DUBAI// Residents of a centre providing housing for orphans are celebrating its first anniversary by thanking its founder, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai.
The twenty-four children of the Family Village, a compound of 16 villas with a capacity to host 130, wrote a letter of appreciation to Sheikh Mohammed to express their gratitude and appreciation for the leader’s continuous support and care.
The Dh150 million centre, which has housed children since February of last year, was officially inaugurated by Sheikh Mohammed last June.
Run by the Awqaf and Minors Affairs Foundation, the centre provides the children with accommodation, education, health and psychological care.
Surrogate mothers, aunts, and fathers working at the centre said they were happy to be part of a meaningful and successful project.
“Nothing is more fulfilling than taking care of orphaned children deprived of love and care from their parents,” said Awater Saleh, a surrogate aunt.
Mona Eid, a surrogate mother, said the centre’s atmosphere provides a healthy parental system which provides the children with the stability they need.
Providing the centre’s teenagers with a father figure was also key said surrogate father Jassim Jaber.
“They need the father figure in their lives as the father role is essential for building their characters.”
Two of the housed children, said they were grateful to reside in the centre.
“It is an amazing place that enables us to grow up healthy and secure much like our peers outside these premises,” said Rashed.
Tarfah said the village gave him hope.
“I am confident that all of us will go on to do great things in our lives,” he said.
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Notable salonnières of the Middle East through history
Al Khasan (Okaz, Saudi Arabia)
Tamadir bint Amr Al Harith, known simply as Al Khasan, was a poet from Najd famed for elegies, earning great renown for the eulogy of her brothers Mu’awiyah and Sakhr, both killed in tribal wars. Although not a salonnière, this prestigious 7th century poet fostered a culture of literary criticism and could be found standing in the souq of Okaz and reciting her poetry, publicly pronouncing her views and inviting others to join in the debate on scholarship. She later converted to Islam.
Maryana Marrash (Aleppo)
A poet and writer, Marrash helped revive the tradition of the salon and was an active part of the Nadha movement, or Arab Renaissance. Born to an established family in Aleppo in Ottoman Syria in 1848, Marrash was educated at missionary schools in Aleppo and Beirut at a time when many women did not receive an education. After touring Europe, she began to host salons where writers played chess and cards, competed in the art of poetry, and discussed literature and politics. An accomplished singer and canon player, music and dancing were a part of these evenings.
Princess Nazil Fadil (Cairo)
Princess Nazil Fadil gathered religious, literary and political elite together at her Cairo palace, although she stopped short of inviting women. The princess, a niece of Khedive Ismail, believed that Egypt’s situation could only be solved through education and she donated her own property to help fund the first modern Egyptian University in Cairo.
Mayy Ziyadah (Cairo)
Ziyadah was the first to entertain both men and women at her Cairo salon, founded in 1913. The writer, poet, public speaker and critic, her writing explored language, religious identity, language, nationalism and hierarchy. Born in Nazareth, Palestine, to a Lebanese father and Palestinian mother, her salon was open to different social classes and earned comparisons with souq of where Al Khansa herself once recited.
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Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying