Within the framework of the cultural season of Ain Shams University, which is organized by the Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs Sector, Prof. Mohamed Diaa Zain El-Abedeen, President of Ain Shams University, opened a symposium to introduce the Haya Karima Foundation and the importance of volunteering, in the presence of Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development.

During the opening, Prof. Mohamed Diaa emphasized the importance of community participation and the university’s concerted efforts with civil society institutions as a major direction for the Egyptian state.

He also urged students to volunteer seriously and practically and participate in all of the organization’s projects, which cover various fields, including: “health, education, literacy, and providing community services in all its forms.”

Prof. Ghada Farouk indicated the importance of spreading the culture of volunteerism and giving among university students and its prominent role in developing the spirit of loyalty and belonging practically, strengthening community ties between young generations, and increasing students’ awareness of societal problems and involving them in solving them.

The symposium was moderated by Prof. Jihan Rajab, Advisor to the Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development, with the representatives of the Haya Karima Foundation.

Dr. Marwa Fakhri, Executive Director of the Haya Karima Foundation, expressed her happiness at opening a special pavilion to introduce the Haya Karima Foundation so that this permanent wing at the university will play its primary role in introducing all the Haya Karima Foundation’s projects, responding to all inquiries, and developing the culture of volunteerism among university students.

Mrs. Noha Adel, Volunteer Sector Officer in Cairo, talked about the enthusiasm she felt through her dealings with the students attending and their desire to learn more about the organization and its projects and how to contribute to these comprehensive development projects.

Regarding the slogan of the Haya Karima Foundation, from one person to another, Dr. Nada Khader, Head of the Initiatives Sector at the Haya Karima Foundation, spoke, explaining that every human being needs another human being in different ways, noting the great experiences that volunteers gain through dealing in different environments and the broadening of their awareness about the needs of groups. Different, thus, volunteer work benefits all segments of society.

Colonel Mahmoud Taher, Head of the Greater Cairo Sector, explained the Foundation’s role in developing slum areas inside Cairo and called on the students to visit the areas that had been developed to feel for themselves the amount of happiness felt by the people of the developed areas and the great difference that this development made in their entire lives so that these visits would be a strong motivation for their volunteerism and contribution in providing a charitable hand in various forms to support and develop our society and create a better future for our dear Egypt.

A documentary film was also shown about the Haya Karima Foundation, its projects, and its launch in 2019, which began as an idea among young people dreaming of a better future for the villages and hamlets of Egypt. This great idea was adopted and supported by the Egyptian state.

After the meeting, ideas were exchanged with the university’s male and female attendees about the creative ideas and innovative solutions proposed by the youth to provide new solutions to some of the societal problems that the institution seeks to solve.

The symposium was attended by Major General Hossam El-Sherbiny, Assistant Secretary-General of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, and a delegation from the Haya Karima Foundation, including Dr. Marwa Fakhry, Executive Director of the Haya Karima Foundation, Colonel Mahmoud Taher, Director of the Greater Cairo Sector, Dr. Shaima Zaatar, responsible for the universities and events file at the Hayat Karima Foundation in Cairo Governorate, Dr. Nada Khader, Head of the Initiatives Sector at the Haya Karima Foundation.