Ola Ghabbour (right) with Coptic Orphans executive director Nermien Riad at the 2008 Coptic Orphans Gala in New York
Ola Ghabbour built 57357 Children’s Cancer Hospital, the first and only state-of-the-art children’s cancer hospital in the Middle East and the largest of its kind in the world. Her efforts started small and broad, and proved the power of ordinary Egyptians working together.
She started by fundraising among friends and family, and grew a remarkable campaign among Egyptians of all walks of life. She even encouraged Egypt’s poor to contribute a single pound. If millions of Egyptians did that, she reasoned, the hospital would rise easily.
She was right. The hospital opened in 2007, after less than a decade since this one woman began fundraising. In 2008, Ms. Ghabbour received the prestigious World Health Organization’s UAE Health Foundation Prize in Geneva on behalf of the Children’s Cancer Hospital Foundation, Egypt.
Ola Ghabbour truly led all Egyptians by example, and so Coptic Orphans honored her with our own “Leading by Example” award at our 2008 gala.
Coptic Orphans celebrates the life and recognizes the contributions of Ola Ghabbour: by her example, a true leader for us all.