KHALED OUSSEIMI

28 February 1991

Gentlemen,

Man is little more than the product of his life experience. What merit he has stems from the use he makes of that experience.

Success is meaningful only if its fruits are shared with others.

The Ousseimi Foundation was founded out of a desire to share with others and as a tribute to the communities in which I have lived throughout my life.

Hence Damascus, Beirut and Geneva, cities that, each in its own way, have made me the man I am today, are the subjects of special attention.

Sharing with others is the essential value transmitted to me by my father. Within the Foundation, this means sharing first and foremost with the helpless victims of circumstance, but also with those who seek knowledge but lack the necessary means, and lastly with researchers whose efforts are aimed at improving the lot of mankind.

Allow me to conclude with a confession that tempers what might be viewed as the excessive altruism of what I have written so far. The two most beautiful days of my life were the day that I decided to establish the Foundation’s endowment and the day on which my decision received the unreserved endorsement and support of the members of three generations of the Ousseimi family…when all is said and done, a purely selfish sentiment.

Khaled OUSSEIMI