiraz.

Mohamed Salah, veterinarian and owner of a private pets’ clinic, said “people are not aware that pets are responsible for spreading more than 200 diseases.” He also recommended that media must increase awareness by making documentaries and show them on TV.”

Dog’s owner spends around 240 pounds monthly for dried food and 200 pounds annually for medications. “Shampoo, vitamins, tooth brush, and eye drops are important for dogs to maintain good health and cutting their nails is important as well.” said Salah.

Don’t take anything valuable along because you never know, you may just find it on sale on your next visit.

Has cultural globalization been good or bad for Egypt? How?

Globalization is a widely used term that aims to connect and relate the entire world together in order to integrate many nations. Globalization has also played an important role in making everything in the world available everywhere and for everybody. Poor countries would not get aid without globalization so that they can afford their basic needs. Another country, one without a globalization, would be behind other countries in all fields. The global culture influence is used by mass media and influences society.

Most printed media in Egypt are influenced by the West in many forms. One of the forms that printed media shaped was the free weekly papers that are widely spread in Egypt and there you can sell and buy anywhere you want. It was one of the reasons to shorten the spaces between people and connect them more.

People are now more educated and they are always looking for the newspapers that enrich their knowledge. They are paying more attention to the international news and seeking to know everything that is going around in the world. For instance, the MacDonald’s falafel sandwich to target more people.

The various types of advertisements are targeted to different audience with the global theme.

But the globalization worked more for the American companies because they are rich companies so they wanted to share in new markets, America got rich because of their way of thinking which is capitalism.

They tried to reach different cultures with different levels. For instance, MacDonald’s Egypt is offering a falafel sandwich which is part of the famous Egyptian foods that most Egyptians eat. The company wanted to reach a new segment of people. The way the advertisements try to make you buy or eat or sell …etc.

Media has huge impact on Society and on Public Opinion. Depending on the objectives, Media can shape Public Opinion. For instance, Western media shaped the societies to support the War on Terrorism.

The problem at that time was receiving inaccurate information. According to Richard Salent, former president, CBS News
"Our job is to give people not what they want, but what we decide they ought to have.”
Big fires started from a little spark: this is how the Arabic video clips and movies were influenced by the west. This is because the video clips are now more modernized and have a lot of girls in the clips.

The clips presented bad morals and immoral scenes. The terrible thing was with the movie production, back around five years, people started to show in movies scenes to learn them steal, cheat, and act violence against others. Parents are trying to select for their kids what to watch and there are facing a gap of communication between their kids.

Most of mass media channels focus more on entertainment, but there are other elements such as education and persuasion by using advertisements and propaganda. For instance, channels have their priorities such as marketing and advertising, others for scientific and environmental concerns and there are channels tend to be biased to make propaganda for certain topics.

Technology has created the possibility of a global culture but it will get refused by those countries that are still in control of their media influence. Internet and satellites are removing the cultural boundaries and promoting for Western ideas and promoting for capitalism systems. Rich countries are spreading their values and norms in order to reach everyone in the world and lead to a kind of unity. Technology always works against censorship. As now countries hardly can control their people on their viewings. The problem in Egypt is that people adopt values that they should not because it will result into serious of social problems.

Comparing the situation in Egypt and the rest of the Arab countries, you can locate Egypt in the top of the list that used globalization in most fields. Economically, socially, and politically are influenced by the American globalization and ideas of capitalism. We have less censorship and we are practicing democracy in a way that it was never like this before in Egypt.

The role of the World Bank in world affairs

The World Bank is an international finance agency established by the United Nations, providing loans, grants, and other forms of aid to developing and low income countries. The World Bank is actually a name for two organizations which often work in coordination, the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association.

The stated goal of the World Bank is to alleviate poverty in an environmentally sustainable and economically sound manner. This is accomplished through a mix of loans and grants which fund development projects and social welfare programs ranging from building factories and schools to providing vaccinations, and even assisting in the repayment of debt.

The World Bank’s role in the international economy has evolved over time, responding to changing economic contexts both internally and externally. Currently, the World Bank exists as an organization which provides financial assistance to nations which may not have access to other forms of credit.

In doing so the IBRD and IDA are able to assist those nations which are the most impoverished. The World Bank’s increasing emphasis on environmentally sustainable development is significant in ensuring that economic growth is not gained at the expense of the local environment.

I will more clearly explain the role of the World Bank in world affairs, discussing how its past efforts have shaped its current outlook on the most effective and efficient ways to provide aid to those countries most in need.

The World Bank first provided loans for reconstruction and other development programs in the wake of World War II. The bank staff started giving loans to European countries, first France. France agreed to strict oversight over the spending of funds provided by the World Bank and the French government prioritized debt repayment to the World Bank over debt owed to other nations or organizations. After the Marshall plan, many European countries received aids from the United States and thus the World Bank became less necessary in the region.

The World Bank instead began to focus more on the non-European countries and they started giving loans to countries to finance development projects which generate income, making it easier for countries to pay back their loans. In the period between 1968 and 1980 the World Bank focused more on poverty alleviation, focusing on the basic social needs of the citizenry. During this period, the number of loans increased dramatically, and many developing nations became overwhelmed by their debts to World Bank.

While Robert McNamara was the president of the World Bank, he shifted the focus of the World Bank policy and focused more on improving the literacy rates and the agricultural reform. He also started new procedures to fasten the process of collecting information from borrower nations.

