Thank goodness for people like Bill Gates. Have you seen that he is donating $10 billion (Dh36.7bn) for vaccines in developing countries? $10 billion. That is more than the GDP of Mozambique, the Bahamas or Nicaragua. It's a staggering sum; one which, Gates says, will be donated from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the charitable body that the Microsoft chairman and his wife set up in 1994. Over the next 10 years, the funds will be used to research new vaccines and bring them to the world's poorest countries.
It got me thinking about charity. I have yet, I am ashamed to say, to make my donation to Haiti. The pictures on the news are absolutely heartbreaking. And I do intend to act. It's just that I haven't quite got around to it yet. It's dreadful, I know, especially as stories of aid not getting through and millions of starving and injured people are just starting to shift down the main headlines - an indication that their plight is being replaced, inevitably, in the public consciousness by the latest company takeovers, political wrangling and sporting scandals.
There is part of me that thinks that no matter how much my donation is, it's never going to make much difference. I remember stories of how some of the aid meant for the 2004 Asian tsunami victims was siphoned off by government officials and never reached its destination. It was so grimly inevitable, I suppose, but so depressing. Of course, the other part of me knows that if we all thought that way, there would be no help at all for these poor people.
I have done a little research, and the number of organisations involved is overwhelming. There are the usual celebrity-fronted ones, involving earnest pleas from Charlize Theron, Drew Barrymore, Ben Stiller and the Haitian-born musician Wyclef Jean. But for some reason, I am loath to help through them.
Then there are the charity music compilations, which would be great, because then I get some tunes out of it. But there is something a bit grim about that, too. My eye keeps being drawn to Médecins Sans Frontiéres (Doctors Without Borders), who provide medical aid in 60 countries, and whose hospital in Port au Prince, I heard on the news, was destroyed in the earthquake. I feel, rather instinctively, that that is the way to go. In fact, I'm doing it right now. It's not a Bill Gates-like sum. But I have to believe that it's a case of every little bit helps.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place play-off
'Nightmare Alley'
Director:Guillermo del Toro
Stars:Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara
Rating: 3/5
Anxiety and work stress major factors
Anxiety, work stress and social isolation are all factors in the recogised rise in mental health problems.
A study UAE Ministry of Health researchers published in the summer also cited struggles with weight and illnesses as major contributors.
Its authors analysed a dozen separate UAE studies between 2007 and 2017. Prevalence was often higher in university students, women and in people on low incomes.
One showed 28 per cent of female students at a Dubai university reported symptoms linked to depression. Another in Al Ain found 22.2 per cent of students had depressive symptoms - five times the global average.
It said the country has made strides to address mental health problems but said: “Our review highlights the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression, which may long have been overlooked."
Prof Samir Al Adawi, of the department of behavioural medicine at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman, who was not involved in the study but is a recognised expert in the Gulf, said how mental health is discussed varies significantly between cultures and nationalities.
“The problem we have in the Gulf is the cross-cultural differences and how people articulate emotional distress," said Prof Al Adawi.
“Someone will say that I have physical complaints rather than emotional complaints. This is the major problem with any discussion around depression."
Daniel Bardsley
David Haye record
Total fights: 32
Wins: 28
Wins by KO: 26
Losses: 4
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
How to improve Arabic reading in early years
One 45-minute class per week in Standard Arabic is not sufficient
The goal should be for grade 1 and 2 students to become fluent readers
Subjects like technology, social studies, science can be taught in later grades
Grade 1 curricula should include oral instruction in Standard Arabic
First graders must regularly practice individual letters and combinations
Time should be slotted in class to read longer passages in early grades
Improve the appearance of textbooks
Revision of curriculum should be undertaken as per research findings
Conjugations of most common verb forms should be taught
Systematic learning of Standard Arabic grammar