Latest news with #Mohanna
Express Tribune
15-06-2025
- General
- Express Tribune
44 houseboats restored at last floating village
In this photograph taken on September 9, 2016, a pelican perches in front of the floating boathouses of the Mohanna tribe of fishermen on Manchar lake, a 223 square kilometre natural water reservior in southern Pakistan. PHOTO: AFP Pakistan's last surviving houseboat village on Manchar Lake, near Sehwan in Sindh, has been significantly restored in a landmark cultural preservation project. A total of 44 traditional houseboats, known as Galiyo, and the smaller fishing boats known as Hurro have been carefully restored as part of a 20-month initiative led by two academics from NED University's Department of Architecture and Planning. Currently, around 370 members of the Mohanna community — descendants of two brothersreside on these traditional Galiyos. Funded by the UK Government's Cultural Protection Fund and implemented in partnership with the British Council, the project has also gifted two newly built Galiyo houseboats — Sohni and Laal — to the Mohanna community. Named after characters from Sindhi folklore, these houseboats will support the launch of "Manchar Lake Mohannas Tours", a community-led tourism initiative featuring birdwatching, cultural games, local cuisine, heritage experiences and other community endeavors. Historically a few decades ago, hundreds of houseboats floated along the Indus River from southern Punjab to interior Sindh. Today, only a few dozen remain primarily due to pollution, environmental changes, and the devastating impact of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD). The RBOD was designed to carry saline, toxic, and wastewater, mostly from irrigation drainage, from the right bank of the Indus River safely into the Arabian Sea.
Egypt Independent
15-06-2025
- Health
- Egypt Independent
Egypt's vision for a mobile blood bank
How many of us have desperately needed a drop of blood to save a family member, a friend, or someone we know? At times, the situation becomes so dire that we send out urgent appeals via social media, pleading for others to spread the story of someone in need of blood donations. Many of us readily share these posts, hoping to save another life. While I was in Egypt, I was browsing Facebook when I stumbled upon a project for a mobile blood bank. Yes, a mobile blood bank. The page owner and the brainchild behind this project is Engineer Mahmoud Mohanna. I went to the page to learn more about this brilliant idea. In essence, it involves creating a mobile application that lists the names, contact information, and locations of all individuals willing to donate blood. This would effectively create a comprehensive map across Egypt of potential blood donors and their whereabouts. Then, in any emergency or specific need for a donor, one could simply enter the patient's name, required blood type, and location. The app would then immediately provide a list of available donors willing to help in that vicinity. If implemented, this idea would significantly help many people and drastically reduce waiting times – far better than waiting desperately for a drop of blood. The concept, as explained on Mohanna's page, isn't complicated; rather, it's simple and positive. If this project comes to fruition and the app sees the light of day, we will possess an integrated map for saving lives through a drop of blood, something many currently struggle to obtain at a moment's notice. In conclusion: one drop of blood can save a life and Egypt remains a pioneer, through its people. Author's biography Nermin al-Houti is an associate professor of the Department of Criticism at the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Kuwait. She holds a PhD in Philosophy of Literary Criticism and is a graduate of the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts. Houti is a member of the Association of Writers and the Journalists Association, and is also part of the literary arbitration committees on theater or poetry in Kuwait and other Arab countries. She has authored numerous newspapers and magazines articles and several books on significant theatrical works examining women's issues, the latest of which is 'The Women in Ismail Abdullah's Theater'. She has been chosen as a panelist in various significant cultural events and has participated in multiple seminars across the Arab region.
Egypt Independent
02-05-2025
- Egypt Independent
New charges could lead to death penalty in Yassin assault case: Lawyer
Issam Mohanna, the lawyer representing the family of the child Yassin, expressed his great relief at what he described as a victory for justice and a vindication for the child and his family. He emphasized that the court had responded to the defense's requests and added new charges from the Child Law, which could potentially raise the penalty to the death sentence, instead of just settling for a life imprisonment sentence. During a phone interview with journalist Nihal Tayel on the 'Tafasel' (Details) program broadcast on Sada El Balad 2 channel, Mohanna explained, 'Despite the attempts at postponement at the beginning of the session, we were fully prepared for the pleadings. Delays in cases of this nature psychologically harm the child and their family. The child Yassin was with us since the morning and fell asleep inside the courtroom due to extreme exhaustion.' The victim's lawyer noted that the judge permitted Yassin's mother to speak after the legal arguments concluded, and during her testimony, she wept. Mohanna concluded that crimes of child sexual abuse or rape are very rarely reported, with the number not exceeding one case out of every 1000, because most victims and their families fear scandal. The Damanhour Criminal Court in Beheira Governorate sentenced on Wednesday the perpetrator who assaulted the child Yassin, known in the media as the 'Damanhour Student,' to life imprisonment of 25 years.
