Madeleine Cranitch – Year 9, Brighton College Dubai
“Having only recently moved to Dubai, the cultural diversity of the city has astonished me. Living in the UAE has taught me so much about tolerance. There are so many cultures, languages and cuisines blended together here and they create such an interesting society.
Tolerance is what makes us good humans. It means accepting everyone for who they are and what they believe in. Everyone should have the right to freedom of thought and speech without being persecuted for their opinion.
“My school has pupils from a multitude of countries including the UAE, the UK, Australia, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Ireland, Belgium and Serbia. Lots of my friends see the world from different perspectives and they were raised in different cultures, but we teach each other things in a way that no textbook can. We have the ability to see out of each other’s eyes; through music, dance or dress. At the moment it is interesting to experience Ramadan at school and I’m impressed to see my Muslim friends fasting.
“Tolerance is what makes us good humans. It means accepting everyone for who they are and what they believe in. Everyone should have the right to freedom of thought and speech without being persecuted for their opinion. Tolerance means the world to me. I wish that everyone would base their opinions about others on more than prejudice or appearance. If all countries made tolerance a top priority like the UAE, the world would be a much better place.
“My parents both have very culturally mixed circles of friends and let me grow up without ever doubting that respect and tolerance were fundamental parts of being a human. Education doesn’t just happen in the classroom.
“It is vital to understand other cultures and to respect people for who they are. We should respect each other’s differences and also concentrate on the things we have in common and work together. Respect allows us to express ourselves without fear of judgement so we can collaborate better.
“I went to my first Emirati party in February and I was fascinated by how different it was from what I was used to but also how similar it was. We danced, played games and ate (a lot) but we played Arabic music and ate Arabic food. I had an interesting time, it was wonderful.”
Shresha Das, Indian, Grade 12, Delhi Private School, Sharjah
“A good recipe indulges multiple ingredients mixed in various ratios, which work together to produce a beautiful blend of flavor. Now imagine spices being reactive towards each other and only one spice could be added to the recipe- either salt or turmeric, either chili powder or cumin. Would the dish turn out to be tasty? We all know, that’s a big no. Similarly, not inculcating tolerance in our day to day lives just makes our life even more frustrating. This example perfectly depicts my view on tolerance. Tolerance is about being happy and keeping others happy by accepting them and their opinions open heartedly. I view tolerance as a key to a different world – a world with immense rate of acceptance.
Living in a country with a diverse population like UAE has led me to have friends of different cultural backgrounds. Many a times, my friends and I need not have the same opinion about a particular topic, but we don’t debate over who is right.
“Living in a country with a diverse population like UAE has led me to have friends of different cultural backgrounds. Many a times, my friends and I need not have the same opinion about a particular topic, but we don’t debate over who is right. Instead, we discuss and broaden our perspective along with accepting each other’s opinions. This is a small example of how tolerance prevents day to day squabbles and helps improve relationships
“According to me, a strong base of tolerance creates a happy family as well. Each family member is their own branch of a tree, with their own ideas and opinions which may be very different from the others, but a family remains a family because they are bound together by threads of tolerance.”
