How Egypt Welcomed Arab Reading Challenge Winner Mayar Othman Home

Egypt has a new hero, and she’s only 11. Mayar Othman returned home to quite the welcome after being crowned champion of the 10th Arab Reading Challenge in Dubai, beating more than 40 million students from 60 countries to claim the title.

The young Egyptian captured hearts at the closing ceremony with an emotional speech following her win, where she was crowned by Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. She landed at Cairo International Airport on October 31st to a special reception, with her face reportedly greeting travellers on billboards between Terminals 1 and 2, before heading home to Burj El Burullus in Kafr El Sheikh, with crowds celebrating her late into the night.

Launched in 2015, the Arab Reading Challenge is one of the world's largest Arabic reading initiatives, encouraging students to read and engage with 50 books throughout the academic year. This year's edition drew 40,286,428 students from 60 countries.

Mayar was congratulated by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and is scheduled to meet Education Minister Mohamed Abdel Latif today, November 1st, where she will be honoured for her achievement. She also walked away with an AED 500,000 prize, which she has said she hopes to put towards building a library at her school.