Obituary - Mrs. Tawhida El-Askary

With great sorrow we received the passing of the Society member and friend Mrs. Tawhida El-Askary, the wife of Hany El-Omary and Director and Lecturer of Arabic Studies in the University of Houston. Mrs. El-Askary passed away early morning of Wednesday, Dec. 30^th.

The EAS Board would like to extend their sincere condolences to the surviving family members and ask Allah to bless the soul of the deceased and reward her for her good deeds.

EAS January Function - Update

Dear EAS Members & Friends,

Based on feedback from you and due to the short period of time available for sending checks for the January 9^th function, attendees who will pay at the door will enjoy the same discounted fees as those sending checks by mail, as detailed below. We, however, ask that you confirm your attendance, by calling 281-392-5659 or by email to aeltaher@consolidated.net or aeltaher@hotmail.com, indicating the number of adults and children attending. This is necessary for us to estimate the number of attendees. Further details are in our posting on Dec. 20^th.

Cost

Member	$25
Non-member	$35
Children	$10

Thank you Message from Salem ElDousoky

We have the message below from the Society member Salem EL Dousoky. The EAS Board would like to extend their sincere condolences to Salem EL Dousoky and his family and wish them the patience in coping with the great loss. May Allah bless the soul of the deceased and reward him for his good deeds.

اتوجه بالشكر لكم جميعاً على مواساتى فى وفاه شقيقى الاكبر الذى انتقل اى جوار ربه منذ يومان بالقاهره سواء تليفونياً او اليكترونياً او بالحضور شخصيا ولا يسعنى الا ان اقول لكم جميعا لا اراكم الله مكروها فى عزيز لديكم

To all who called or emailed to express sympathy for the death of my oldest brother in Cairo, we sincerely thank you for your thoughts.

Sincerely yours,

Salem M. EL Dousoky

EAS January Function

Dear valued EAS member,

The Egyptian American Society is inviting you to attend our first meeting of the new year and with the new EAS Board, on Saturday, January 9, 2010. We are hosting the function at the Sheraton Suites Galleria. Please refer below to the evening details.

Location
Sheraton Suites Houston Near the Galleria:
2400 West Loop South
Houston, Texas 77027
Phone: (713) 586-2444

Program
· 6:00 PM Meet and Greet
· 7:00 PM Dinner
· 8:00 PM Short Presentation by new EAS Board
· 8:30 PM Function Entertainment

There will be a separate program and dinner for children that will be supervised and contains a range of fun filled activities.

Reservations
In an effort to provide proper accommodations, we ask that you RSVP to this function by completing the following two actions by December 31st, 2009.
1. Respond back to this email with a name for each spot you are reserving.
2. Mail EAS a check for the cost of the function.

Cost

	With RSVP	Without RSVP*
Member**	$25	$30
Non-member	$35	$40
Children***	$10	$15

* Although we will make every effort to accommodate attendees showing up at the door, we cannot guarantee availability of seats due to the limitations of the seating area.
** Since this is the first function of the new year, “members” will have to have paid the membership fees by and up to the function date. To enjoy the member’s discount, please send or pay at the door the membership fees with the function fees.
*** Children are whoever will attend the separet children program.

General
Please make the checks out to EAS and mail them to 5013 Viking Dr., Houston, TX 77092. All checks must be postmarked no later than December 31st, 2009.

Please send separate checks for the membership fees and for the Jan. function fees. The Jan. function check should specify the number of adults and children that will attend.

If you are not a member, EAS encourages you to complete our membership form at http://easathouston.blogspot.com/. Please send your membership dues ($60 family or $30 single) along with your function fees to the address listed above.

Additional details on the dinner menu and entertainment program will be posted in http://easathouston.blogspot.com/. Please check it out soon.

We appreciate your efforts in helping us make this function a success and we look forward to your attendance.

Sincerely,

The Egyptian American Society Board

Holidays Greetings

During these festive holidays, we all take a moment to spend more time with family and friends, and to appreciate that with which we have been blessed. It is a time when we make our vows and declare our resolutions for the upcoming new year.

