600 students discover national heritage at Watani summer camp

At the closing ceremony, His Excellency Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, Director General of Watani distributed certificates to the participants. The summer camp also focused on developing the personality of children and in promoting their creative and innovative skills in addition to establishing a strong sense of national identity.

The children welcomed their parents with Yolla dance performances and television reports produced by them. The parents also watched martial arts demonstrations as well as an exhibition of the children's work produced during the camp period. The works included the 'camp journal' edited by a team of participants.

His Excellency Al Mansouri, said:

"We are pleased to see the children's satisfaction with the summer camps. We trust that we have helped them acquire needed skills and concepts that they can utilize as tools to serve their country in all areas. We thank all stakeholders who contributed to the success of these camps and especially the parents for encouraging their children to participate in these projects which help strengthen awareness of their children about the UAE heritage."

The summer camps featured thrilling activities and were designed to invest the participants' time and nurture their talent through a number of different programmes, workshops, scientific exploration tours and heritage activities highlighting the basics of Arabian hospitality.

The programme also included learning more about computers, working on Photoshop, photography and other seminars. The participants also attended introductory seminars on Scrabble which helped the children and the opportunity to enhance their linguistic capabilities.

This year, a 'National Identity Ambassadors' programme was added to encourage children to take up leadership positions within their communities. Children explored heritage crafts, and went on visits to the desert and discovered old traditions in tracking the stars and astronomy. They also visited neighborhoods in Jebel Ali and discovered the lifestyle of older generations and the ways of extracting pearls, feeding hammour fishes and planting grove trees.

Mariam Abdallah, a ten-year-old participant, said, "I didn't anything about pearl collection and the ways used to do that. After attending the summer camp, I discovered that it is an adventurous and hard task. I learnt how our grandfathers used to move from a place to another by following the stars. We also learnt ways to knit wool and cotton for grooms' dresses as well as folkloric dances."

Twelve-year-old Sara Abdullah said, "I am very pleased in having participated in this camp. We had great fun as we discovered new things everyday. We learnt how to make a robot and recycle paper as well as handicraft. We were working as one team and we were sharing everything. I knew how they make the Hreess, Al Khabis dishes and how to sing folk songs sang by our parents before."

Shaikha Wali, a volunteer said, "I am proud to have lectured the children on heritage and Emirati traditions that are the basis for their personal and professional life. I really enjoyed teaching the children how to make UAE dishes from Lugaimat and Rigag and how to make a Burga. I also taught them old words used in times of rain and other periods."

Speaking to parents at the closing ceremony, Aisha Hilal Abdulla (Umm Nasser) said that Watani camps were the ideal place for her children to spend their summer time.

She said, "This summer was special for my children as they came back to us everyday with new stories and details of activities such as exploring the desert, museums and historical sites. I look forward to more such activities and thank the Watani programme for providing such an ideal environment for the children."