The coronavirus pandemic may have changed many aspects of life as we know it, but it certainly hasn't changed people's urge to make real human connections. And with many people around the world staying at home, it comes as no surprise that digital platforms that help us connect are seeing a healthy boom.
Most recently, Hawaya, a matchmaking app founded in Cairo, has expanded to the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, following its success in Egypt.
The platform aims to help users find love while respecting cultures and traditions, providing a "solution for young, modern and confident Muslim adults who want to take the search for a life partner into their own hands".
The app, which is free and available to download on Apple and Android devices, recorded a 40 per cent increase in messages exchanged between users during March, according to its co-founder and chief executive Sameh Saleh. There has also been a 25 per cent increase in time spent on the app and 50 per cent increase in use of the exclusive chat mode, which enables users to temporarily communicate exclusively with each other.
“Individuals are feeling an increased need for connection as face-to-face time with friends and strangers is limited,” says Saleh. “This is a good time for people to discover new ways of engaging with others, and the app offers a platform to do just that.”
Saleh got the idea for Hawaya in 2017, following his own family’s experience of looking for a husband for his sister.
“She had to go through many meetings at home or at a cafe with someone she didn’t know and only had a few hours to ask him important questions to decide if he was the one to live with for the rest of her life,” he explains.
After coming up with the idea of a matchmaking app to help the younger generation connect, Saleh approached friends Shaymaa Ali, Aly Khaled and older brother Tamer Saleh to launch a platform that caters specifically towards Muslims.
Since its inception, Hawaya, which initially began as Harmonica, has grown from strength to strength, and has also expanded to Turkey and Indonesia.
Saleh credits this success to its team of young founders who understand their users wants and needs based on their own experiences.
“Hawaya uses a scientific, safe and culturally accepted approach, and was founded keeping in mind sisters, cousins and friends, as well as the founders’ collective personal experiences with matchmaking,” he says. “No other brand understands the experiences and emotions of single Muslims like we do, because all of the founders came from the same Islamic culture and lived the struggle of finding the right life partner.”
When it comes to matchmaking apps, safety and security is key. Hawaya has included such features keeping in mind its audience. This includes blurred profile pictures (women have the option of initially displaying profile pictures out of focus), a guardian feature (a trusted friend or family member can be involved in the communication while getting to know the match) and selfie verification.
It also offers complete confidentiality and ongoing support to help matched couples build a "lifetime journey".
“In the Arab world, most youth are familiar with the love story of the famous writer Mai Ziyada and the poet Khalil Gibran, which extended for years across different countries through only written correspondence," says Saleh. "This love story is very similar to the ecosystem of support that we want to create, providing people with a sense of companionship and the possibility of finding lifelong true love."
How to help
Send “thenational” to the following numbers or call the hotline on: 0502955999
2289 – Dh10
2252 – Dh 50
6025 – Dh20
6027 – Dh 100
6026 – Dh 200
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UAE v Zimbabwe A
Results
Match 1 – UAE won by 4 wickets
Match 2 – UAE won by 5 wickets
Match 3 – UAE won by 25 runs
Match 4 – UAE won by 77 runs
Fixture
Match 5, Saturday, 9.30am start, ICC Academy, Dubai
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Essentials
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct from the UAE to Los Angeles, from Dh4,975 return, including taxes. The flight time is 16 hours. Alaska Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Aeromexico and Southwest all fly direct from Los Angeles to San Jose del Cabo from Dh1,243 return, including taxes. The flight time is two-and-a-half hours.
The trip
Lindblad Expeditions National Geographic’s eight-day Whales Wilderness itinerary costs from US$6,190 (Dh22,736) per person, twin share, including meals, accommodation and excursions, with departures in March and April 2018.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The%20specs
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About Karol Nawrocki
• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.
• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.
• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.
• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: 2.9-litre, V6 twin-turbo
Transmission: seven-speed PDK dual clutch automatic
Power: 375bhp
Torque: 520Nm
Price: Dh332,800
On sale: now
Final results:
Open men
Australia 94 (4) beat New Zealand 48 (0)
Plate men
England 85 (3) beat India 81 (1)
Open women
Australia 121 (4) beat South Africa 52 (0)
Under 22 men
Australia 68 (2) beat New Zealand 66 (2)
Under 22 women
Australia 92 (3) beat New Zealand 54 (1)
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Xpanceo
Started: 2018
Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality
Funding: $40 million
Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
THE BIG THREE
NOVAK DJOKOVIC
19 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 5 (2011, 14, 15, 18, 19)
French Open: 2 (2016, 21)
US Open: 3 (2011, 15, 18)
Australian Open: 9 (2008, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21)
Prize money: $150m
ROGER FEDERER
20 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 8 (2003, 04, 05, 06, 07, 09, 12, 17)
French Open: 1 (2009)
US Open: 5 (2004, 05, 06, 07, 08)
Australian Open: 6 (2004, 06, 07, 10, 17, 18)
Prize money: $130m
RAFAEL NADAL
20 grand slam singles titles
Wimbledon: 2 (2008, 10)
French Open: 13 (2005, 06, 07, 08, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20)
US Open: 4 (2010, 13, 17, 19)
Australian Open: 1 (2009)
Prize money: $125m
more from Janine di Giovanni
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
