I feel very fortunate at the moment to be participating in Community Exchange programme organised by the British Council and VSO, between Pennine Lancashire and Oman. A group of 13 people from a variety of professions related to education and social care are visiting the capital Muscat and living with Omani Families for 3 weeks. While we are naturally concerned about our friends back in the UK who are experiencing so many problems with the weather, we have to be honest and say that it is wonderful here and about 28 degrees (it’s the coldest time of year in Oman).
There is a huge amount to be learned from these wonderful friendly people and you’ll become accustomed to me singing the praises of Oman. My main learning is about about Islam and how this faith is practiced here with a spirit of openess and modernity that is truly inspiring. I am learning that so much of what we know in the West about Arab culture is filtered by a worrying Islamophobic bias and that we can only really understand the nature of others’ faith my travelling and meeting with a wide range of people from different countries. It’s a statement of the blinding obvious of course, but the experience is very powerful and inspirational.
So what does this mean for Curious Minds? Well, I hope we can develop a wide range of contacts with international cultural partners. This link with the Gulf region is only a beginning. Most importantly I hope we can create opportunities for young people and cultural practitioners in the North West to participate in exchange programmes so that we can explore what global diversity really means. These people love education and the children are hungry for it – can we learn from Oman how we can generate that sort of appetite among our young people?
Hi Chris,
It’s been a pleasure having you in Oman, and specifically in the Ministry of Education (Oman). Thank you for introducing and sharing with us the creativity of the Curious Minds, and its many projects. I shall write more on this later, but for now I just wanted to welcome you to Oman, and wish you success in your mission here. I hope that more of your colleagues will visit us.
All the best,
Khalfan Alharrasi, PhD
http://khalfanhamedalharrasi.wikispaces.com/
Curriculum Evaluation Consultant
Ministry of Education (Oman)