It was only after attending a recreation camp for Omani kids at the Al Hutah Recreation Club that young Abdulrahman al Hadrami learnt that wastes at home can be converted into beautiful things. These beautiful things, by-products of what would otherwise have been garbage, he now proudly shows and flaunts to his friends. Abdulrahman is just one of the 15 other students who came from different schools and participated in “Ajyal Al Himma” translated as ‘Generation of Determination,’ an initiative launched by young Omani woman, Amal Khamis al Jashmi, who believed that it is important to ‘Catch ‘em young.’
“We conducted a five-day long camp for the kids from different regions under one roof at the Al Hoota Resort and Jebel Shams. Our goal was to give young minds a fruitful vacation, away from other activities, to inculcate lessons of owning a business and instilling values related to environmental protection while learning small artistic creations,” Amal said.
Participants of the programme were between the ages of 10 to 12 and hailed from Al Dhakhiliya, Al Sharqiya, North Batinah and Al Buraimi. They were taught different skills from conceiving ideas for a business project, to operating production, building brand, creating logo etc. They camped at Al Hoota Resort for five days de3veloping their ideas and developing it as a real business. They also conducted different team building activities.
“They were exposed to hands-on training that would make them self-reliant and a team player as well. Cooking and learning how to swim were also parts of the camp,”Amal said.
They were supervised by Omani coach Yacoub al Rabbani and Greek artist Costis, who mentored them on Decoupage —the art of decorating an object by gluing coloured paper cut-outs onto it and combining other elements like paints, gold leaves and other decorative elements.
The first two days of the camp were focused on training, entertainment and adventure where coach Costis taught them art recycling using waste materials like plastic cans, metals and pre-made wood. On the third day, they were introduced into the business development aspect of the training.
The fourth day was dedicated for exploration of Bani Khamis and Jebel Shams, checking out the hidden pool and archaeological buildings hidden between the mountains. They also learnt the basics of first aid and rescuing using a rope.
On the fifth day, the kids were assigned to make new products from raw materials collected from the surroundings such as wood, rock and tree leaves to make and decorate pottery. They were also taught how to make a commercial advertisement for each product.
I’m glad to have participated in the camp, which combined games with learning. I’m also happy to say I have gained self-confidence and managed to learn and understand the spirit of cooperation with others and hoped for future replication,” Abdulrahman said.
Ali al Hadabi, another participant said that the days went by quickly for their training and he was quite upset that it has to end.
“I feel I have benefited a lot especially on the product development part. I’d like to attend the next camp and want to build my own brand and business in the future by manufacturing products from the environment,” he shared.
Amal had the help of her sisters Ibtisam, who served as the chief coordinator, and Ameera, who was in-charge of the designing. Juhaina, another member of the team who is an IT professional was in-charge of the IT-related concerns while Jihana provided the training, along with Jihan.
KABEER YOUSUF
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
