Dozens of schoolchildren in Dubai and Abu Dhabi performed an online musical to raise awareness of the plight of refugees.
Nearly 50 pupils from seven different Taaleem schools in the Emirates took part in The Show Must Go Online, performing from their own homes.
The pupils spent weeks rehearsing for the event, held in association with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
“We wanted to do something to bring the kids together and keep the sense of community between them, despite the fact they had to study from home,” said Stephen Delano, director of performing arts at Raha International School in Abu Dhabi.
“I had watched musicals being put together remotely and thought it would be a good idea to do something similar with our students.
"Our No 1 goal is to put a smile on people's faces."
Mr Delano said the performance was a “play within a play” and had two parts.
Its early stages focuses on pupils’ attempts to rehearse for the musical while in lockdown, while the later section tells the story of their efforts to keep the production going while the outbreak continues.
Pupils hoping to take part in the project had to undergo an audition process that required sending in a video of themselves performing.
Once the cast was selected, there were five weeks of rehearsals before the final video could be recorded.
Footage of their efforts was shared on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube and featured 49 pupils aged between 10 and 17. Not all the pupils were in the UAE when they recorded their performances.
“It was loads of fun performing at home, but I got stuck in New Zealand during lockdown so doing it along with catching up with school work was a bit of a challenge,” said Emma Windsor, 12, who studies at Dubai British School Jumeirah Park.
“My role in the musical is of a character who is trying to perform a scene so that her school can carry on with the musical during quarantine, except she can’t find anywhere that is quiet enough.
"Her family just keep interrupting. My family really enjoyed playing that role and making noise in the background."
The musical was made to help mark World Refugee Day, which took place on June 20.
“Children in this era are much more informed and aware of the reality of the world we live in, from global warming to human rights, and it is important that these values of empathy and solidarity are strengthened within them at a young age,” said Houssam Chahine, UNHCR chief of private sector partnerships for the Mena region.
“These kinds of initiatives also allow a great opportunity for parents and teachers to further empower students’ knowledge on these topics, and embed within them, as the leaders of the future, a strong sense of social responsibility and community development.”
There are 79.5 million displaced people around the world, according to UNHCR figures.
The organisation said more than 50 per cent of refugees under its care come from only five countries: Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, Myanmar and Somalia.
“This pandemic has proven to everyone that we are only as strong as the most vulnerable among us,” he said.
“It has shown that our efforts to ensure that displaced populations and host communities living below the poverty line are included and accounted for in humanitarian response measures are more crucial than ever."
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The biog
Hobby: Playing piano and drawing patterns
Best book: Awaken the Giant Within by Tony Robbins
Food of choice: Sushi
Favourite colour: Orange
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Places to go for free coffee
- Cherish Cafe Dubai, Dubai Investment Park, are giving away free coffees all day.
- La Terrace, Four Points by Sheraton Bur Dubai, are serving their first 50 guests one coffee and four bite-sized cakes
- Wild & The Moon will be giving away a free espresso with every purchase on International Coffee Day
- Orange Wheels welcome parents are to sit, relax and enjoy goodies at ‘Café O’ along with a free coffee
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
More on Quran memorisation:
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
Brief scores:
Toss: Sindhis, elected to field first
Pakhtoons 137-6 (10 ov)
Fletcher 68 not out; Cutting 2-14
Sindhis 129-8 (10 ov)
Perera 47; Sohail 2-18
Founders: Ines Mena, Claudia Ribas, Simona Agolini, Nourhan Hassan and Therese Hundt
Date started: January 2017, app launched November 2017
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Private/Retail/Leisure
Number of Employees: 18 employees, including full-time and flexible workers
Funding stage and size: Seed round completed Q4 2019 - $1m raised
Funders: Oman Technology Fund, 500 Startups, Vision Ventures, Seedstars, Mindshift Capital, Delta Partners Ventures, with support from the OQAL Angel Investor Network and UAE Business Angels
HOW TO WATCH
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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BRIEF SCORES:
Toss: Nepal, chose to field
UAE 153-6: Shaiman (59), Usman (30); Regmi 2-23
Nepal 132-7: Jora 53 not out; Zahoor 2-17
Result: UAE won by 21 runs
Series: UAE lead 1-0
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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How much of your income do you need to save?
The more you save, the sooner you can retire. Tuan Phan, a board member of SimplyFI.com, says if you save just 5 per cent of your salary, you can expect to work for another 66 years before you are able to retire without too large a drop in income.
In other words, you will not save enough to retire comfortably. If you save 15 per cent, you can forward to another 43 working years. Up that to 40 per cent of your income, and your remaining working life drops to just 22 years. (see table)
Obviously, this is only a rough guide. How much you save will depend on variables, not least your salary and how much you already have in your pension pot. But it shows what you need to do to achieve financial independence.
