When you walk by the Mexico pavilion in the Mobility District at Expo 2020 Dubai, it is easy to mistake the wash of colour that blankets the facade with lashings of paint.
But a closer look tells a much deeper story.
In a small town in central-west Mexico – with a population of only 10,000 people – 100 women spent more than 5,200 hours crocheting 3,500 individual pieces that make up the eye-catching exterior.
Together with her 90-year-old mother Paloma, Lorena Ron was one of the driving forces behind the impressive pavilion draping.
For me, the weave portrays 100 mothers of Mexico hugging the country they love
Lorena Ron,
Mexican crocheter
In May this year, she received a call from Mexican designer, Betsabee Romero, who asked if she was up for the task. At first, she thought it was a scam.
“We’re just a group of women in Mexico who crochet our days away. When the call with Betsabee ended, I called my children and told them surely this request wasn’t real,” she told The National.
“My children looked online, did lots of research and told me it all seemed legitimate. I couldn’t believe it. It was such a wonderful opportunity. So, of course, during our next call I said 'yes'.”
Hailing from a town called Etzatlan in Jalisco, which translates to "land of beans" in English, 60-year-old Ms Ron’s humble hobby has made her grab news headlines before.
In 2019, along with nearly 200 women from the crocheting association she set up in her village in 2016, they broke a world record for the “longest crochet canopy”.
Measuring 28,320 square feet, it took the group eight months to weave before it was hung from building to building along their street during one of the town's annual festivals in October.
A childhood chore became a loved hobby
A self-confessed tomboy, Ms Ron said she first started crocheting when she was only six-years-old. But it was “a chore more than a hobby", she said.
“I would watch my great aunt weave and knit jumpers, blankets and rugs for people in the village,” she said.
“I was never girly and always wanted to go outside and play with the horses, but that was seen as something only boys did.
“As I watched my great aunt create these knots, I thought it would be a good way to learn how to make reins that I could use to ride the horses.
“It then became a thing where I would be made to crochet for a while each day, and only then would I be allowed out to play with the horses.”
Not long after, that chore soon became her love, and decades later it has brought the mother-of-three to Dubai, where she is representing Mexico in all its glory at Expo 2020.
Ms Ron said crocheting became a form of solace for her and her mother after both her husband and father became ill in 2005.
“We would get together and crochet for hours"
“When my father passed away in 2007 and my husband in 2009, it was a way for me to let out my grief, it became my comfort," she said, holding back her tears while sitting inside the pavilion.
“I transported my grief into beautiful things to help heal my soul.”
'100 Mexican mothers hugging the country they love'
After landing in Dubai for the first time on September 26, Ms Ron said she and designer Ms Romero spent three days finalising the exterior design of the pavilion.
Joined by several workers from Expo, they stitched and hung more than 60 individual strips together, covering more than 10,000 square feet.
Made up of six colours – red, green, blue, orange and two shades of yellow – the largest individual strip measured 1.3 metres by 30 metres.
The final design portrays a net weave of intertwining colours, shrouded by an image of the sun.
“Each colour represents a different community around the world and we wove it like a net to show how the world is interconnected,” she said.
“I remember on the last day, just before we finished hanging the design, I was in a crane stitching the last piece together. When I stitched the final piece, I shouted ‘viva la Mexico’ and the crowds below just started cheering.
“It was a special moment for me and my 100 colleagues that made this dream a reality. For me, the weave portrays 100 mothers of Mexico hugging the country they love.”
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
White hydrogen: Naturally occurring hydrogen
Chromite: Hard, metallic mineral containing iron oxide and chromium oxide
Ultramafic rocks: Dark-coloured rocks rich in magnesium or iron with very low silica content
Ophiolite: A section of the earth’s crust, which is oceanic in nature that has since been uplifted and exposed on land
Olivine: A commonly occurring magnesium iron silicate mineral that derives its name for its olive-green yellow-green colour
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Boulder shooting victims
• Denny Strong, 20
• Neven Stanisic, 23
• Rikki Olds, 25
• Tralona Bartkowiak, 49
• Suzanne Fountain, 59
• Teri Leiker, 51
• Eric Talley, 51
• Kevin Mahoney, 61
• Lynn Murray, 62
• Jody Waters, 65
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
Essentials
The flights
Whether you trek after mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda or the Congo, the most convenient international airport is in Rwanda’s capital city, Kigali. There are direct flights from Dubai a couple of days a week with RwandAir. Otherwise, an indirect route is available via Nairobi with Kenya Airways. Flydubai flies to Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, via Entebbe in Uganda. Expect to pay from US$350 (Dh1,286) return, including taxes.
The tours
Superb ape-watching tours that take in all three gorilla countries mentioned above are run by Natural World Safaris. In September, the company will be operating a unique Ugandan ape safari guided by well-known primatologist Ben Garrod.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, local operator Kivu Travel can organise pretty much any kind of safari throughout the Virunga National Park and elsewhere in eastern Congo.
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Fly Etihad or Emirates from the UAE to Moscow from 2,763 return per person return including taxes.
Where to stay
Trips on the Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian cost from US$16,995 (Dh62,414) per person, based on two sharing.
'Nope'
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Company%20profile
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