Ambassador Amin Meleika , who has had a distinguished career in Egypt’s diplomatic corps, will speak at our 25th Anniversary Gala on Sep. 28 in Brampton, ON.
Dear Friends,
Today, I’m honored to share the thoughts of Manal Bedwany, the director of our Coptic Orphans office in Canada.
— Nermien Riad
It’s incredible to be approaching Coptic Orphans’ 25th Anniversary in the company of so many good memories and dedicated people. Nearly 2,500 Canadians have shown amazing support for the children over the years, through devoted prayers, volunteering, and donations.
So as we approach the our 25th Anniversary Gala, marking the foundation of our head office, it’s with the knowledge that we would not have made it to this milestone without you, our beloved Coptic community.
With that in mind, it’s a great honor that our Gala on Sep. 28 in Brampton, ON will bring together two people who represent the most important aspects of our Coptic heritage: the Church, and Egypt herself.
We all know our first honored guest, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II. His commitment to personally come to Brampton and accept the Leading by Example Award is a wonderful affirmation of the years of work that Canada’s Coptic community has devoted to educating and empowering Egypt’s children.
Today, I want to introduce another honored guest, who embodies the Egyptian side of our heritage that is so tightly interwoven with our Coptic identity. H.E.M. Amin Meleika, Consul General of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Montreal, will address the Gala, helping to keep us in touch with the motherland.
Ambassador Meleika has always kept his door open to Coptic Orphans, and he brings to his post a distinguished career in Egypt’s diplomatic corps.
Since December 2010, he has been Consul General of the Arab Republic of Egypt in Montreal to Quebec, Ontario, and the Atlantic Provinces. Prior to that post, in the period 2008-2010, he served as Deputy Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for North America. In the preceding years, 2004-2008, he was Deputy Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the UN-GENEVA.
His other posts include spending the period 2002-2004 as a member of the Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Minister, and various high-ranking diplomatic positions in Hong Kong, The Netherlands, and Ethiopia.
We are honored that H.E.M. Meleika will join us on the evening of Sept. 28 and address the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. He brings with him a lifetime of experience connecting Egyptians overseas to the motherland, so we are confident that his speech will give us good insights into this crucial period in Egypt’s history.
It’s a blessing to be able to mark Coptic Orphans’ first quarter-century of work with leaders of the calibre of His Holiness and Ambassador Meleika. In those 25 years, by the grace of God and with your support and prayers, we have educated and empowered 30,000 children in Egypt. I hope you will be part of the Gala celebration on Sept. 28, when we Canadians launch our next 25 years of transforming lives in Egypt!
To learn more about the 25th Anniversary Galas in Canada, Australia, and the United States, please visit our web page, where tickets can be purchased online. Tickets for the Canada Gala may also be obtained by contacting me. (Manal Bedwany; mbedwany@copticorphans.org; 450-736-0975)