Gulf | Oman
Girls from across the world forge friendship for inter-cultural links
An European envoy in Muscat has called for the need to promote dialogues and contacts to improve understanding in a world that is beset with tension and war.
- By Sunil K. Vaidya, Bureau Chief
- Published: 00:30 February 15, 2008
Muscat: An European envoy in Muscat has called for the need to promote dialogues and contacts to improve understanding in a world that is beset with tension and war.
"In a world plagued with tension and war, a sense of solidarity is more important than ever," said Marc Barety, French Ambassador and the local president of the European Union, in his speech to the participants of the DHL Connecting Cultures Expedition earlier this week.
"We have to promote contact and dialogue, improve mutual knowledge and understanding," he advised the young girls, who spent five days under open skies at Wahiba Sands in the Sharqiya [eastern] desert of Oman without any modern amenities.
"This is why," the French envoy added, "the Connecting Cultures project is of vital importance, and it creates links between young people, those who will run our planet tomorrow."
Instrument to understand
"2008 is the European Year of Inter-cultural dialogue and for us, such initiatives are encouraging and I wish to express my gratitude to Connecting Cultures 2008, to Mark Evans, to the Omani authorities and the sponsors for organising the journey, including a French student, in the useful project," Barety said.
"The expedition marks the end of one journey and the beginning of many more for all those who have been a part of the DHL Connecting Cultures expedition," said Evans, founder of Connecting Cultures.
"The young people have discovered that while they may see things in different ways, they share the same core values they have more in common than in difference," he said.
"Although culture is a main factor of conflicts between nations, we all agreed that it should also be an instrument to understand others and improve," said Rifaa Al Harthy, a participant from Oman.
"In one respect, we were voices standing out for our cultures and beliefs. On the other hand, we were also just girls becoming very close friends," Hafren Jones told Gulf News.
Jones embodied the spirit of the expedition in more ways. Hafreen, represented the United Kingdom in the expedition but lives in Muscat. Her mother is from New Zealand while her father is a Welsh. Hafren is born in Zambia and raised in Tanzania and holds dual nationality.
Staying in the middle of the desert with no mobile phones and no electricity, Jordanian Bushra Al Halaybeh learnt the most important lesson of value of our natural resources.
"Now, I appreciate the value of water more, I think we all take our resources for granted, we must preserve our wealth and our honourable values," she said.
The other valuable lesson she got during the five-day sojourn, Bushra said, was the realisation that she was not alone in the world.
"It was reassuring to know there were others learning new things alongside me."
Omani participant Noor Al Wahibi told Gulf News she thought the interaction with the girls from different parts of the world taught her that everyone has to pay attention to the world's problems because all are a part of them.
Briton Kate Muir-Jones learnt about the core principles of different faiths.
"After talking to the Muslim girls about their faith and watching them pray together, I envy the unity and peace they all seem to have. I now strongly believe that if the core principles and practices of all faiths could be discussed and taught in school then misunderstandings and fiction would be reduced."
Evans felt that the girls not only learnt about the lesser known facts of Middle East but also contributed towards strengthening international understanding among different cultures.
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