Martyn Cook launched the book and Professor Ross Steele was a great help and support throughout the afternoon, it could not have been done without them.

Thank you. 

Some pics from the day.

Martyn Cook, Susie Hagon and Professor Ross Steele.

Artist Kerrie Lester.

Glen Marie Frost and Amanda Nankervis.

 The modern Library of Alexandria the BA had it’s inaugural opening in 2002 and has become a landmark building of Architecture and Culture in Alexandria, Egypt and the Middle East.

                                                    Our project is inspired by this legacy

Photographer Susie Hagon and artist Darian Zam have combined their artistic talents to brilliant effect enabling them to present a visual body of work themed on the cross-cultural exchange of knowledge and creativity. 

                                     Lorenzo Montesini, Chairman of the Australian Friends of the

                                       Bibliotheca Alexandrina and Photographer Susie Hagon a

                                    committee member of the friends of the BA, travelled to Alexandria,

                                   Egypt in April 2007 to take a series of portraits of faces of the of the

                             BA, the result of a fascinating collection of people working in the Library from the Professor’s of Manuscripts, Antiquities, Architecture and Science to the Chief Librarian and Academics from all fields.

We have simultaneously photographed Iconic and Creative Australians in their various fields to mirror the Egyptian side of the project.

                                         The collective quote from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina,

                                                                       is as follows…

                                      “ THE BIBLIOTHECA ALEXANDRINA CREATES A PLATFORM

                                       FOR DIALOGUE BETWEEN EAST AND WEST BY GIVING FACE

                                                                  TO EACH OTHER ”.

                                      The exhibition opened in Sydney, at the Egyptian Consulate,

                                                                 2^nd to 23^rd May 2008.

                                    Then travelled to Canberra, ACT opening at the Egyptian Embassy,

                                                                18^th June to 23^rd July 2008.                          

                                                               “In The Houses of the Muses”

                                          Then travelled to Egypt, and was hosted by the Bibliotheca                                                                                      Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt, 18^th October 2008,

                                                                          launched by       

                                           Dr Ismail Serageldin, Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina

                                                                                 And

                                          HE Ms Stephanie Shwabsky, Ambassador of Australia to Egypt.

The Exhibition is in collaboration with The Australian Friends of the BA to promote understanding and         awareness, to the wonderful institution the Bibliotheca Alexandrina represents throughout Egypt, the Middle East and the world.

I feel I choose a challenging subject, to make my documentary but it was a fantastic experience. 

The photo essay is of a small group of volunteers and members of the Blue Diamond Society. They all have their own personal story and are part of the LGBT ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender ) community that the BDS helps create for gender minorities to live with equal rights, dignity and to have hope and opportunities.  

Megnah, Ashmita, Ditahman and Roxanne were my portrait subjects, they were amazing, they let me into their life and homes to photograph them in their private world, we became good friends, they are fantastic people and were wonderful to work with.

The Blue Diamond Society was established at 2001, to raise awareness for sexual minorities in Nepal and to improve the sexual health, human rights and wellbeing of sexual and gender minorities including third genders, gay men, bisexuals, lesbians and other men who have sex with men. The BDS provides education, support and advice to Nepal’s Gay community and runs the country’s only AIDS/HIV prevention programme, partially thanks to a $40,000 US grant donated by Sir Elton John. The programme includes psycho-social counselling, raising awareness and documenting human rights violations.

Some of the violations documented by the BDS are of murder, rape and all varieties of physical and verbal abuse.

The founder of the BDS, Sunil Babu Pant (pictured centre) was instrumental in making his country the first in South East Asia to protect gay rights. In a landmark ruling last December, Nepals Supreme Court, gaurenteed sexual minorities the same rights as other citizens. Sunil is also the first Gay Man elected to Nepals's 601- member Constituent. Mr Babu is now part of a governmental body responsible for drafting the Nations new constitution.

Members of the BDS.

© Susie Hagon

Megnah

© Susie Hagon

Ashmita

© Susie Hagon

Ditahman

© Susie Hagon

Megnah, Ditahman and Roxanne at the Blue Diamond Society.

After preparing the food in Mavis backyard kitchen, we went out on convoy in Carsten's Army Jeep and motor bikes, to do food drops in the remote back waters and outer villages of Siem Reap and to help provide medication for those with HIV and other serious illnesses.

What struck me most was the absolute dedication, of the people I was working with and how magnificent the response was from, the children and families they were helping.

Up to 2,500 meals are distributed in a month.

TOUCH A LIFE FOUNDATION- Operates a number of shelter's to improve the life of children to protect them from HIV, trafficking, mistreatment, neglect and living in poverty.....

Mavis Ching the founder of Touch A life a (free meal program) in Siem Reap, Cambodia.

More than 820 million people in the world suffer from hunger; and 790 million of them live in the Third World countries such as Cambodia.

"How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world" Anne Frank

Kosal

Mondul Bay, one of the poorest villages in Cambodia.

