Following a meeting of Dr. Ibrahim Abouleish with representatives of the Austrian SEKEM friends association and the mayor of Graz, Siegfried Nagl, two internship slots could be created that allows students of the Heliopolis University for Sustainable Development to visit the Graz University of Technology for one month. The city of Graz had agreed to cover their subsistence costs with a grant.
Since 2 August, the two students Anas Shalaby and Yassin Hassan Elsherif spent four weeks in Graz and even enjoyed the use of two bicycles that the City of Graz hat provided them with free of charge. The TU Graz itself with its professors Michael Narodoslawsky and Hans Schnitzer of the Institute for Process and Particle Engineering was in charge of their educational support. The coordination of the stay was organised by SEKEM Austria.
Throughout the month of August, SEKEM Austria supported the two and provided them with many additional contacts and local impressions. They organised for instance a visit of research centres at the University of Graz and an exchange of experiences on local initiatives regarding the subject of sustainable development. The two were also able to participate in a festival for young Afghan refugees that had been organised by a group of people who occupies itself with organising German courses and acquiring sponsorships for refugees.
SEKEM Austria would like to thank the mayor of Graz and his team, the professors of the TU Graz and its employees and all those who helped to make the stay for the Egyptian students interesting and successful. SEKEM Austria hopes that this measure may be continued with new fellows in 2016.
Additional photos can be seen on the Facebook page of SEKEM Austria.
Text: Hermann Becke, SEKEM Austria
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