Texting While Driving Campaign

Good Afternoon,

A project that's required for my social media course is to pair up with a classmate to create an entire campaign. We chose texting while driving for the importance of this issue now days and how dangerous it is. The aim is to educate people and spread awareness specially to Emiratis. Join our Facebook group and participate :)

Thanks

http://www.facebook.com/#!/home.php?sk=group_222828364394742&ap=1

"Change Needs Commitment" Facebook Group

Good morning everyone,

I'm posting this blog to inform you that I have a new group created on Facebook which is required as a project in my social media course. This group topic is about Emirati people's bad eating habits and especially children. "Change Needs Commitment" is an article that has been published in Desert Dawn magazine 2010. The magazine is written and produced by Dubai Women's College Applied Media students. The group allows people to freely discuss this topic and it will include constant updates for discussions, photos, and videos. Please join the group and share your opinions. Help change one of our society's bad habits by participating to spread awareness. Don't hesitate to spread the group around your family and friends!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_205819692773419

Insight Dubai Conference Fifth and Last Day

Thursday 31st of March was the last day of Insight Dubai Conference. This was such a sad yet happy day to remember. The day started in our small groups to prepare for the guest speakers who are women leaders from different countries around the world and are successful in their lives and careers.

We headed to the multi purpose hall to be seated and listen to the first guest speaker who was Marsha Ivins, an astronaut. Her speech was one of the most inpsirational presentations I have ever attended. I didn't expect to see such images and listen to such words. She showed us exclusive pictures who are available only for NASA from outer space and inside the space ship. Marsha explained how they eat, use toilets, and sleep in space. She even showed us pictures of significant cities and how they look like from the space ship such as, New York, Dubai, and Hawaii. They all looked so beautiful and specially New York that was full of lights during night. It's really the city that never sleeps.

The following speaker was Butheina Kazim who is an Emirati successful woman who is a manager for Strategy and Business Development, Dubai Media Incorporated. In addition, she is one of the members of "Gulf for Good". She talked to us about the Gulf for Good program and how helpful it is for children around the world. A person can make their own fund raising and participate in this program to any activity he or she likes. For example, cycling in Malysia or hiking. In addition, she showed us an amazing video that represented how happy children become when the participants help them in the program. Furthermore, I loved the messages she gave during the session and her replies to all questions.

The following speaker was Dr.Buthaina Alshunnar who is a plastic surgeon and an amazing person. She shared with us her story about the challenges that faced her as a women that wants to become a surgeon and how much she failed in order to succeed. Her words were very positive and encourgingto all women and she wanted us to believe in ourselves even if people didn't. Moreover, she shared some of her experiences with her patients and how much they trust her because she's a woman.

The last speaker was an Emirati pilot woman who risked everything to achieve her dream. She studied in an air force in Al Ain and became the first Emirati woman pilot. She talked to us about how during her studies they told her that she can't get married but later on they approaved this request.

After all the presentations, the Insight Dubai participants were allowed to ask questions and they all got great answers. Later on, we went back to our groups to discuss the conference and share our feelings and experiences. We all expressed how we can't believe that it's the last day and how much we learned. Furthermore, we played a game that each person says three facts about themselves two should be true and one should be false and the rest of the players should know which is the false one. It was fun to play and to discover that we knew so much about each other in the past four days. Moreover, we played truth and dare to have an interesting and exciting way to end our last session. After the games we went to have our last lunch as a big group in the cafetria with our facilitator and continued our conversations.

After lunch we headed back to the multi purpose hall for the closing ceremony by Dr.Howard Reed and Haya Multaq that explained the purpose of this conference and how successful its is. The ceremony was followed by the certificates distributions. It felt like graduating when they called our names to the stage to collect our certificates and have a group photo.

Afterwards, there was an open microphone for whoever wanted to express their feelings or share their experiences and how much they learned. Many people went up to the stage and cried both happy and sad tears. They were sad to leave yet happy to have attended this conference. International students promised to promote this country and college and tell everyone how much fun they had and how beneficial the program was. Then everyone headed home to change and have a break and get ready for the dhow cruise.

