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Contents Of This Issue:
"There is no greater joy nor greater reward than to make a
fundamental difference in someone's life" - Sister Mary Rose
McGeady , Children's advocate
1- Articles
* Speech delivered by
American Lebanese Councilman John Akouri.
during the Lebanese-American Heritage Club reception on Nov
22, 2004
Thank you Mr. Akouri. Great speech.
*
The Impressions, those expressions leave- Lebanese communications
Gladys Saroyan
immigrated to the United States in 1978 from Beirut, Lebanon.
She moved to San Pedro in 1992 with
her husband and three children. She has
a weekly column in More San Pedro. This is
one of her recent articles that touches
on Lebanese communications.
* Article on
the Lebanese Diaspora.
*
Levantine Arabic/Lebanese Language speakers wanted.
2- Please visit the new links added below.
Home Page
-
Sitemap .
American Lebanese Websites
-
www.sumayyahs.com , Artist
-
www.roulasorour.com , Artist
Link Exchange
-
www.faithhopelovegod.com ,
Canadian-Lebanese personal site.
Links from Lebanon
-
http://museumsaida.org
3- Events
- House of Lebanon
year end Celebration Dec 10th, Los
Angeles, CA.
SEAL - Social and Economic Action for Lebanon
www.seal-usa.org
SEAL is a
non-profit, non-political organization that provides low-income individuals in
Lebanon with the tools they need to work their way out of poverty.
Recognizing the severe socio-economic conditions of post-war Lebanon, SEAL aims
to improve the standard of living of the lower-income segment of the Lebanese
population. To accomplish its objectives, SEAL focuses its efforts on activities
that combine philanthropy with sound economic development.
SEAL's mission is to assist low-income individuals in Lebanon to increase their
incomes and develop successful businesses, thereby creating jobs and lifting the
standard of living for themselves, their families, and their communities. SEAL
provides assistance to people, irrespective of their background, religion,
political affiliation or geographic location.
SEAL was founded in 1997 in New York City by a group of Lebanese-Americans
interested in volunteering their time to take action against the severe social
and economic problems facing post-war Lebanon.
SEAL believes that philanthropic activities alone are only short-term solutions
if not accompanied by a plan that leads individuals toward self-sufficiency.
Thus, SEAL combines philanthropy with sound economic development to help
strengthen low-income communities by supporting entrepreneurship among some of
Lebanon's most underserved, yet capable citizens.
Since its inception, in conjunction with local non-government organizations
(NGOs), SEAL has researched potential projects throughout Lebanon and has funded
projects in industries ranging from farming to tailoring and embroidery, sea
salt production, industrial tools and business education.
Please visit
their site at www.seal-usa.org to learn
more about this organization. Please consider getting involved or just
making a small donation. We always receive emails saying "I am only one and
I cannot do anything", but here is an opportunity where everyone can make a difference.
A special thanks to all the individuals involved in SEAL for the excellent work they are doing.
While working in several advertising agencies in the Middle East, he discovered a contemporary world of expression where the applied art in the shape of cars, home appliances and many other consumer products were used as drawing material to convey a certain message to the general public.
This concept is not new. In the Middle Ages, sculptures, stained glass and fresco were used also to convey messages to the public of this period of time.
In 1960 George Chamaa emigrated from Egypt to Lebanon were he resided until Lebanon’s civil war.
In 1969 George Chamaa presented his experiment in artistic style for the first time in a private solo exhibition in Beirut. The public and the critics’ reactions were satisfactory and several works were sold.
In 1974 a second solo exhibition in Beirut, Lebanon including painting, sculptures and ceramics got the attention of the local art critics and many works were sold.
In 1975 the civil war started in Lebanon and lasted many years. George Chamaa had to curtail his artistic endeavors and left Beirut for Kuwait were he worked as a graphic artist in a Kuwaiti company.
In 1985, he immigrated to the
United States where he lives in Sherman Oaks, California.
He has been a U.S. citizen since 1990 and he continues to paint and create
graphically enhanced paintings using computers.
You can view his work at his virtual art gallery online at www.chamaa-art.com.
You can contact Mr. Chamaa at gerogechamaa@hotmail.com or 818-994-1744.
Article was sent in by one of our readers from CA.
Charles Hanna
Charles Hanna was born in Jamaica to affluent Lebanese parents. In the early 1970’s Jamaica experienced political turbulence and the Hanna’s lost all their manufacturing operations in a fire that destroyed their business. They had always encouraged their children to learn about their country of origin, so the family settled in Lebanon where they prospered. However, soon after the losses in Jamaica, civil war erupted in Lebanon and the rest of the Hanna assets were lost. Charles escaped several incidents of kidnapping and many close calls with death. He finally escaped and came to America, broke and destitute.
