Free Trip to Egypt

Screening of Free Trip to Egypt at Worcester Islamic Center

Mark Sebell

Worcester, MA. Nov. 9, 2019. Last Saturday (Nov. 2nd) afternoon we hosted our 7th event since our founding in 2017; this time at the Worcester Islamic Center (WIC) for about 120 wonderfully diverse people. We called it "Movie, Meal & Conversations,” and it was another pretty magical event.

The movie was an amazing documentary that was only recently released in May, called "Free Trip to Egypt." It was created by a very successful Canadian-Egyptian Muslim entrepreneur named Tarek Mounib. In it he actually offered a free trip to Egypt to several Americans who in many ways were a reflection of American society in their fears and prejudices about Islam. It captured the attention of everyone who watched it, and after a wonderfully delicious dinner (that many people actually mentioned in their feedback forms when we ended), we had more than 12 tables of diverse participants who got involved in very lively, facilitated table conversations that addressed three different questions.

Screening of the Movie

WIC President Dr. Muhammad Ramzan, Mark Sevbell & Imam Dr. Asif Hirani

Inside the Worcester Islamic Center Mosque

Table Conversations

Facilitated Table Conversations Questions

  1. Who, if anyone, from the movie did you most identify with (at the start / at the end)?
  2. What, if anything, surprised you most from the movie?
  3. How do we teach the new generation to be tolerant and accept other faiths?

The mosque is so expansive and gorgeous, and the Muslim community of Worcester, Massachusetts made everything happen perfectly. They really outdid themselves!

Please consider participating in our next event, which will be the second annual Martin Luther King, Jr. Day that we will be co-sponsoring again with Westborough Connects. It will happen on the morning of January 20, 2020 (MLK, Jr. Day) at Westborough High School, 90 West Main Street, Westborough, MA. Details to follow.