Monday, April 21, 2008
In recognition of Connecting Cultures contribution
to the 2008 European Year of Intercultural Dialogue,
the Events Unit at the European Parliament, working
on a new fresque for the Willy Brant building in Brussels,
has requested images from Connecting Cultures.
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Wednesday, April 09, 2008
DHL Connecting Cultures concludes in Muscat
The 2008 boys Connecting Cultures programme concluded
in Muscat yesterday. The team left their camp on Jebel
Shams at 0500 to travel to the lecture theatre at
the Law College in Muscat where they spoke to an assembly
of ambassadors, dignitaries and local schoolchildren
about their experiences. A tour of the Bait Al Baranda
museum was followed by a visit to Muttrah Souq before
a final meal en route to the airport.
Thank-you to all of you for your interest in and support
of Connecting Cultures.
Mark Evans
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Monday, April 07, 2008
Day Five of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
For the past seven days, me and the connecting culture
team have gathered around the fire and discussed about
reasons why there is a misunderstanding about each
culture. So every one has given their own opinions
and this was interesting topic for me. During the
conversation we discussed some of the issues like
how the media affect the cultures and do some change.
On the other hand, we discussed the four things most
important in life. The things that we selected are
“ religion –
family – Education –
Friends “ in the end we find all
people have same things. Also, we enjoy visiting the
different places in Jabal A’Akhder
and Jabal Shams and many wadis in Oman. Moreover,
we get a chance to see the omani traditions by visiting
old villages and have a try of the palm date and try
the Arabic coffee. Furthermore, I have many things
that I will tack back with me when I return to U.A.E.
I mean that I have many information about the people
that I meet them and many opinion have been changed
since I meet them. On Connecting Cultures 2008 I have
met new friends from different countries and different
cultures; this memory is very hard to forget, so thanks
to Connecting Cultures for giving us this opportunity
to join.
Khalid tha Muhaury and Khalfan Al Matrooshi,
United Arab Emirates
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Monday, April 07, 2008
Day Five of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
For the last two days the weather has been great.
We’ve been discussing about what
we feel about the reasons for people misunderstanding
our own culture. We discussed various points about
the specific topic, and I’m starting
to understand other people’s
opinions. Some of us were interviewed by the Oman
T.V and that was same day we had visited a man in
Pasiteen in a majlis, we were greatly welcomed by
him and he gave us a good hospitality. At night
I and my partner Said did our presentation to the
group on Oman and Mohammed and Abdul Rahman did
theirs about Qatar. Sunday was a mixture of driving
then walking. We walked through the small villages
around Saiq, and went to the Diana’s
Look Out, it was an incredible village, I have never
seen a sight like that in my life. Later on that
day we drove to and had lunch at Wadi Ghul, a very
beautiful place. I loved it, before moving on to
visit the Rasheed or Sheikh of Nakhar, I bought
two hand made key chains, finally we reached to
our new camp at Jabel Shams got the camp ready and
we also had two guys from the Ministry Of Education
with us to get interviews and films us.
Hashil bin Hatif bin Obeid Al-Hatmi - Sultanate
Of Oman
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Monday, April 07, 2008
Day Five of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
Our final day in the mountains has been another
very busy one. The intense debate in recent evenings
was wrapped up after breakfast this morning, and
the group departed at 0900 for the spectacular walk
to the abandoned village of As Sab. En route they
were asked to consider two things for discussion;
what had they learned over the past 5 days, how
opinions may have changed as a result of that, and
how they could share what they learned with others
once they return home. On arriving at the abandoned
village each person was given 45 minutes on their
own in a shaded area to reflect and write down their
thoughts; 45 minutes proved not to be enough, and
several people are now sitting around the fire finishing
off their work. Tonight we will listen to the country
presentations from Spain, UAE and UK before getting
an early night; tomorrow sees us rise at 0500 to
drive back to Muscat for our presentation at the
Law College.
Mark Evans
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Sunday, April 06, 2008
Day Four of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
First of all, I want to say thank you to Mr. Mark
Evans and all his staff for the opportunity they
gave to me to come on Connecting Cultures. I really
appreciate the fact to be able to speak face to
face with people from different cultures and learn
a lot of interesting things about them. It is a
big opportunity for me and a rich experience that
I wouldn’t have in a very short
time like this. I have met people from all parts
of the world and just see that all of us have a
lot common thoughts about life. But the interesting
thing is we also to have a conversation with different
points of views which is very useful. Today we just
went to have a walk in the wonderful nature that
Oman offered to us. I saw landscapes that I have
never seen before. I met people with a warm welcome
and a tremendous hospitality - Oman is so wonderful!
We walked, took the car and admired the nature.
We went see some farmers who offered us some dates
with coffee. It was a very sensitive and exceptional
moment that I will always remember. The dates were
so good and the people so kind. These few days just
permit me to have a reflection about cultures and
people. In fact simplicity in life is a quality.
Thank you again…
Fadi Perrichon, France
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Sunday, April 06, 2008
Day Four of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
The DHL boys Connecting Cultures expedition is
approaching its conclusion; we have debated a series
of issues ranging from identifying what intercultural
dialogue is, to countering extremist behaviour in
our respective societies. Once again Oman has proven
itself to be the perfect location; today, after
walking through the rose gardens at Saiq we left
the cool air of Jebel Akhdar and descended down
to the heat of Nizwa. Here we restocked with food
and then visited the majlis at Ghul to spend time
with the locals before ascending Jebel Shams to
establish tonight’s campsite.
Our final day will involve a journey to the abandoned
village of As Sab where the young people will be
given the opportunity to reflect on the last five
days.
Mark Evans
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Saturday, April 05, 2008
Day Three of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
Yesterday night we heard very interesting facts
about Jordan and the Netherlands. Firstly it was
the turn of Jordan, an amazing country. Its natural
beauty and diversity, showed in some posters brought
by Jareer and Auday, astonished all of us. We did
enjoy of knowing more of a country with so much
culture and history as Jordan. The Netherlands,
a perfect example of developed European country,
showed us another vision of society, closer to what
I've seen during my life in Spain. It seems obvious
that we can see differences between these two types
of society, but my general impression of that moment
and others similar was that we have more similarities
in common that the number of differences that can
separate us and create misunderstanding. We have
talked about freedom, religion, and way of life,
and since we have different approaches to that question,
it is evident that we can't agree in everything,
but for me, the main point is that we all want to
know more about the other cultures. I think that
the Arabic people I've met here are teaching me
very interesting things about their culture, and
I'm glad of having the chance of sharing with them
also my culture. I think this experience we share
in Oman is going to change something in all of us,
in some way that we don't know yet. And the best
thing I keep in mind right now is that we're just
in the beginning, there is still very much time
and knowing to share.
Santi Lozano, Spain
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Saturday, April 05, 2008
Day Three of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
On our second night we had all just come back from
a reasonably tiring trek, the camp sight had looked
more beautiful than it had ever looked before, we
all in a sense dragged our feet inch by inch towards
our own personal tents where we just literally dropped.
After a light nap for some we met up around the
camp fire where the interesting discussions began,
having started off with interesting discussions
from Jordan and Holland, the topic lead up to religious
views and freedom of religion in different countries,
Holland in particular, this brought up interesting
talks about the reasons why some misconceptions
are present in modern day life, I personally argued
most deeply about the lack of education in some
peoples lives which resulted in ignorance, this
ignorance itself in my opinion was the main cause
of misunderstandings between cultures. This conversation
led up to around 11pm where we were all energy depleted
and thankfully all had come to a reasonable agreement.
The next morning was quite spectacular the wind
had calmed down and the temperature was reasonable
warm, we had all packed up our tents had a filling
breakfast and then had an energizer game which involved
passing of a ball around the group which required
us to work as a team, unfortunately we did not reach
our target due to extremely tight rules but after
having discussed it afterwards I believe we could
accomplish the task within the time limit next time
we try. The walk that day involved walking through
an unbelievable wadi and actually climbing up a
steep cliff face, the sense of accomplishment was
immense, especially for me as I personally am not
too fond of heights. After having had coffee and
dates with a local Omani man in the village majlis
we headed off towards our second camp site, had
a friendly game of football and just sat down and
discussed issues of the globe, as I am writing this
now dinner is being served and I would just like
to say I as a person have gained immense amounts
of personality boosts in terms of confidence and
have found out that people from all over the globe
have the same beliefs in me with similar opinions
which as a result has boosted my opinion of the
world in a very positive manner.
Ahmed, Iraq
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Saturday, April 05, 2008
Day Three of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
Last evening we had some really interesting discussions
around the campfire after we enjoyed a traditional
Omani meal made by our guides. The clear sky and
the bright stars provided the perfect atmosphere
to talk about the supposed magnificent differences
between the Arabic culture and Dutch society. Since
I'm from the Netherlands it was my honorable task
to explain Dutch political culture and democratic
institutions. More specifically I also tried to
give an understanding of the deeper values behind
our open and free society and about the principles
that are fundamental for a liberal democracy as
the Dutch one. While we have a very diverse group
of people with a great variation of cultural backgrounds,
I found it at the same time really interesting to
see that some of the guys from the Middle-East recognized
and supported the basic human right of freedom of
religion. I tried to explain that in the Netherlands
this is an essential part of our culture. However,
part of that culture is also the freedom to criticize
every point of view, even when this is a religion,
and even when the criticism could be offending.
This tension about freedom of religion and freedom
of speech is an important topic of debate right
now between the Islamic and Western world - domestically
and internationally – and I hope that I have
contributed a little bit to a constructive dialogue.
