São Paulo – Club Homs, of São Paulo, promoted on Wednesday night (23) a ceremony in honour of four men who contributed to relations between Brazilians and Arabs. One of them was engineer Walid Yazigi, former president at the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce and current chairman of the board at the organisation.
The event was promoted at the club, on Avenida Paulista, during the week in which the community celebrates arrival of the first migrants to Brazil, officially celebrated on March 25th. During the ceremony, the chairman of the board at Club Homs, Walter Abib Abud, said that the four men were "honoured for their work in benefit of the Arab society in Brazil".
Walid confessed that he was surprised when he was informed he would be honoured, around a month ago. "I was pleasantly surprised when I heard. I do not know whether I deserve it, but I think it is due to my works at the Chamber, the Heart Hospital and the Orthodox Council," he said.
The CEO at Yazigi Construction company, Walid is the author of book "A Técnica de Edificar" (Edification Technique). He presided the Arab Brazilian Chamber three times. He is currently in his fourth term ahead of the organisation’s board of governors.
Also honoured were doctor Alfredo Salim Helito, the author of two books and medical consultant of radio station Rádio Jovem Pan, businessman Flávio Elias Jabra, CEO of York Indústria e Comércio de Plásticos S.A. and a board member at the Arab Brazilian Chamber, and architect Marcos Duque Gadelho, a partner at Gadelho & Associados and former deputy mayor for Casa Verde neighbourhood, from 2006 to 2009.
*Translated by Mark Ament