Charles recognized that America was the last stand for freedom and the opportunity for fulfilling one’s dreams. He started several ventures even selling mace spray and dog repellent and faced several economic hardships. He soon stumbled upon the opportunity to start a vending business starting out with one vending machine. Within a few years, Charles had built one of the largest family owned and operated multi million dollar vending organizations in the city and a one of a kind vending network in the world. He later brought the rest of his family to Kansas City to join him.
Charles recognizes the need to educate consumers about
many business related matters and about scams in vending. He feels strongly about this
because he was a victim of such scams when he first started. Soon his
operations became national and expanded globally offering vending equipment
sales, financing, credit restoration, service and consultation.
Charles recently authored and published the book on
vending titled: THE VENDING INDUSTRY – History, Trends, Secrets, Opportunities &
Scams. He also published the only complete 52-page color price catalog on
vending, titled: THE WORLD’S FIRST VENDING MACHINE PRICE CATALOG. His
website is
www.hanna-vending.com.
Mr. Hanna is very involved in his community. He is past
president of his Rotary club and has served on numerous boards and committees
locally, nationally and internationally. He is involved with numerous non-profit
organizations and volunteers his time to many worthy causes. Over the past 28 years, whenever asked to speak to any
audience, Hanna has always used the opportunity to remind those listening to
never forget for a moment how fortunate they are to wake up in America, every day and
have the genuine opportunity to not only change their lives dramatically, but to
also change the lives of those around them in a profound manner!
Born in Khartoum, Sudan of Lebanese parents, Dr. Suki received his elementary education in the Sudan and subsequently went to Lebanon for his high school, university and medical studies.
After graduating from the American University of Beirut School of Medicine, he received his post-doctoral training in Internal Medicine and in Hypertension and Nephrology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, Texas. Following three years as part of the teaching faculty of Southwestern Medical School, Dr. Suki was recruited in 1968 to head the Renal Section of the Department of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and at The Methodist Hospital in Houston where he was, until July 31, 2000, a Professor of Medicine and of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics.
Dr. Suki has has been listed in Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, The National Register of Prominent Americans and International Notables, The Best Doctors in the U.S., The Best Doctors in America, The Best in Houston, America’s Top Doctors and Guide to Top Doctors. He as served as a consultant to, or member of the Board of Directors of, a number of governmental agencies, voluntary health organizations and professional organizations. He also has served, or continues to serve, on the Editorial Boards of a number of scientific journals. Widely published, Dr. Suki has written over 200 scientific publications dealing with many aspects of renal physiology and disease including hypertension and diabetes. His research had been supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health and from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
His contributions have been recognized by such awards as the President’s Medal of the American Society of Nephrology in 1991, the David M. Hume Award of the National Kidney Foundation in 1994, and President of the American Society of Nephrology, 1997-98. Dr. Suki is presently in practice with Nephrology Dialysis and Transplantation Associates, and carries the title of Clinical Professor of Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Suki is also a board member of the American Lebanese Foundation
www.alfusa.org.
More info on Dr. Suki:
http://www.bestdoctors.com/en/doctors/wnsuki.htm
http://www.kidneydocs.org/people/staffdetail.php?id=1
http://www.jasn.org/cgi/content/full/10/9/2044
http://www.nasdat.org/html/suki.html
Dear Dr. H. / Webmaster
"Mabruk" on the continued growth of Cedars1.com.
I enjoy checking out your website at least once a month, and seeing how it grows
into a more and more comprehensive resource for the Lebanese community and those
like myself who consider Lebanon there second homeland because we have lived and
worked there.
The tremendous effort you put into Cedars1.com is greatly appreciated and
applauded.
Blessings,
Your faithful reader
Jacki
(former English & Music instructor, Middle East College, East Beirut, Lebanon)
From a speech by Vaclav Havel:
"I am not an optimist, because I am not
sure that everything ends well. Nor am I a pessimist, because I am not
sure that everything ends badly. I just carry hope in my heart. Hope
is a feeling that life and work have a meaning. You either have it or you
don't, regardless of the state of the world that surrounds you.
Life without hope is an empty, boring and useless life. I cannot imagine
that I could strive for something if I did not have hope with me. I am
thankful to God for this gift. It is as big a gift as life itself".
It is our hope that this site will continue to grow and make a difference by serving as a resource and a place to network. We hope few more people can help by sending information on clubs, books, organizations, people and any other information or articles.
Wishing you and your families a happy holiday season and a great new year filled with joy, health, success and hope.
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