We, in the Egyptian American Society, extend our love and thanksgivings to all the Egyptian Americans in the community whom we consider our very own extended family.

May we all be blessed in this season of joy as we look forward to many more festive seasons to come.

Salaam,

Sherif Zaafran, MD
President, EAS

Eid Celebrations at ACC

Happy Thanksgivings and عيد سعيد

The EAS Board would like to wish all Houstonians happy Thanksgiving and Muslem Houstonians a blessed and happy Eid.

EAS Last Meeting and Board Election

The Society meeting on November 1 was lively attended by close to 60 members, families and friends. The meeting was held at the Los Cucos restaurant at the Galleria area, where the food was an extra delight. The meeting started with a social and dinner, followed by a talk by Dr. Ibrahim AbouSayed, President of the departing Board on the Board achievements and difficulties that the board met. Dr. Mohammed Sabbahi, The Chair of the Nomination and Election Committee, then, introduced the new Board nominees and started the election. At the end of the meeting, the results were announced, as follows:

President: Vice President: Treasurer/Secretary: Member at Large: Member at Large:

Dr. Sherif Zafraan Ms. Mona Ghazi Ms. Dina El-Deeb Dr. Ayman Eltaher Ms. Rabab Sabbahi

Dr. Zaafran gave his acceptance speech on behalf of the elected Board, where he commended the current and previous Boards for their efforts to advance the Society. Dr. Zaafran also emphasized the capabilities and talents in the EAS and asked for assistance from all members of the society in pushing forward the Society's agenda and mission. He particularly expressed his aspiration to expand the membership of the Society to involve a greater part of the Egyptian American community in Houston.

Request for Internship

We have this message from Mahmoud Farrag, who is looking at starting his professional life soon:

To whom it may concern,

Greetings to all,

My name is Mahmoud Farrag, I am the son of Mohamed Farrag and May Razik Members of the Egyptian American Society. I am in my fourth year at Texas A&M University, majoring in Petroleum Engineering, I would like to ask for the assistance from any one to help me get an internship the summer of 2010, it is very important for my career. Please circulate my resume to anyone who might be able to help me.

Thank you very much for your help.

Mahmoud Farrag

EAS Special Election - Updated Meeting Time & Details

Dear EAS Members,

Due to requests from the Society members, so children can enjoy the Halloween, we have moved the meeting to be over a late lunch on Sunday, November 1st.

Event:	Meeting and Special Election of Board
Location:	Los Cucos, on Westheimer, near the Galleria 5851 Westheimer Rd. Houston, TX 77057 (713) 278-2802
Time:	Sunday, November 1st 1:00PM to 4:00PM
Program:	1:00 PM Arrive 2:00 PM Lunch 2:30 PM Speech by Head of Election Committee and Introduction to Nominees 3:00 PM Election 4:00 PM Adjourn
Menu:	Chips and Salsa. Mixed Fajita (Beef and Chicken) Buffet with all the Fixings Rice, Vegetarian Refried Beans and Tortillas Fountain Drinks or Iced Tea
Cost:	$ 10.00 for Adults $ 5.00 for Children

A Message from EAS President

Dear EAS member,

During the last few months, a number of major personal and business commitment changes occurred to several members of the EAS Board members that has impacted the Society activities. These changes impacted the Vice President (transferred out of the country), two members at large (resigned due to business reasons), and finally, the President (large business activities changes impacted availability in Houston).

In order to assure the continued activities of the EAS, and after consultation with Dr. Sabbahi (Chairman of Nomination/Election Committee) and Dr. Ezzat Abouleish, outgoing EAS president, I concluded that my resignation would open the door for electing a new board.

I have consulted with Dr. Sabbahi, and the Board members and we are calling for a new Board election to be held during the next society meeting on October 31. Meeting details will be sent out shortly.

In the meantime, the current Board invites the EAS members to nominate for any of the positions of the Board; namely, a President, a Vice President, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and Members at Large. Please send your intent for nomination, with a brief introduction of yourself and your vision for the position to Dr. M. Sabbahi, at msabbahi@mail.twu.edu.