So far, the project organized by Connecting Cultures
gives me a lot of hope to a future in which there
will be more understanding and peaceful cooperative
relationships between different cultures. And actually,
I think there is no other option.
Rene Koekkoek, The Netherlands
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Friday, April 04, 2008
Day Two of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
Even though the first day was tiring, in the evening
we all gathered around the camp fire and engaged
in debates concerning our differing personal perspectives
from both the Middle East and Europe. After a few
hours of sleep under the desert sky, we woke up
to breakfast and continued games to learn people’s
names. Right after that, we got the itinerary for
today’s main activity –
a long trek to Ma’awil cave.
Here, we engaged in more discussion relating to
our understanding of the term culture and how we
believe our country is perceived negatively by other
countries. After a two hour walk to the cave, we
enhanced the team spirit by various exercises involving
communication skills. Afterwards Fadi presented
facts about his country France to the team. Peter
did the same for Germany. The group was very keen
to ask questions and both presenters enjoyed sharing
knowledge of their countries. Everyone was intrigued
to understand more about both countries and both
Arabs and Europeans alike found the situation enlightening.
Before we left the cave we discussed various stereotypes
being transmitted through various mediums and how
to dismantle incorrect beliefs. The journey back
to the camp was tough in the heat and when we returned
we relaxed and chatted before dinner.
Peter J Cramer - Germany and Olly J Russell
– UK.
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Friday, April 04, 2008
Day Two of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
The second day of the DHL Connecting Cultures journey
has seen the team trek for two hours across the
Saiq Plateau to Ma’awil cave.
The shaded cave, with its abandoned houses made
the ideal location for us to engage in some serious
dialogue about how we feel our respective cultures
are misunderstood by other cultures, and to start
educating each other about our own country. After
a warm day temperatures are now dropping rapidly
as the sun has now dropped below the horizon.
Mark Evans
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Thursday, April 03, 2008
Day one of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
Our journey began when we landed at Muscat International
airport and met with the rest of the participants.
We had a brief overview of our journey stages from
Mr. Mark, and discussed the importance of doing
the projects and exercises with an enthusiastic
spirit. Then, we formed teams of pairs and engaged
in the first activity presented by Scotty while
we are in the cars going towards the Green Mountain
when we had to interview each other before presenting
that person to the rest of the group. It was an
amazing activity to share the personal information
and thoughts. Although we took two hours to reach
to our camp, the time passed quickly. After settling
down at the camp, we had a creative game to memorize
the participants’ names. In addition,
we formed into two groups and had been instructed
to be in an imaginary cultural background, which
is different from the other group, and see how we
interact with each other, and how misunderstandings
may occur. It was an amazing day, meeting with international
friends, setting up a camp as teams, walking on
the mountains, sharing knowledge and different experiences.
And this is only the first day.
Mohammed Aldelaimi - Qatar
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Thursday, April 03, 2008
Day one of the DHL Connecting Cultures males Journey
The final members of the team arrived in Muscat
this morning, flying in from UK, UAE and Qatar.
After the heat and humidity of Muscat we are now
camped at 2200 metres, enjoying cool weather and
a wonderfully starry sky. This is the first of several
updates we will send during the journey; the plan
tomorrow is to walk to a local cave, where we will
use the shade to sit out the heat of the day and
engage in some more detailed discussion.
Mark Evans
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Tuesday, April 01, 2008
On April 3rd a team of 17 young people from UK,
Saudi Arabia, Spain, Oman, Germany, Jordan, France,
Qatar, Netherlands and UAE will start a 5 day journey
through the mountain villages of Oman. The purpose
of their journey will be to engage in intercultural
dialogue in an effort to breakdown misconceptions,
promote understanding and identify shared aspirations
for the future.
Discussion will focus on five key questions; 1.
What is culture, and what is intercultural dialogue?
2. How I feel my culture is misunderstood by other
cultures 3. What are the causes of misunderstanding,
and what can be done? 4. What do we as young people
feel are the causes of radical behaviour in our
respective society, and what needs to be done to
counter such behavior? 5. What are our aspirations
for the future, and what are our responsibilities
to make them a reality?
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Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Congratulations to Peter Cramer from Germany, and
Khalfan Al Matrooshi and Khalid Al Muhairi from
UAE who have been selected as ambassadors for their
respective countries on the forthcoming journey
in April.
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Friday, March 07, 2008
UNESCO patronage of the 2008 Connecting Cultures
journeys is confirmed by UNESCO Director General
Koichiro Matsuura.
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Sunday, February 24, 2008
BBC news-online has once again featured a Connecting
Cultures journey - click on the following link to
see the 2008 images
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/7247342.stm
To view the 2007 coverage, click on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/talking_point/6358821.stm
