Chance to interact with different cultures spurs Emirati student to volunteer

Amal Al Kuwaiti has a unique perspective about world fairs after volunteering at both the current Milan Expo and the Shanghai Expo five years ago.

Volunteer Amal Al Kuwaiti said she enjoyed experiencing different cultures at both the Milan Expo and when she was at the Shanghai Expo in 2010. Courtesy Milan Expo & Amal Al Kuwaiti

DUBAI // Emirati engineer Amal Al Kuwaiti has a unique perspective about world fairs, having volunteered for the current Milan Expo and the Shanghai Expo five years ago.

“I was very excited to be selected for Milan because I had already gone to Expo Shanghai 2010,” said Ms Al Kuwaiti, a student of the Al Ain Women’s College of Higher Technology who works at the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company.

“Shanghai was very huge and it would take a visitor maybe one week to cover because sometimes you needed to take a bus.

“In Milan the pavilions are closer, you can walk between the areas. So it was a totally different design, different in audience and atmosphere.”

She read up on information about the UAE, just like the other volunteers, to be able to address the wide-ranging questions put by visitors.

“We had a lot of training about our country, culture, the number of nationalities that live in the UAE, but there were always people who wanted to know more,” she said.

“They would come and ask questions that cannot be explained in one or two sentences. So we needed to prepare and explain.

“Some of us did search and read up more about the UAE’s plans, about green energy and about the subject of the pavilion, how the older generation survived. We talked to people of different cultures and different religions, so it was an interesting challenge.”

She was chosen to represent the UAE at the opening ceremony and stood alongside volunteers from China, France and Kazakhstan when the Expo flag was carried into the launch function in Milan in May.

Exposure to new cultures drew Ms Al Kuwaiti to volunteer in the UAE and overseas.

“We get to experience a mix of cultures. There are 140 countries represented in Milan so you get to know new things about their history and technology and maybe it inspires you in your own life to open your mind to other opinions, to ambitions, to creativity. This is all good preparation for everyone for Expo 2020 in Dubai,” she said.

“It is great to interact with people, to understand and respect other cultures, their rules and explain to them your own. This is how I think I can benefit from it, for my country, myself and my workplace.”