Mavis on the back of the bike, great woman!

Jacob and Carsten

The team

This YouTube is an inspiration, my congratulations to the cleaver people who produced it.

The organization works with socially excluded women in eight countries where war and conflict have devastated lives and communities, including Sudan and Iraq.

They enrol women in a one-year program where they learn job skills and receive business training so they can earn a living, and teach them about their rights.

Similar bridge walks were held in several countries around the world.

Jenny Bassett

Jenny Basset met Zainab the founder of WfWI in New york 7 years ago.  A couple of months later 
Zainab came to Australia and Jenny organised a media campaign and a small 
cocktail party at her home and from that Zainab met Mercedes Zobel who is now
the Patron of WFWi and is the driving force behind the London and Australian
office. Jenny has been in the process of registering WFWi Australia and has
held a number of awareness events in Sydney.

See the youtube link below.

2010 Sydney Harbor Bridge climb, my son Angus and I made for, the Women for Women International web site.

2010 VIP BRIDGE CLIMB

© Susie Hagon 2010

Tuesday 8th March 2011

Sydney Harbour Bridge Walk

Women for Women International (ʻWFWIʼ) invite you to walk the Sydney Harbour

Bridge walkway on the 100th Anniversary of International Womenʼs Day led by

the beat of African drums.

WFWIʼs campaign - JOIN ME ON THE BRIDGE – unites women all over the

world in showing that women can build the bridges of peace and development for

the future.

By joining this campaign you will be standing alongside women in the USA, the

Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq,

Sudan and the UK, in saying NO to war and YES to peace.

Seventy percent of the worldʼs poor are women and seventy-five percent of

civilians killed in war are women and children. As never before women are forced

to bear the burden of war. Women are targeted for rape and violence as a tool of

war, they are forced from their homes, lose husbands and children, and often

become the sole providers for their families. WFWI provides women survivors of

war with the support and resources to rebuild their lives.

In 2010 over 20,000 women gathered on bridges in Rwanda, DR Congo, New

York, London, Denver, Canada and Sydney. All together we celebrated at over

100 different events around the world helping to create a truly global movement.

Mary Robinson, Irelandʼs first female PM, Sarah Brown, wife of Britainʼs former

PM, Kate Spade, Naomi Campbell and Annie Lennox were just a few

women ʻJoining us on the Bridgeʼ in 2010.

This year will be even bigger with local and international press, and Australia will

be the first bridge crossed in this truly global event. Coinciding with our special

procession, a Bridgeclimb of WFWI Ambassadors will be taking place.

Come join us!

Bring a symbol of peace, wear something white, bring a banner, be creative!

I covered this event last year, it was an amazing day! Here are some shots of the VIPs that climbed the Sydney Harbor Bridge 2010.

©Susie Hagon 2010

© Susie Hagon 2010

© Susie Hagon

© Susie Hagon

© Susie Hagon 2010

© Susie Hagon 2010 Mercedes Zobel

Alexandrian's protesting on the corniche.   

To all Our Friends Around the World:18 Days that Shook the World

12 Feb 2011

Thank you for your many messages of solidarity and support throughout these last two weeks. And a salute to Egypt’s wonderful youth, who changed the course of history through peaceful demonstrations. The moral power of non-violence was never more ably deployed for the cause of more freedom, more justice and to lay the foundations of better tomorrows. By the moral force of their solidarity, and the nobility of their cause, they challenged all expectations and triumphed. The Egyptian Revolution of 25 January 2011 now belongs to the history books. It is a brilliant chapter in the unfolding story of the struggle for human dignity and the values of our common humanity.
In these 18 days that shook the world, men and women, young and old, Muslims and Christians, rich and poor came together as never before. The army never unleashed a volley against any of the millions of demonstrators. All melded together and showed the true mettle of “the people”. They redefined the meaning of Egyptian greatness. During those long days of struggle, days when the police forces were either attacking the demonstrators or totally absent from the scene, there was not one incident of burning of churches, indeed we saw Christians and Muslims praying by the thousands in Tahrir square, each protecting and respecting the other. Hundreds of thousands of young men and women demonstrated for days on end, and not one case of harassment was noted. Volunteers provided safety and order, and neighbors came together to form neighborhood watches to protect their homes and families against thugs and ruffians who attacked homes and looted public buildings, and to provide public services by sharing as never before. The people got to know each other better than ever before. Neighborhoods became more than physical definitions, they became communities again. The demonstrators protected cultural institutions like the Egyptian museum and the Library of Alexandria, which many recognized as their own.
Today the people are all celebrating the resignation of President Mubarak and the start of a new era. But the road ahead is going to be difficult. We must ensure that this moment of euphoria and the solidarity created by this revolutionary movement launched by our youth on January 25th are effectively transformed into the institutions and laws that will be the real guarantors of a true democracy. After the demonstrations, the battles and the celebrations in the streets, we must now do the equally demanding work of designing new institutions, selecting new leaders and creating new laws -- to fashion the wise constraints that make people free.
But I have unlimited confidence in Egypt’s youth. It is the dawn of a new day.
 