During this period, many public protests caused a shift the priorities of the World Bank. The World Bank main priorities are poverty alleviation and focus more specific on the sustainable development programs which can improve the lives of the third world citizens.

Since new the turn of the new millennium, the World Bank focused more on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that were made by the U.N. In other words, the World Bank focused primarily on the middle income counties to give those loans with low interest rates so they can start working on developing their infrastructure and other basic needs for their citizens.

At the same time, The IDA provides loans with low interest or grants to poor and low income countries because they can not afford paying them back. Moreover, IBRD is a non-profit market that can help those countries to by their high credit rating.

The World Bank’s mission is to deliver aids to poor, low, and middle income countries so that they can achieve increased development while providing social programs to those suffering from the worst poverty.

The achievement of MDGs helps those countries to develop an investment environment for the international market and this would help to push their economies. This would provide jobs for many people and sustainable growth. Investments loans and development policy loans are the two types of loans provided by the World Bank. They are for the social and economic development projects.

In conclusion, the World Bank is now moving towards achieving most of the MDGs and they are changing and developing the economies for these countries so that they can stand on their own on the international level.

The World Bank’s role in the international economy has evolved over time, responding to changing economic contexts both internally and externally. The World Bank’s increasing emphasis on environmentally sustainable development is significant in ensuring that economic growth is not gained at the expense of the local environment. The World Bank focused primarily on the middle income counties to give those loans with low interest rates so they can start working on developing their infrastructure and other basic needs for their citizens

To dig more about this issue

World Bank


International bank for reconstruction and development


International Development Association


United Nations Millennium Development Goals

Inspiring, Motivational Quotes

These quotes i like the most and i actually read lots of quotes before doing homework :D so that i can be motivated and finish my work and i wanted to share them with you.

"A successful individual typically sets his next goal somewhat but not too much above his last achievement. In this way he steadily raises his level of aspiration."
Kurt Lewin (1890 - 1947)

"It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities."
J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets, 1999

"If A is success in life, then A equals x plus y plus z. Work is x; y is play; and z is keeping your mouth shut."
Albert Einstein (1879 - 1955), Observer, Jan. 15, 1950

"It is possible to fail in many ways...while to succeed is possible only in one way."
Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC), Nichomachean Ethics

Shoeslicious

For me i like to keep looking at shoes especially for girls because they do reflect their character.
even for so many of my friends that i asked about their preferences for shoes, they said it it like fashion and the most popular these days are the vans and converse. Nowdays, people can design their own shoes online and add accessories and whatever they think of and the company will ship it to your home, I love technology. The fun part was taking these photos because my friends were surprised why we are taking these photos

CLimate Change and Human Actions

This video summaries what would be the case here in Egypt if we did not start taking action to stop global warming :


Climate change is a count down to the catastrophic global crisis. That war -world war III- will be harder and more destructive than the last two ones. We -humans- are the weak guys… but our Enemy is not Climate change. It is our interests, benefits and welfare which push us to destroy our priceless Ecosystem which cannot be replaced and soon, cannot be repaired.

There are some important facts that I’d like to share with you:

The Human Development Report 2007/2008 shows that climate change is not just a future scenario. Increased exposure to droughts, floods and storms is already destroying opportunity and reinforcing inequality. Meanwhile, there is now overwhelming scientific evidence that the world is moving towards the point at which irreversible ecological catastrophe becomes unavoidable.

Ban Ki-moon, secretary-General of the UN says “The 2007/2008 Report comes at a time when climate change is starting to receive the very highest attention that it merits. The recent findings of the governmental Panel on Climate Change have sounded a clarion call; they have unequivocally affirmed the warming of our climate system, and linked it directly to human activity”.

Climate Change in Egypt

Egypt’s Delta with its coastal front on the Mediterranean is considered vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. In addition to the rise in sea level, Climate change will also produce stressful effects on water and agricultural resources, tourism and human settlements. Fragile and unique ecosystems such as mangrove stands in the Red Sea, which stabilize shorelines and provide a habitat for many species, may also be threatened.

A study on the vulnerability of the coastal zone in Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt, revealed that a 30 cm rise in sea level is expected to occur by 2025, inundating approximately 200 square kilometers. As a result, over half a million inhabitants may be displaced and approximately 70,000 jobs could be lost.

This will oblige more than 40 percent of Egypt’s population to immigrate and abandon their homes, which may cause social problems. All these problems will destroy all the establishments and supplies on the coastal zone of Egypt, we will face a serious problem in providing supplies for our population to consume.

Floods, Hurricanes, Environmental damages and losses… people will lose their jobs… they will search for a safe place and leave the coastal zone. Climate scientists have warned that the Nile not only could suffer a decrease in water flow of up to 75% by the end of the century, but also a rise in sea levels would threaten to flood around 20% of the Nile delta. With further threats from increasing desertification, between two and fourteen million people could become refugees due to the environmental damage. Briefly, Climate change is the END OF EGYPT

Egyptians' Food Habits is a key to understand people

Food has symbolic role to Egyptians and in some cases the type of drink and food may not be delicious but it is necessary to obey traditions of a society that adherent to its ancient cultures.

feasts in Egypt are always linked to food. In Ramadan, Egyptians adopted certain social habits that are not directly related to religion.