On behalf of the current board, I would like to thank you the members for allowing us the chance to serve you. I hope in the short time we were active, we met your expectations. We also apologize for the lack of activities in the last few month.

Thanks you all,

Ibrahim Abou-Sayed
President EAS

EAS Next Function

EAS Members,

Due to circumstances that are out of our control, EAS function for September have been delayed. More information will be coming soon.

Thank you.

كل عام وأنتم بخير!!!

We have this nice painting from Dr. Abouleish, with his and our greetings for the blessed Eid:

عید مُبارک

The EAS Board would like to wish all Muslem Egyptian Houstonians a blessed and happy Eid and to covey kind greeting letters from both the President of Egypt and and the Consul General of Egypt in Houston.

رمضان كريم‏ و كل عام وانتم بخير

The EAS Board would like to send their greetings to Muslem Egyptian Houstonians for the blessed coming of Ramadan


This beautiful painting is courtesy of Dr. Ezzat Abouleish (currently part of his exhibit in the Freeman Library‏, Clear Lake).

Obituary - Ms. Amal Mousa

We have a message from Dina Mousa, as she announces the passing away of her mother, Amal Mousa. Dina sends an invitation to everyone for Iftar in her mother's honor on Sunday, Aug. 23^rd, at Masjid AlFarouk.

The EAS Board would like to extend their sincere condolences to the surviving family and wish them the patience in coping with the great loss. Amal Mousa surviving family are Mohamed Mousa, Dina Mousa, Tarek Mousa, Samir Lotfi, Samia Mohamed and Sawsan Abbas.

Events around Houston - Art Exibition‏

Events around Houston

TIME:	Tuesday, June 16, 2009, 7:00pm
PLACE:	ACC- Arab American Cultural and Community Center at 10555 Stancliff, Houston 77099
EVENT:	Fund-Raising Dinner for Civilians of Gaza ($25)
INFORMATION:	713-545-5257 or 713-269-7856

Events around Houston

Events around Houston: Free Programs at The Menil Collection

EAS Sham Elneseem Picnic - POSTPONED‏

All,

The weather has taken an unfortunate turn and we will be experiencing severe thunderstorms throughout the day tomorrow. Since this will not be conducive to any of the program events planned, we will be postponing the event until further notice. An update will be sent out next week with further details.

We appreciate your support in this matter.

Thanks,
EAS Board

EAS April Function

All,
The newly appointed EAS Young Adults committee cordially invites you to the first EAS Sham El Neseem Picnic on Saturday April 18, 2009.

Please view the attachment (below) for the details for this action filled event.

We request that you send us your RSVPs with the number of people attending by Wednesday April 15, 2009 so that we may properly account for food.

Thank you,
EAS

عشا الغلابا عليك يارب

!!السلام عليكم

عندم كنا في المركب مع الجمعية, كدت أموت من الجوع, ولكن أنقذنني السيدات

.. فالصورة المرفقة تعبر عن دعائي لهن

Ezzat Abouleish,M.D.
http://ezzat2007.spaces.live.com/

EAS March Function - A Great Fun

The Society's March function was a real treat for the attendees, with about an hour and a half fantastic tour on Houston's Ship Channel Boat, then with the fine dining at Los Cucos, followed by a fun-filled evening led by Mona Ghazi. About forty five, adults and children, attended the tour and a similar number the dinner.

Early afternoon, the boat tour was a nice opportunity for relaxing, enjoying the water and breeze and socializing with other EAS members and friends, on the waters of the ship channel. The dinner was quite fine, and the trivia/gift-stealing game that followed was real fun. The winners were

Ayman Eltaher

Sonia Nagi

Amir Salem

Nahid Mohamed

Tawfik Nasr

Irene Said

Hossam Salem

Mohamed Sabbahi

Ehab Shabaan

Maisa Kotb

EAS Board would like to thank everybody for the great turn out and for the positive feedback we received.

We hope to see you all in our next (April) function, which is going to be really special; planned and executed by the Egyptian American young adults of Houston, led by our young Board member Dina El-Deeb.

Hi everybody,

After the Ship Channel Tour on Sat., March 21^st, we will be gathering again for a dinner and social.

