A lot of GOOD NEWS from the Middle East!

A lot of GOOD NEWS (all we usually hear is the bad) from the Middle East being posted on en.v :

Arabian Oryx Back From Brink of Extinction

www.envearth.com

Forty years ago the Arabian Oryx was extinct in the wild. Today this large antelope, native to the Arabian Peninsula, is back from the brink with 1,000 animals across five Middle Eastern countries, thanks to a breeding program and series of re-introductions. It is an unprecedented conservation succe...

Young Start-Ups Shaping Egypt's Future

www.envearth.com

Despite the tough conditions, many young entrepreneurs are taking advantage of the new-found optimism to start businesses and help build their country's economic future. Cairo's notorious traffic inspired Mostafa Elbeltagy and four friends, all aged between 23 and 30, to start Bey2ollak, a smartphones...

Nature Reserve in Jordan Is Growing Organic

www.envearth.com

A farm in the Mujib Biosphere Reserve has started producing organic crops and herbs with the aim of providing a model that encourages water-efficient techniques and the use of chemical-free fertilisers in agriculture. Spread over 10 dunums, the model farm is cultivating medicinal herbs and vegetable...

Qatar to Build Environment-Friendly Mosques

www.envearth.com

Qatar's new mosques will be built according to environment friendly models, a special committee appointed to review designs of the religious buildings has said. The panel formed to review designs of all mosques in the country is studying 18 model designs to select the most appropriate to meet the re...

From The Farm to Your Table

www.envearth.com

Come September 17 you will be able to get a wide range of organic fruit and vegetables, all grown locally, at the click of a mouse or at a weekly farmers' market. Making this possible is a Dubai company called RIPE which will supply fresh produce at various points, including twice weekly at farmers ...

Qatar to Invest In 1,400 New Local Farms

www.envearth.com

More signs that the Gulf States are slowly recognizing the importance of food sustainability. Qatar has announced plans to establish 1,400 farms to improve its food production and also train more people to work in the agricultural sector to improve productivity. Existing farms were working at only ...

and more:  http://www.envearth.com/index.php

About en.v:
Through a multi-faceted approach, The en.v Initiative seeks to further and support the research and development of individuals and organizations in the fields of education, health, environment, economics, business, culture, human rights, etc. Furthermore, The en.v Initiative attempts to employ an innovative attitude and methodology that will communicate itself to all sections of society without bias to age, gender, ethnicity, race, or nationality.

We ultimately hope to nurture the development of a new kind of citizen in the Arab world – one who is alert, aware and conscious of the effects his or her decisions and actions have on society at large and on the environment as a whole.
http://www.envearth.com/index.php?file=c-static&page=About_Us

2nd Annual International Design Conference, Oman

Last week, a colleague and I, and five of our graphic design students, traveled to Ibri to take part in the 2nd Annual International Design Conference and Exhibition at the Ibri College of Applied Sciences, Sultanate of Oman from May 1st - May 3rd, 2010.

 

Ibri is a 3 1/2 hour drive southwest of Muscat with a population of thirty thousand. In the heart of the desert, there is a design program with majors in digital media and print design. This year's conference theme was “design identity” and the notion of how identity can at times be seemingly neglected in the process of globalization and modernization.

The paper that we presented was based on a collaborative project that my colleague and I created for a curated art exhibit at the Evanston Art Center in Illinois. The five students that traveled with us all had helped with the research and process of our project. The students also gave presentations at the conference on their graphic design class projects.  

As you can see from my photos, Oman is quite different from Kuwait and the other Gulf countries that I have visited. It is a mountainous country with much more greenery. Every town that we visited - Nizwa, Bahla' and Ibri - all had old and crumbling fortresses, some going back to the 13th century. The students in Oman also have a much stricter dress code; the males all in white dishdashas and unique traditional hats, the females all in black (and all ran away when I tried to take any photos). Much more than in other Gulf countries, ordinary people also wore traditional Arabic clothing, although often more colorful and varied than the students'.  

It was a wonderful experience, despite having too rushed of a schedule, and I can't wait for another opportunity to visit!

Oman!

...when I mention that I am traveling to Oman, every Arab person tells me to be careful since Oman is filled with magic - jinn that can walk in the air and turn into animals... Nizwa and Bahla, that we just drove through tonight to get here to Ibri, are supposedly the center of this magic...

...if you look carefully at my second photo that I shot of one of the mosques in Nizwa, you see strange colorful lights flying around... at first I thought they were street lights but, no, you can see a street light or two, but they are closer to the ground... (theme music to the X-files plays here)

...if you look carefully at my last photo, you can see that the toilet in my Oman hotel room has no seat as well as no toilet paper... I guess they do things different here... (theme music to the X-files plays here) (also, this was not just like this in my room but also my colleague's room and all of the student rooms...)

...below is link to a pretty interesting story from a recent traveler that catches some of the mystery and flavor of Oman.  Enjoy!


Oman: The Jinn Of Nizwa Souk