Muscat ~ June 27

Our morning Arabic class resumes at 8 AM – we have another 4 hours to complete before we leave Oman. The rhythms and sounds of the language are musical and distinct. Hopefully, I will improve before classes continue in Jordan next week.

Today’s activities are another example of the seminar’s promise to “provide participants with the broadest possible exposure to contemporary society.” We had a fascinating presentation on Oman’s Maritime History by Marine Archeologist, Dr. Tom Vosner. The region of Oman – an important source of copper in the Bronze Age - was vital to the development of the early hand sewn plank and beam boat construction that made the Indian Ocean trade routes stretching some 6000 miles to South and East Asia possible. His current project, to be a National Geographic feature, is construction of the Jewel of Muscat (see: http://www.jewelofmuscat.tv/en/node/420 ) a replica of the 9th century silk route trading vessel wrecked off the coast of Java and recovered in 1998. When complete, the ship will follow the ancient Maritime Silk Route to Singapore as a gift from the Sultan of Oman. Later in the day we learned about Oman’s geogrpahic and botanic diversity with Jenny Walker and Sam Owen (Jenny is author of several Guides to Oman and Sam is a Commander in the RAF Oman). Jenny’s illustrated lecture made us realize that two weeks in the Sultanate is not nearly enough. The beauty and diversity of the landscape make advances in Oman’s tourism program development easily understood.

A visit to the Ministry of Education for a presentation on Education in Oman from 1970 to 2009, further illustrates the rapid page of change. In 1970 there were 909 students and 3 schools, in 2009 540,332 students and 1,047 primary and secondary schools. A recent agreement with Microsoft will assure email for over 600,000 students. While noting that 80 % of graduates go on the post-secondary education (private and public) when asked to identify the greatest remaining challenge to educational reform, the presenters replied, increasing the literacy rate. See Education Portal (click English) http://www.moe.gov.om/portal/sitebuilder/sites/eps/english/home.aspx

Our evening was spent with the Women’s Group of Sidab. The women’s sewing group was formed as a non-profit organization to give with women of Sidab, a “fishing village near Muscat a chance to learn and upgrade their sewing skills and supplement their household income from the products created.” The Group was initiated by Badriyah al Siyabi. She welcomed us, explained current and future projects planned to sustain the group, guided us through the facility (including the gift whop where we were able to purchase locally made items), and hosted a wonderful Omani dinner on the roof terrace. Among the many calico bag projects the women’s group made were the gift bags presented us earlier this week by Oman Brand Management Unit (see blog photo). See: http://www.wfsnews.org/freeread2.html