If you plan to attend the dinner, Please RSVP by sending email to aeltaher@sbcglobal.net and telling us the number of attendance in your party. This RSVP is separate from that of the Ship Channel Tour. People can attend either events (Tour or Dinner) or both, but you need to RSVP for each separately.

Location:	Los Cucos, on Westheimer, near the Galleria 5851 Westheimer Rd. Houston, TX 77057 (713) 278-2802
Time:	5:00p.m
Menu:	Chips and Salsa. Mixed Fajita (Beef and Chicken) Buffet with all the Fixings Rice, Vegetarian Refried Beans and Tortillas Fountain Drinks or Iced Tea
Cost:	$ 20.00 for Members $ 25.00 for Non-members $ 8.00 for Children 12 & under (A Choice of Chicken Fingers or Fried Shrimp)

EAS March Function

Happy Mawlid ElNabawi

Muslim Egyptian Community in Houston,

We have received letters (below) from President Hosny Mubarak of Egypt and from H.E. ElHusseini Abdelwahab, Consul General of Egypt in Houston congratulating the Muslim Egyptian community in in Egypt and the world over for the coming blessed Mawlid ElNabawi, the birthday of Prophet Mohamed PBUH. Below also is the response letter sent on behalf of the community from Dr. Ibrahim Abou-Sayed to H.E. El Husseini Abdelwahab, thanking him for his kind letter.

EAS February Meeting

The EAS Board would like to thank all who came with the positive feedback on our last meeting. The meeting was a success by the sincere efforts and dedications of Board members and volunteers.

The meeting was attended by more than 70 members and friends of EAS, as well as about 10 children. The main item on the meeting agenda was the speech and discussion lead by

His Excellency Ambassador Elhusseini Abdelwahab

The talk by Ambassador Abdelwahab was indeed informative and hit a number of hot current topics, including impact of global economic recession on Egypt and the supporting role of Egypt in recent events in Gaza. In their special room, the children also had their share of fun with the clown, balloon animals and the pizza. The meeting was concluded with a lively "Name that Tune" game lead by the new stars of EAS

Dina El-Deeb & Mona Ghazi.

Winners of the "Name that Tune" were

Ghada Ahmed , Nabila Eid,
Abla Barakat , Samy Rezk,
Yusra Abou-Sayed , Nahed Strawes,
Nour Hyder , Rasha Heggazy,
Mohamed Elkady & Noha Elgohary

The EAS Board would like to thank all volunteers who participated in making this event the great success it was; in particular, we thank

Marwa Soliman , Mona Elkhelali & Dalia Diab

Who did a fantastic job sitting with the children and provided them with the wonderful time they had. A special thank goes also to

Adel El-Deeb

For his IT support during the "Name that Tune" session.

This meeting had the special flavor and fingerprint of the Egyptian American youth that Dina and Adel brought in. The EAS hope this would continue and progress to a more lively and dynamic EAS energized and lead by the new generations of Egyptian Americans in Houston.


Pictures are courtesy of Tarek Ghazi

A Conversation with His Excellency Sameh Shoukry

Egyptian-US Bilateral Relations and Shared Objectives has this event organized in Houston:

A Conversation with His Excellency Sameh Shoukry

Speaker(s): His Excellency Sameh Shoukry, Ambassador of Egypt to the United States

Date: 2/25/2009

Time: 11:30 am to 1:30 pm

Location: The Intercontinental Hotel- DiscoveryB, 2222 West Loop South, Houston, TX 77027

For more details: (http://www.bilateralchamber.org/_events/default.aspx?event_id=192)

Invitation to EAS February Meeting

Dear EAS Memebsr and friends,

Please click on the invitation below for details on our February meeting.

Obituary - Mr. Ahmed Elsabbahi

With great sorrow, we have received the news that Mr. Ahmed Elsabbahi, the father of Dr. Mohammed Elsabbahi, has passed away in Egypt. The EAS Board would like to extend their sincere condolences to Dr. Mohammed and his family and wish them the patience in coping with the great loss. May Allah bless the soul of the deceased and reward him for his good deeds.

