 It's really fascinating because just imagine the fact that here everything started with the Nile. The Nile River is what made Egypt exist and how we could make sure that life could happen here. I'm Jérôme Fontana. I'm the head of the Aïsian Sea delegation here in Cairo and I've been here for the last seven months now. I heard that Egyptians call Egypt Umel Dunya, the mother of the world. And that's all because of the Nile. Without this river, without this water, we would not have had Egypt and it means we would not have had all the wonders that Egypt managed to create over these thousands of years. We all know about antique Egypt, the pyramids, the pharaohs, these wonders. And I think already this history is over 3,000 years. So already about antique Egypt, we have such wealth of knowledge and beauties that the Egyptians managed to create that are really the treasure of the world. What fascinates me is that actually, even though everybody knows Egypt for antique Egypt and the pharaohs, Egypt has far more to bring in terms of culture, in terms of civilization, in terms of knowledge than pharaohs and the pyramids. And what is fascinating now for me is to discover the other side of Egypt, the side about the Muslim history in Egypt, the musk, the madrasas, all this kind of life that is ancient Egypt, but not the time of the pharaohs. Also, all the past of Egypt about the literature, the culture, the movies, all this cultural influence that dates back from centuries and that remains extremely important, extremely influential today. What fascinates me most in the country is the strategic location of Egypt. Egypt is really at the crossroads between East and West, between the Middle East and North Africa. But Egypt is also at the crossroads between North and South. It is very close to Europe and it is part of Africa. It's really a bridge in between all these different continents. Now, of course, this has a tremendous influence of Egyptian people. The Egyptian people, they have this, the history, they have that in their blood. It's like for me, if the Nile river was flowing in the blood of the Egyptian because they are proud of this past, you can feel that they have that in their DNA. I was thinking the other day, it's like if you have people with the heart of a teenager who are passionate, who are in love with life and the wisdom of an old man who would have lived over centuries. Egyptians would be like that. There are people who are warm-hearted, open and welcoming, but they have also this life experience coming from all this rich history and culture. And they have values, they have these traditions that are extremely fascinating because it's really a legacy that very few countries have and that can be still present and you can feel it in everyday life. I think for the Aegean Sea, for someone like me who has lived in 13 different countries now having the chance to stop in Egypt, try to understand and connect with the people here is really a wonderful opportunity and a treasure I will try to learn the most from. I was born in Geneva in Switzerland and I was raised in Geneva. I studied in Geneva and I always dreamt to join Aegean Sea. Since I'm 12 or 13, that was always my dream to join Aegean Sea because I had this idea of Oridino helping others who suffer because of the war so that has always been my dream. Aegean Sea has been present in Egypt and working in Egypt for more than 100 years. It's also a very long time that Aegean Sea is here and has been working through different periods in Egypt. Egypt has had many happy times and sometimes more difficult times. Aegean Sea has always been present in Egypt during the difficult times over the last 100 plus years. It dates back to the First World War, then the Second World War and all the following conflicts where Aegean Sea played a very important role regarding prisoners of war or assisting the population, re-establishing family links, trying to help the injured. Aegean Sea has huge activities in Egypt over this difficult moment to be really alongside the Egyptian population and train the best for activities in line with, of course, the role of the Aegean Sea which is to help people who suffer because of armed violence or armed conflicts. But Aegean Sea is not only in Egypt during difficult times. We also play a role until today to help regarding the re-establishment of family links, for example, in favor of foreign migrants. So right now we still have a lot of activities in favor of African migrants who are here in Egypt, people coming from Sudan, people coming from Ethiopia, people coming from Eritrea who are looking for family members. And Aegean Sea with the Egyptian Red Cross Society and other partners, we can have activities to re-establish this family contact, reunite families whenever possible. And this is really changing people's life. Another important activity we have is also to work alongside the Egyptian Red Cross. They have a lot of work regarding the number of people for whatever reason, natural disasters or being medical activities, use programs and volunteers. Aegean Sea is really supporting the development of the Egyptian Red Cross. And then we have another very traditional activity, very important, which is among the core role of the Aegean Sea throughout the world regarding international humanitarian law, the law of armed conflict. The most important for the Aegean Sea is to be able to make sure that the armed forces, the Egyptian armed forces, other armed forces, police and security forces are fully aware and trained about international law in terms of peace, so whatever happens. And of course we wish always that peace is going to remain always. But people are ready to know the law and to be able to respect the law whatever situations. But even if Egypt is at peace, which is obviously something very important, Egypt is contributing with peacekeepers around the world. So we have Egyptian forces being deployed in countries affected by armed conflict. So having this kind of knowledge about a refresher about international humanitarian law is something that can really serve them when they are deployed overseas. I would imagine it takes a lifetime to really learn about Egypt, to learn about all this past, the consequences it has on the present. And most importantly, how it can also be translated into the future. Because I'm convinced that Egypt is as much about the past than about the future. So trying to understand through my colleagues, my friends, how they see the future. How will this very rich heritage they have will then be translated into a very bright and very successful future.