Lastly, everyone came to the dhow cruise all glammed up and wearing their traditional clothes. The boat had two levels and our group sat upstairs in outdoors to enjoy the lovely weather and have dinner. We were all so happy and satisfied with this experience. We took phoyos of each other and even danced downstairs for the last time.

We finally said our goodbyes to everyone and wished them the best. We promised each other to stay in touch and communicate through emails and facebook or to visit anytime. The hardest part was saying goodbye to my buddy who I became best friends with and had her accompany for almost 24 hours everyday.

To conclude, this was the most beneficial and most fun experience I ever had in my entire life. I enjoyed it so much that I never wanted it to come to an end. I had so much to learn about people, countries, and so much more. This is a once in a life time opportunity to meet this number of women from so much countries around the world. I will definetly participate next year.

Insight Dubai Conference Fourth Day

On Wednesday 30th of March 2011, the Insight Dubai Conference was celebrating it's fourth day.  Our morning began at 9:00 am at our red team classroom to plan a session about human trafficking. Our facilitator displayed her presentation which generally explained what's human trafficking. The international students stated how this issue is currently in their country and what is happening about it. In addition, the Emirati students gave their opinions.

After the planning session, all groups headed to the multi purpose hall to attend a speech given by a guest speaker from Dubai Foundation for Women and Children TBC. An Emirati women was the guest speaker which was insipiring. She started her session by introducing what is human trafficking and some facts about it in countries around the world which was heart breaking. The speaker was inpsirational because of her passion towards helping those children who are victims of this issue. She wanted to help and is helping who are in need. Furthermore, she gave us examples of children who she is dealing with their cases to help them improve. For example, a girl who was forced into human trafficking by her own father but she can't understand why her own parent would put her through this and that she still loves him. Moreover, she showed us drawings of the children who suffered from this problems. The drawings represented their feelings, personalities, and what they wish for.

After the speech, we went back to our classrooms and small groups to prepare a poster about a topic under human trafficking. Our poster topic was about organs trafficking. We brain stormed and planned together. In addition, when we decided on a specific way to follow for our poster idea we searched and designed it together. Although we had a short amount of time to finish the poster, we worked hard together and as a team and we managed to finish it even before time. We felt the team spirit. Our poster's idea was about two sides, one is the life of a boy or a girl before being victims of human trafficking and they are happy with bright colors. The other side is dark and bloody which is the end of the victim of the crime. Here's a look to our creative poster.

After our hard work we deserved a decent meal. Therefore, we all went to have lunch together on a huge table. We ate and discussed our poster and how much we were proud of ourselves. Next thing we know the organizers were calling us to the hall to attend the presentation of the posters. We went and sat in the front row to cheer for our group while they're presenting our poster. They did great.

Since our group were the first to present, we felt relieved and listened and watched to the other seven groups present their posters. All of the groups had interesting and creative ideas. I was shocked to see some bold posters which expressed how brave these women are. In the end, every group was a winner to learn about this topic. Here are the posters all together.

 Here comes the very exciting part which is getting ready for the desert safari trip! We were all super excited and even most of the Emirati students haven't tried safari ever. As we went to the parking there were more than twenty 4 wheels cars to take us to the desert! Every six girls were seated in one land cruiser car.

 It took us about 30 minutes to get to the desert. Once we arrived to the sandy land we got all scared and nervous from the safari. Screams were in every car and we were scared and having fun at the same time. The car was jumping on the mini sandy hills and doing crazy moves. We were laughing at ourselves because it was really funny to be scared. Here is some a pictures that I managed to take while we were in the crazy jumpy car.

After the crazy ride everyone was so tired and some were even nauseous, but it was worth it. So, we took a break in the middle of the desert and we all left the car to have fresh air. The view was amazing and it was during the sunset. People were having photoshoots and relaxing on the beautiful sand. Here are some pictures of the beauty of the desert during the sunset break.

After the relaxing break, we wnet back to the cars and continued our safari trip. Then we arrived to our amazing camp that was organized by a company. The camp was great it included a barbeque, drinks, desert, buffet sections and a woman to make henna. The most important part of the camp was the middle of it. It had a circled dance floor and surrounded by seats on the floor.

The first thing we did when we arrived was to eat and sit to enjoy the place. At first there was a big que for the henna lady. Especially the international women wanted to try it. When everyone had dinner, we were all ready to dance and get the part started. All men went outside, doors were closed, and lights were off. The party was so much fun and everyone danced together there was no one sitting down. As an international student said, the language we all knew was dancing. Then, my buddy and I went to get our henna before we go back home. It was lovely and simple, we got same henna designs.

All in all, this was great and we had a lot of fun we didnt want to go back home and end the party even though we were all tired.

This was the summary of the fourth day, only one day left to blog about!

Insight Dubai Conference Third day

Tuesday 29th of March 2011 was the third day of Insight Dubai Conference. It has been two days already and the beginning of third day, everything was going so well that our group were like friends forever. We all got used to each other so fast and we were all excited for this day since the beginning of the conference. Everyone was eager about this busy day that included going to Abu Dhabi in the morning and Burj Khalifa at night.

Early in the morning and about 8:15 the bus left from Dubai Women's College to Abu Dhabi. During the bus trip I sat next to one of the Emirati students "Ashley" and we couldnt stop chatting as we discovered we had many similarties in our personalities. Even though she was from DWC I have never seen her in college but this conference brought us together. During our bus journey every Emirati student got her buddy an abaya and sheila as a surprise for them to wear it at Sheikh Zayed Mosque. The international students were so happy and started wearing them just like us, they even asked us to make their hair and make up the "local girls way". This is my buddy Pamela wearing abaya and sheila <3

Before we even knew it we got to the sign that said "Welcome to Abu Dhabi" and as soon as we reached we saw Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque from a long distance because it was so huge. As soon as the bus parked everybody jumped out to discover the place. When I got out I was amazed, it was my first time to visit this mosque and it was literally beautiful. I couldn't wait to get in.

Once we got in our guide Mohammed welcomed us and starting talking about the mosque, and I had to listen carefully because I had to write a press release about it as a project.  He began the guide by telling us that the people who built Taj Mahal were the same artchitectures who designed Sheikh Zayed Mosque. The mosque's interior design was amazing and full of beautiful details and each had a meaning.

Can you believe that the floor that's built by marbles is constructed in a way that it doesn't absorb the sun's heat? Only the colored marbles are hot. It's built that way so that on Friday prayers the people can pray in peace. Before we got inside and into the men's and women's prayer halls we were asked to remove our shoes. Once we got it in the mosque looked even more lovely.

Once we got in the men's prayer room our cultural guide Mohammed started explaining about the importance of prayers in Islam and why do men have to pray in the mosque. He even explained the wadu process before the prayers. In addition, he explained some of the designs in the hall. The carpet beneath us was decorated by flowers and leaves in a very detailed way. Mohammed asked us to step onto any flower we'd like and loot up. The surprise was that the carpet matched the ceiling exactly. This was brilliant.

As we got to the main hall, we saw the biggest chandelier in the world, yes it is located in Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

The tour ended by Mohammed explaining the place of the "Emam" and the words that are designed on the wall which are the names of God. Mohammed was a very proffesional and a wise man, we learned a lot from him.

Next we took the bus to visit the Federal National Council in Abu Dhabi. We arrived and had a quick tour around that included us seeing the pictures of ministers, sheikhs, and the library. Then, we went in the main hall where the ministers and sheikhs usually gather to debate or make new decisions for the UAE. We had a session that was about questions and answers from the audience that were mainly about Emirati women in the council.

Afterwards, we all had lunch there and then went back on the bus to go back to Dubai. Everyone was so tired and decided to take a relaxing nap in the bus so I decided to take pictures of my group members sleeping!. Sanaam what a weird way to sleep ?!

After I finished my photography I had a long nap too to be ready for Burj Khalifa!. We arrived there and everyone went quickly to the tower's entry to get their tickets. Again we were so luck to get there during the sunset.

When our tickets were valid we were guied to get in a dark alley on a flat esclator that went slowly for us to see long screens that played some of UAE's traditions and heritage along with cultural music.

When we got out we had to ride a couple of esclators and we got very nervous and excited at the same time. It was so close for us to be literally at the top of the world!.

Then we had to get in the lift which was the scariest part which will take us from earth to sky. The elevator was very fast but we didn't feel the rush yet we felt the ear pressure. We managed to get videos and pictures of ourselves in the elevator.

Finally were up in the sky! It was the most amazing feeling and experience ever. Once we got up there we forgot everything and started to enjoy the view. Everything looked so small from this high level and everything looked lovely during the sunset. We never wanted to leave.

After Burj Khalifa everyone was free to discover Dubai Mall and have dinner. Our group members to their buddies for a tour in the mall which was hard to to in a short time and in such a huge mall. However, we went to the most important places like the dancing fountains.

This was one of the best days of my life. I experienced a lot of different and fabulous stuff. Simply a day to remember.

This was a summary of only te third day of Insight Dubai Conference. Stay tuned, only two more days to go!

Second Day of Insight Dubai Conference 2011

continued ..

The second day of Insight Dubai Conference was on Monday 28th March 2011. The day started at 9 am with a planning session with our group members and facilitator to learn an abstract about Shari'ah Law. We had some general information that helped us through the next step of the day.

 This step was followed by a child custody law guest speaker: Ammar Shams who is the regional head of corporate sustainability of HSBC. This speech was very beneficial and we learned a lot of things like the rules of Islam in marriage, divorce, and child custody. In addition, we learned about some Islamic rules that UAE changed in their constitutional laws to adjust to the current society's conditions. The speech was followed by many questions that even the time couldn't be enough for them. International and Emirati students had many questions and hunger to learn more about this topic.

After the speech we headed to the cafetria to have lunch and a small break. During this break my buddy and I began to quickly bond and it was like we knew each other from years. We talked about personal things like love and marriage even though we just met about 24 hours ago. After this talk I realized that women become best friends through sensitive and private topics like opinions and experiences about love. We talked about many things like, the situation in the UAE about arranged marriage and how much it changed. Furthermore, she told me about marriage in Italy before and now days.

Next, we went back to our classroom to discuss together the speech that was given by Ammar Shams by applying it into a real case. Our red team was divided into two groups and each group defended a side of the case. Generally, the case was about parents who were divorced and fought for their children's custody. The case was hilarious and beneficial at the same time. It was very funny to debate and fight for our sides and insist that we are right. Moreover, it was great to know how a case can be solved in a court and by a judge.

After the session we went on the bus to have a cultural tour in Bastakiya and Heritage Village. Although i'm Emirati am ashamed to say that I've never been to Bastakiya and I felt like a tourist on that day. We arrived firstly at Bastakiya and witnessed camels, tents, and old architecture. We had a quick tour between the alleys and took so much pictures. Mr. Steve suffered from how much he took pictures of our group!

Thanks Steve!

During our tour we discovered pieces of art in an art gallery that were very attractive specially that they were in Arabic. It wasn't written in formal Arabic, it was written in Emirati. They were lyrics of old songs. I loved it so much that I wanted to take it home with me :(

Later on, we continued our tour which was all walking. We walked from Bastakiya to heritage village and to the Souk. The souk was so interesting that it was selling many indian things like shoes, clothes, and accesories. They all looked vintage because the shops were designed in an old way. I felt like I was in the mid of the 20th century. We were lucky to walk during the sunset from the souk to heritage village, the weather was windy and amazing.

Finally after all the walking we arrived for the exciting part which is riding the Abra! every group took their own vintage abra and the beautiful part was that it's all made from wood and there were no walls. We could see the creek clearly and feel the wind.

After the Abra ride we were all very hungry and went to have a buffet dinner at Kan Zaman resturant at heritage village. Everyone sat together in big long tables to eat and chat about the beautiful trip. The trip ended by having a quick tour in heritage village that hosted us in a great way with old Emirati men and women dressed traditionally, camels, ponies, and traditional food. We got our international buddies some souveniers from the shops to get traditional memories from this visit.

This was a summary of the second day of insight Dubai 2011, stay tuned for the next three days!

To be continued ..

Insight Dubai Introduction and First Day

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 ..