We have the message below from Dr Aboueleish, the head of the EAS committe for supporting civilians in Gaza. In particular, we would like to indicate that the EAS has delivered its first installment of $5,000 to the ACC committee and that the remaining $1,000 will be delivered next week.

On Sunday January 25, 2009 a meeting was held at the Arab American Center to show solidarity with Gaza. It was a successful meeting attended by hundeds of persons from the Middle East and the United States. Speeches were delivered and donations were collected. The check from our members carrying the name of our Society was handed by Dr. Abouleish to the committee overseeing the collection of donations which reached over $150,000.

Ezzat Abouleish,M.D.http://ezzat2007.spaces.live.com/

Congratulation to EAS Board from Egyptian Consul

Dr. Ibrahim Abou-Sayed has received this letter from His Excellency Husseini Abdelwahab, the Egyptian Consul in Houston, congratulating The new EAS Board:

EAS January Meeting - A Great Success

The Society’s January meeting was indeed a real success, with more than 75 members and friends having attended. In the meeting, the new Board expressed their appreciation to the parting Board members, Dr. Abouleish, Ms. Mustafa, Ms. Zafaran and Dr. Elshahawi, in recognition of their effort and leadership of the EAS in the last term. The Board presented the parting Board members with farewell presents and plaques.

The new Board also presented their vision for the Society and their plans for the coming two-year term. Dr. Abou-Sayed spoke of his vision for a term active with social and cultural functions and of an important role for the Society’s youth; he also presented the financial status of the Society. After that, Mr. Hassan laid out his plans for the Society monthly functions and expansion, followed by Ms. Ghazi who talked of her vision for a more active role of the Society in the social welfare of its members. Lastly, Dr. Eltaher expressed his hope for a two way communication between the Board and the Society members and demonstrated available tools for that.

The Society has registered a membership of about 20 families till now. Additional donations for the Society have amounted to about $288 till now.

Dr. Abouleish also spoke of the latest humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and encouraged the attendance to support the Society’s effort to help the Palestinian civilians in Gaza. He explained that donations will be sent through the United Nations to the humanitarian effort in Gaza. Dr. Abouleish thanks who donated in the meeting and encourage additional donations be made payable to the Egyptian American Society and be sent to

Ezzat Abouleish
16518 Brookforest Drive
Houston, Texas 77059

Donations for Gaza has been around $5,500 till now. Letter with the Society's Tax Reimbursement number will be sent out to the donors soon.

Dr. Ahmed Hassan had resigned his post in the Board due to a conflict with other commitments, but he confirmed his commitment to the Society’s cause and that he will continue to work as an active member. In the meeting, Dr. Hassan donated two sets of two Rockets tickets, each, to the meeting attendance. The winners of the tickets were Mr. Mohammed Gomaa and Fairouz Bader.

Finally, the EAS would like to thank Mr. Mohamed El-Ahmadi for his kind volunteering to help in the meeting.

Gaza - Events in Houston

A silent protest in front of the Holocust Museum and a big candle vigil at the Water Falls by the Galleria and other events are planned in Houston in resonse to the unfortunate happenings in Gaza. For more information, please refer to www.hcjpp.org

EAS January Meeting

This is to stress that the Society's January meeting will be in Fadi's NEW Restaurant, at

12360 Westheimer

Houston, TX 77077

1.5 blocks east of Dairy Ashford, in the Shadowbriar Plaza

(281) 556-8390

Click here for the restarant's web site

FECC Fund Raising

We have this message from Dr. Samia Khalil on the fund raising event of the Friends of Egyptian Children with Cancer:

Dear Friends,

Happy New Year. Friends of Egyptian Children with Cancer is a nonprofit organization which raises money to treat Children with Cancer in Egypt free. The board is a group of American and Egyptian volunteers.

Attached is an invitation for our main fund raising event for the year. We would like you to be part and participate in the fund raising efforts. The children with Cancer in
Egypt need your help.

May God bless you and reward your good deeds.

Many thanks,

Samia Khalil, M.D.

EAS January Meeting

Please click on the invitation below: