Insight Dubai is a conference for women all around the world. Insight Dubai is about pairing up each Emirati woman with an international buddy. These two women know nothing about and have never met each other. The conference is organized by Dubai Women's College staff and it takes place in the college. Insight Dubai is a week full of trips and activities for Emirati women to introduce their country to the international students. The purpose of this event is to learn about new cultures and tradition, meet new people, discuss issues, and empower women. The students chosen for this conference must be strong in all their courses, open minded, and independent. Not any person can participate in this event because full commitment is expected towards it. Students who are chosen are informed 4 months before the event.
The conference took place from 27 - 31 March 2011. It included a full schedule from day to night for five days which both Emirati and international students received before the actual event. There were pre conferences for the Emirati students such as Shari'aa Law to learn how to answer the questions expected from the foreigners.
The first day of Insight Dubai was on Sunday 27th of March 2011. The participants, facilitators, and lead facilitator all gathered at the college to meet their facilitator and be directed to their groups and classrooms. The groups were divided by colors like red, yellow, white, black, and orange. There were 8 groups and each had their own facilitator. I was in the red group and my facilitator was Hira from Pakistan and my buddy was Pamela from Italy. This is my badge.
Afterwards, each group went to their classroom to break the ice and introduce the members to each other. Every member talked about themselves in a general way and the goals and learning outcomes were stated. Next, all groups went back to the multi purpose hall to listen to the openning and welcoming adresses from Dr. Howard Reed, Director of DWC and Haya Al Multaq, Conference Co-chair and lead facilitator. After all the formal greetings, the first step to introducing the Emirati culture was screening several short films that were created by DWC media students and were about UAE. The short films played a big role in breaking the barriers between the participants as the films were hilarious.
Before lunch, each Emirati student took her buddy for a college tour to show her around and introduce her to the campus. During lunch time, my buddy and I got the chance to have a decent conversation to get to know each other in a deeper way and in a quite atmosphere without any distractions.
The next activity was really exciting, we went to a room which had many tables and each table had four chairs. The organizers asked us to have two Emiratis and two international students on each table. Then they distributed cards with a rules sheet. We read the rules and most of us didn't understand it completely but we weren't allowed to ask questions and how to play. Then, the game began and we had to play without speaking, only with signs and drawings. The activity was really funny and everyone couldn't prevent themselves from laughing. My table members understood each other most of the time and played quiet well. As the game continued we were getting more excited. Each student and the person sitting opposite to them in the table were partners and every time the two partners win in a round move to another table. My partner and I won twice so we moved twice and as we moved we got to meet new people.
When the game finished the staff explained that the rules were written in a way that every person understands in a different way. Therefore, not everyone went along well. Some agreed with each other and some didn't, almost every table had a different understanding of the game. The purpose was to show how can people understand and communicate with each other without speaking even when you have dissimilar backgrounds. There was a trick behind the game and I loved it!
Later on, each group went back to their classroom to have a small discussion about Sharia Law and prepare for the next day. The last part of the day was to head to the cafetria and sit in groups. We had questions and answers sheets for a culture quiz. The questions were about countries, flags, traditions, and famous people. It was fun to discuss between the members and answer in time. At the same time we learned a lot about different countries in an hour. At the end of the day we had a Barbeque and sat together to have dinner.
This was and introduction about the conference and a summary of the first day, the exciting part hasn't started yet. Stay tuned for the next four days of Insight Dubai!
To be continued ..
The first day of Insight Dubai was on Sunday 27th of March 2011. The participants, facilitators, and lead facilitator all gathered at the college to meet their facilitator and be directed to their groups and classrooms. The groups were divided by colors like red, yellow, white, black, and orange. There were 8 groups and each had their own facilitator. I was in the red group and my facilitator was Hira from Pakistan and my buddy was Pamela from Italy. This is my badge.
Before lunch, each Emirati student took her buddy for a college tour to show her around and introduce her to the campus. During lunch time, my buddy and I got the chance to have a decent conversation to get to know each other in a deeper way and in a quite atmosphere without any distractions.
The next activity was really exciting, we went to a room which had many tables and each table had four chairs. The organizers asked us to have two Emiratis and two international students on each table. Then they distributed cards with a rules sheet. We read the rules and most of us didn't understand it completely but we weren't allowed to ask questions and how to play. Then, the game began and we had to play without speaking, only with signs and drawings. The activity was really funny and everyone couldn't prevent themselves from laughing. My table members understood each other most of the time and played quiet well. As the game continued we were getting more excited. Each student and the person sitting opposite to them in the table were partners and every time the two partners win in a round move to another table. My partner and I won twice so we moved twice and as we moved we got to meet new people.
When the game finished the staff explained that the rules were written in a way that every person understands in a different way. Therefore, not everyone went along well. Some agreed with each other and some didn't, almost every table had a different understanding of the game. The purpose was to show how can people understand and communicate with each other without speaking even when you have dissimilar backgrounds. There was a trick behind the game and I loved it!
Later on, each group went back to their classroom to have a small discussion about Sharia Law and prepare for the next day. The last part of the day was to head to the cafetria and sit in groups. We had questions and answers sheets for a culture quiz. The questions were about countries, flags, traditions, and famous people. It was fun to discuss between the members and answer in time. At the same time we learned a lot about different countries in an hour. At the end of the day we had a Barbeque and sat together to have dinner.
This was and introduction about the conference and a summary of the first day, the exciting part hasn't started yet. Stay tuned for the next four days of Insight Dubai!
To be continued ..
Looking forward to reading the rest of your Insight Dubai blog...
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