Meeting the First Lady of Egypt

H.E Mrs Suzanne Mubarak

PTPI Peace Camp and GPI delegates met the First Lady of Egypt, Her Excellency Suzanne Mubarak. What a beautiful and gracious woman who has dedicated much of her time to focusing on peace efforts.Security was tight for the First Lady's visit and no one was allowed to take in purses, cameras or cell phones so notes from this visit were limited.

After a tour of the Alexandria Library, we all convened in an auditorium where we heard from a panel of the peace camp participants from Pakistan, the Sudan, Israel, Palestine, the United States, Egypt & Romania. I believe I can speak for just about everyone in the room when we all felt confident in our future generation with the words and actions spoken by these young adults. The questions were given to the delegates by PTPI Director Amr Badr (President of A&K Egypt). Although all the answers were terrific, I'd like to sum up the words of the young girl from Pakistan. Asked if she thought the world seemed larger or smaller after meeting students from around the world, she replied that she didn't think the world seemed larger or smaller rather her perception of the world had changed.

She emphasized that we must celebrate our differences to learn more about each other.There were several other emotional events during this presentation. At one point, after the young girl from Israel spoke, the Palestinian boy took her hand and help it for a few moments. After the ceremony, we were treated to a song of peace by the other Israeli and Palestinian participants.

Seeing these students work together hand-in-hand during this panel presentation and throughout the journey is what People to People International is all about -- peace through understanding!