'Minds Pleasure' seminars delves into holy routes and adds to children's education

For the second consecutive week, Watani, the social development programme is continuing to introduce a variety of lectures within 'Minds Pleasure' seminars held during the ongoing DSS 2008 targeting parents and adults.

Audiences enjoyed the educational session on the Prophet's (PBUH) life in one session and got acquainted with various techniques applied to enhance children's creative ability in the other.

These sessions are part of Watani's efforts to enhance a better understanding of the UAE national identity and practices of good citizenship among all social categories and empower each member with best practices that can be applied within family and professional life.

The first session of this week's 'Mind's Pleasure' seminars hosted Dr. Mustafa Ammar Manla who discussed in his lecture titled 'Documentation of Three Major Historical Phases of Madinah During the Time of Prophet Mohammed (pbuh)'.

Dr. Manla shared with the audience a number of illustrations, maps and photographs of the places the Prophet (pbuh) travelled through during his "Hegira" (migration) from Mecca to Madinah.

He also talked about various aspects of life in Madinah such as the demography of the tribes and how it changed after a large number of Muslims migrated from Mecca to Medinah seeking refuge from the oppression of Mecca tribes.

Yousif Riyadh Al Laho, one of the participants of the lecture, said: "We have read and heard a lot about Prophet Mohamed's (pbuh) journey, but this lecture has taken us back in time to that era."

Dr. Mustafa Ammar Al Manla holds a Ph.D. in Al Ketab and Al Sunna from Um Al Kura University. He has written more than 15 books on the Prophetic history and Sunna, and has eight studies published in magazines.

Currently he heads the Department of Manuscripts and Documents at the Madinah Centre for Researches and Studies and has done so since its inception.

On the second day 'Mind's Pleasure' audiences had an appointment with Dr. Adel Al Banna's lecture, 'Instilling Creativity Among Kids'. Dr. Banna focused on the art of raising kids and communicating with them.

He presented methods for developing the creative abilities of children, by using thinking techniques and educational games as a tool to enhance creativity.

Dr. Adel Al Banna holds a PhD in Education and is specialized in Educational Psychology.

He is a professor of Educational Psychology at the College of Education in Alexandria University, Egypt.

He also explained ways to judge the creative inclinations of children, and demonstrated some programmes for nurturing talents, besides various means of discovering and developing talents among children.

Finally, he advised parents to answer all those strange questions raised by their children. He asked them to diversify children's activities, listen to them carefully and not to tell them to stop asking questions.

Khaleefa Rashid Al Hamly, another participant of the lectures, said: "Our children today increasingly indulge in video gaming. We have learnt from this lecture various benefits of educational mind games as a useful way to instil creativity, considering the popularity of indoor games in today's life unlike never before".

The 'Minds Pleasure' seminars are open to the public every Friday and Saturday at 5:00pm from July 5th to August 23rd at the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) auditorium in Deira.

For the second consecutive year, world-renowned Arabic and English speakers and trainers will offer life-changing tips on social, economic, medical and spiritual issues to help you improve your life during 16 sessions.

These seminars are part of Watani's initiatives to encourage the practices of good citizenship among all the segments of the UAE society and creating a volunteering platform for everyone interested in offering time and effort for the benefit of the general public in the UAE.

They form one of a wide array of activities that "Watani" has planned for this summer which include cooperation with Princess Haya Cultural & Islamic Centres, summer centres for school children with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), in addition to heritage summer camps