Muscat: An Omani mother who invented a rewritable notebook is trying to produce it in large quantities to cater to students at schools, colleges and universities and thus supporting the environment and reducing the number of trees being cut globally.
It was not by chance that Hannat bint Ali al Hinaiyah, a geophysicist/geoscientist, a mother of seven and a retired employee of PDO, came out with a locally manufactured a little over A4 sized notebook for her fellow beings but was the result of her need, persistence, and months-long thought process.
"It was when I realised that there should be an alternative to notebooks in the schools, colleges and offices that I started thinking of a way. Although some notes need to be preserved for a later period, some writings, especially to learn some lessons from the teachers, by writing it on a paper, can be satisfied with this book," Hannat said.
After presenting the innovative brochures to the Intellectual Property Department of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCCIP), Al Hinaiyah and her daughter Reamaan bint Hamoud al Khaifiyah obtained the intellectual property certificate for this project, as there is no equivalent one in the Sultanate of Oman and in the region.
It all began, according to Hannat, when she began to memorise the Holy Quran after taking voluntary retirement from PDO where she worked last as Diversity and Inclusion Officer in 2019. She enrolled herself at Sharia College to improve her Quran and religious knowledge.
"I believed in writing on paper whatever I wanted to learn which helped me memorise the content a bit faster. But writing verses of the holy book on rough papers and throwing them aimlessly in trash was too hard for me and that triggered a spark in me for an alternative means," Hannat said.
Her reluctance led her to a printing press where she described what she wanted, "so that I would have a brochure to write on its pages using whiteboard pens, erase and rewrite on it many times."
Hannat's brochure works as a whiteboard, but with many pages, the ink on which would last for several minutes until one erases it. After Al Hinaiyah saw the great benefit children are getting from it, she decided to introduce more designs that benefit other segments such as school and university students, employees, teachers, architects and designers.
Her Belgian friend, a retired geoscientist, took some of these books and she is using them to teach geology back in Belgium and elsewhere, and her husband who is doing his PhD from Oxford University is using them for his studies as they are available in formats like ruled, unruled, checkered, etc.
Going forward, she has plans to manufacture the same in large quantities and distribute among the educational institutions and lend a hand of support to the environment and the trees in a larger sense.
@kabeeryousef
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