Ismail Serageldin
Librarian of Alexandria
Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
 


Egyptians Find Their Power in Access to Information

By Sohair Wastawy

Make no mistake: Access to information, in a country with limited resources, served as the first catalyst for the Egyptian revolution that began January 25 and resulted 18 days later in the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak after almost 30 years in office. The internet, along with Facebook and Twitter, was the Open University that facilitated learning about democracy for Egypt’s young people.

The revolution had been brewing for the past 10 years or so, increasing by the day as more people acquired mobile devices. The ground in Egypt was ripe for revolution: Corruption was at its peak, information was accessible, self-publishing and editorials had become an acquired right and gave a voice to many, telecommunications provided a platform, and Tunisia offered the spark.

But the erosion of the Mubarak regime began in earnest with the growing popularity of the internet in Egypt.

Images of corruption within the system from clandestine video recordings and snapshots were duplicated at lightning speed around the nation. Many were posted on YouTube, Flickr, and other sites. Police brutality was exposed in great part because of social media. Prior to the protests, when secret documents were leaked it only benefited a few in political circles. Although some opposition leaders were occasionally brave enough to hand sensitive documents to the media, it often resulted in the journalists getting thrown in prison and the newspapers shutting down.

But on the internet, the release of a single document spread like a ferocious fire in seconds, and millions had access to it. In a nation where only one in 700 citizens read the newspapers, young people with some European-language skills were able to translate and share news about the rest of the world with their fellow Egyptians. Those who did not read a foreign language saw the images, which they received through mobile technologies.

It was access to information that built the country’s knowledge base and inspired the Egyptian youth to demonstrate and wave their national flag—a custom alien to Egyptians until they saw online how people around the world did so to profess their patriotism at both soccer matches and demonstrations. That, along with the use of hand-made political signs that Egyptians saw protesters carrying in other countries, lodged in the collective consciousness and resulted in the variety of signs that Egyptians brandished during this revolution. Remember: Most of these protesters were not alive to see the turmoil and mass demonstrations of 1967 and 1973.

Hollywood portrays America as the pinnacle of democracy, but in Egypt the internet buttressed that ideal with real-life events that were not produced by the studios. The 2008 U.S. presidential election was, to my amazement, followed closely in Egypt for a number of reasons. The election of Barack Obama gave us a great deal of hope: We saw a country overcome many of the racial issues of its past.

President Obama’s election helped young people of the middle and lower classes realize that being poor or raised in a broken home—one with no big family name to open doors for you—is no handicap to hope and a bright future. And although conspiracy theories about Americans meddling in the running of Egypt run rampant, Egyptians have always held Obama in high esteem. He embodies hope for those who have lost nearly all hope of owning their country again. His election created for Egyptians a new understanding of how democracy works on a practical level.

Egyptians are always interested in the politics of the rest of the continent. The recent bloody civil wars in many African nations served as strong reminders to Egyptians that violence does not produce peace. Photos from the massacres that took place in Nigeria, Congo, Sierra Leone, and Uganda flooded email boxes whenever another incident took place. These images served as lessons that were never forgotten during the recent protests, where the simple signs of the single Arabic word selmia (“peaceful”) cautioned protesters to pursue a strategy of peace.

This revolution of information was leaderless and came from within—from their hearts and minds and the enduring love Egyptians have for their country, rooted in 5,000 years of recorded history. Most of us who work in education and culture know well that the assessment of learning is never an accurate science. We can never measure the value of information that a person may learn today but use 10 or 20 years later. In the protests, I was utterly surprised to see signs that included Arabic versions of famous quotes such as:

“First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, then you win.” —Mahatma Gandhi

“A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.” —Martin Luther King Jr.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” —Margaret Mead

“Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” —Benjamin Franklin

For these reasons, it is incumbent upon those of us who work in libraries and other information disciplines to make facts available and free for all. Margaret Mead once said, “America is the first culture in which the young teach the old.” Two decades after the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Soviet Union, Egypt’s youth are teaching their elders. The new, connected, Millennial generation has carried the day in Egypt—and this will be the dawn of much more to come.

SOHAIR WASTAWY, dean of university libraries at Illinois State University in Normal, was the first chief librarian of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt, where she served for six years.

American Libraries, Wed, 02/16/2011 - 10:30

COMMENTS

SOHAIR WASTAWY’S ARTICLE

Sohair Wastawy’s article beautifully contextualizes the Egyptian protests in ancient and modern traditions.

Submitted by Kim Pereira (not verified) on Mon, 02/21/2011 - 14:16.

Egyptian protester holding sign “Thank you, Facebook.” Credit: Richard Engel/NBC

Dakhla Oasis and Hot Springs Oct 2010