AMMAN // Um Jaser is pregnant with her seventh child. She has a constant backache from the repeated pregnancies and looking after her six children, four boys and two girls, has turned her life into an endless routine of housework. The stress is clouding her thoughts to the extent she thinks her husband, Abu Jaser, is considering taking a cousin as a second wife.
But her main concern is her husband's meagre monthly income of US$130 (Dh477), which can hardly sustain the growing needs of the family.
"I haven't slept all night thinking about how are we going to manage. Eid is the day after tomorrow; Jaser needs trousers, shirt and shoes; Ahmed wants the same; Salem wants jeans and glasses," she said. "Ninety dinars is not enough to look after even five children."
"Shall I steal?" Abu Jaser, asked. "No, borrow money", his wife replied. "But I am already sinking in debt," Abu Jaser said.
The scene is from a play that tackles reproductive health in Jordan, but unlike most stage productions, the audience of nearly 100 men and women do not sit silently. They frequently offer up advice to "the couple" on how to tackle their problems.
At a time when many Jordanians have become fixated by Star Academy, audience participation in theatre also has become hugely popular.
"Why do you think she has a backache? What is the major problem facing Um Jaser and Abu Jaser? ? What advice can you give to the couple?" a facilitator asks.
One woman suggested breastfeeding, which would give Um Jaser some space in between pregnancies. A man suggested Um Jaser weave fleece or make goat cheese to supplement the family income. Another woman said the family should have had fewer children, while another said it was too late for them to start family planning but that they could pass on the lessons to their children.
Part of the attraction of interactive theatre is that it allows audiences to engage with the actors and change the course of events.
"The objective is to encourage audience participation in the drama so that they can learn new skills, make decisions and solve problems," said Lina Attel, the director of the Performing Arts Centre (PAC) of King Hussein Foundation and the brain behind this style of theatre in Jordan.
"We want the audience to engage in the drama and the content of the play rather than being passive," she said.
Mrs Attel, who obtained her master's in theatre in Education in Britain in 1985, introduced the method in Jordan two years later.
Interactive theatre, she said, seeks to dispel common stereotypes about reproductive health, women and honour crimes, as well as issues such as how to deal with family squabbles and generation gaps.
"We were careful in choosing the themes that had to be shaped to suit people's needs. We wanted to tackle issues that affect people's lives directly.
"People are either with or against the antagonist, but what we aspire for is to change the negative misconceptions such as those relating to early marriages, men who believe they have the right to beat their wives and the stereotyping of women in society," she said.
A deeply rooted tradition in Jordan favours large families and, despite national efforts to curb crimes against women carried out in the name of "honour", sentences are lenient for men convicted of such crimes.
In 1987, Mrs Attel founded the Performing Arts Centre, a non-governmental group which aims to promote awareness of the value of arts in education and for social development purposes.
Since then, they have staged 30 interactive plays across the country, from municipalities to remote and impoverished areas in the south of the country.
Although the audience is generally receptive to the themes, there are times when conspiracy theorists accuse them of promoting western ideas.
"When we try to educate the audience against early pregnancies, birth spacing and family planning, a participant once said that we are following western values," Mrs Attel said.
"Our actors are well trained; the drama makes people think. In one of the plays, an actor who marries young had four miscarriages."
Some people are happy to be swept up in the drama, improvising solutions on the spur of the moment.
In one play depicting the changing lives of a Jordanian couple after marriage, Vera Haddad, a social worker, was asked by a facilitator what she would do if she were the wife who had to put up with an ill-tempered husband and an angry son.
"I told the facilitator that this family needs a role model like good neighbours. He told me why don't you become a neighbour then?" And so Mrs Haddad was invited to join the actors on stage.
"The husband was rough and it was a challenge to soften his attitude," Mrs Haddad said. "I told him that his son is my son's age. That my son was outstanding in school and the children could study together. I even talked to his wife about cooking and how men like good food. The husband liked that."
In another play, the focus was on how Iraqis and other foreigners are treated in Jordan. Three Jordanian campers meet three lost strangers while they are camping. The strangers need a place to stay, but the Jordanians are initially hesitant. But once they start giving the campers tips about setting up their tents properly, the importance of keeping the fire ablaze at night to keep animals away, Muhannad Nawafleh, a facilitator and actor, asks the audience if the campers should allow them to stay.
"The audience realises that the strangers have skills that they can benefit from," he said.
smaayeh@thenational.ae
$1,000 award for 1,000 days on madrasa portal
Daily cash awards of $1,000 dollars will sweeten the Madrasa e-learning project by tempting more pupils to an education portal to deepen their understanding of math and sciences.
School children are required to watch an educational video each day and answer a question related to it. They then enter into a raffle draw for the $1,000 prize.
“We are targeting everyone who wants to learn. This will be $1,000 for 1,000 days so there will be a winner every day for 1,000 days,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, project manager of the Madrasa e-learning platform that was launched on Tuesday by the Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to reach Arab pupils from kindergarten to grade 12 with educational videos.
“The objective of the Madrasa is to become the number one reference for all Arab students in the world. The 5,000 videos we have online is just the beginning, we have big ambitions. Today in the Arab world there are 50 million students. We want to reach everyone who is willing to learn.”
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The specs
Engine: 2-litre 4-cylinder and 3.6-litre 6-cylinder
Power: 220 and 280 horsepower
Torque: 350 and 360Nm
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Price: from Dh136,521 VAT and Dh166,464 VAT
On sale: now
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
About RuPay
A homegrown card payment scheme launched by the National Payments Corporation of India and backed by the Reserve Bank of India, the country’s central bank
RuPay process payments between banks and merchants for purchases made with credit or debit cards
It has grown rapidly in India and competes with global payment network firms like MasterCard and Visa.
In India, it can be used at ATMs, for online payments and variations of the card can be used to pay for bus, metro charges, road toll payments
The name blends two words rupee and payment
Some advantages of the network include lower processing fees and transaction costs
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if you go
The flights
Emirates offer flights to Buenos Aires from Dubai, via Rio De Janeiro from around Dh6,300. emirates.com
Seeing the games
Tangol sell experiences across South America and generally have good access to tickets for most of the big teams in Buenos Aires: Boca Juniors, River Plate, and Independiente. Prices from Dh550 and include pick up and drop off from your hotel in the city. tangol.com
Staying there
Tangol will pick up tourists from any hotel in Buenos Aires, but after the intensity of the game, the Faena makes for tranquil, upmarket accommodation. Doubles from Dh1,110. faena.com
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The biog
DOB: 25/12/92
Marital status: Single
Education: Post-graduate diploma in UAE Diplomacy and External Affairs at the Emirates Diplomatic Academy in Abu Dhabi
Hobbies: I love fencing, I used to fence at the MK Fencing Academy but I want to start again. I also love reading and writing
Lifelong goal: My dream is to be a state minister
SPECS
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Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
Company%20profile
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Thor: Ragnarok
Dir: Taika Waititi
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson
Four stars
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