International Appeal

Ole, ole! / A new lease on life / Fix and Foxi / The power of one / Kaleidoscope

BY DONNA SHOR

Harriet Fulbright at a party held in her honor by the InterAmerican Economic Council.

OLE, OLE!
Each year the hot orchestra and lively program of the InterAmerican Economic Council's gala at the Organization of American States draws a crowd of ambassadors who know they can let their hair down, including Ivonne A-Baki, Ecuador's answer to Sofia Loren. Ivonne, formerly a popular Ecuadorian ambassador here, is now her country's minister of trade, and always comes back to Washington for the party. This year's Council honoree, Harriet Fulbright, was given a well-deserved tribute. Anyone who hadn't known before that she is a remarkable woman would have realized it on hearing the list of her accomplishments and efforts continuing the educational foundation started by her husband, the late Sen. William Fulbright.

Dr. Fayaz Shawl, the pioneer of the Shawl technique to unblock arteries in the heart, lungs, legs, kidneys and brain. Photo credit: Frederick Samuels

A NEW LEASE ON LIFE
Guests at Tehmina Khan's handsome McLean home heard of the many lives her honored guest, Dr. Fayaz Shawl, has been saving with a pioneering technique for patients too ill for open heart surgery. (Shawl is the director of interventional cardiology at Takoma Park's Washington Adventist Hospital, where a building wing is named after him, and a clinical professor at George Washington University Medical School.) He works on the heart without open surgery, mainly by means of a catheter inserted through the groin. Using the Shawl technique to unblock arteries in the heart, lungs, legs, kidneys and brain, he has done 15,000 such procedures in his global practice. Patients range from the poor villagers he visits in Pakistan to heads of state, Hollywood stars and royalty. Among his many awards are those from the U.S. Congress and Buckingham Palace. Through his foundation, he plans to break ground soon in Washington for a cardiovascular institute and research center like the one he just founded in Dubai. A compassionate humanitar ian, he promises, "No one will be turned away because of cost." SEEN: Mehmud Ali Durrani, the ambassador of Pakistan, Lorraine Boothby, Sonia and Raj Boveja, Eschi Warwick and John Castorr, who told how Dr. Shawl, through his procedure, successfully extended the life of his 91 year-old father after doctors, deeming him too weak for open-heart surgery, gave him two weeks to live.

Tehmina Khan and Pakistani Ambassador Mehmud Ali Durrani at a party honoring Dr. Fayaz Shawl. Photo credit: Lorraine Boothby

THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL OPERA'S SHANE DOTY HOSTED A DINNER FOR NINE AT CAFÉ MILANO HONORING AUSTRIAN-BORN BEAUTY ALEXANDRA KAUKA A MEMBER OF THE OPERA BOARD SHE WAS IN TOWN FOR THE OPENING NIGHT PERFORMANCE OF WAGNER'S DIE WALKÜRE WHICH SHE HELPED MAKE POSSIBLE

FIX AND FOXI
The Washington National Opera's Shane Doty hosted a dinner for nine at Café Milano honoring Austrian-born beauty Alexandra Kauka, a member of the opera board. She was in town for the opening night performance of Wagner's Die Walküre, which she helped make possible. Though looking nothing like the opera's Valkyrie, the lissome brunette seems to have the strength of one: she runs a plantation in Georgia and five international offices for the magazine, DVD and film businesses flowing from the cartoon empire begun by her late husband, Rolf. ("He was the Walt Disney of Germany; but his 'heros' were twin foxes, Fix and Foxi, instead of a mouse!") Diners included Austrian ambassador Eva Nowotny and her husband Thomas Nowotny; Vienna-born Ina Ginsburg; Graeme Clark, Canada's ambassador to the Organization of American States, newly ar r ived here from a posting in Peru; Canadian banker David Ireland; and downfrom- New York, up-from-Palm Beach Sterling Hamill.

THE POWER OF ONE
On a casual visit to Romania some years ago, Wendy Graham, the vice-president of a Washington securities firm, was so moved by the plight of homeless and hungry street children that she did something about it. At first Wendy used her own money to buy food, clothing and books. Then, faced with rising costs and a growing need, she established the St. Andrews of Romania Foundation, running it from her home in Georgetown. The children receive educational help, clothing, housing, mentoring, spiritual guidance and even English lessons through a joint program with the English Speaking Union of Romania. "These were children who had fallen through the cracks," she said at a recent fundraiser at the Potomac Boat Club sponsored by the Romanian embassy. At last count, Wendy has made a difference in the lives of almost 100 children, proving what just one person with vision and effort can accomplish.

Dorothy McSweeny accepting a lifetime achievement award from Lou Durden, vice chair of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

KALEIDOSCOPE
In town for a weekend, Benazir Bhutto, looking slim and glamorous, was guest of honor at a luncheon counting congressmen, ambassadors and socialites among the guests at Ray and Shaista Mahmoods' ... The usually unflappable Dorothy McSweeny was in tears onstage at the tributes paid to her service as chair of the Commission on Arts and the Humanities, when she was one of the awardees at the program spearheaded by Mayor Adrian Fenty, Tony Lawton and Public Radio's Kojo Nambi. SEEN: Virginia Williams, Superintendent of Schools Clifton Janey, D.C Councilwoman Carole Schwartz and Jan Du Plain.