Battle for life: Baby's yet to cry

Dubai: Aastha Shetty was born on May 12. A month and a half down the line, she is yet to cry.

Worse, her tiny frame is connected to several tubes and pipes as she remains inactive, has no visual following and is unable to feed by mouth.

As she battles for life in an incubator at Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, her distraught mother, Ashwini Shetty, is appealing for help to treat the little one.

"I know my child is in a very critical condition, but as a parent I want to do the best I can till she is in my care," she said.

Ashwini said the trauma began when she was in her seventh month of pregnancy and the baby in her womb began to gasp for breath due to loss of fluid in the uterus. It came as a rude shock to her as she had conceived after nine long years since the birth of her first child.

"Everything was going well and I don't understand how the fluid loss could go undetected during my regular check-ups," said Ashwini who was consulting a private clinic in Sharjah.

She said she was forced to undergo an emergency C-section at a private hospital in Sharjah where Aastha was born at 36 weeks and three days. She was not breathing initially but subsequently began to respond although there was considerable damage to her brain.

The medical report has diagnosed Aastha with "severe perinatal birth asphyxia with intra-ventricular bleeds and neo-natal convulsions". She is also afflicted with a severe brain injury with fluid collection but a shunt operation to remove the fluid cannot be done until her condition improves.

"The neurosurgeons have recommended periodic ventricular taps until her condition stabilises when a VP shunt will be performed," she said.

But all of this costs money, which the family can ill afford. "We have already spent Dh25,000 on her treatment in Sharjah," said Ashwini who works as an export coordinator with a private food company at Jebel Ali.

She said her husband works with a realty company and they do not have any insurance.

"We have no clue how long the treatment will take or how many surgeries have to be performed. All the treatments are sensitive and very expensive," she said, worried about how the family will foot the mounting bills.

She said taking Aastha to her home country, India, is also not an option given her present condition. "Besides, the arrangements and cost of shifting her are too much.

"We will be grateful for any help we can get," she added.

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Manhole on Ajman street poses a danger

I would like to bring to the notice of Ajman Municipality that a manhole in Abu Baker Al Seddiq Street has been left open for many days now.

It was temporarily covered with a broken drum, but this has not helped. Heavy vehicles and cars pass through this service road and even the general public uses this area regularly. I have also seen children play near this hazardous spot.

In order to avoid any major accident or fatality, I request the Ajman Municipality to properly cover up the exposed manhole immediately.

— The reader is based in Ajman

Be a citizen reporter. Tell us what is happening in your community. Write to us and send us your videos and pictures at readers@gulfnews.com.

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Abu Dhabi Indian School struggles with long waiting list of admission seekers

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi Indian School (ADIS) is struggling hard with a long waiting list of pupils seeking admissions, due to a lack of seats in the Indian schools in the capital, the school officials have revealed.

"There were more than 1,000 applicants each for 150 seats each in kindergarten 1 and grade 1 this academic year," B. R. Shetty, Chairman of ADIS, told Gulf News on Wednesday.

There is a large number of pupils seeking admissions in other classes also apart from K.G 1 and grade 1, he said.

ADIS, a non-profit sharing school, is one of the largest Indian schools in the country, with about 5,800 pupils. Shetty said establishing new branch of the school will be the immediate solution to the problem.

As Gulf News reported on April 4, 2010, ADIS management had requested the permission from Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) to open a new branch. The council had confirmed that it was considering the request, as part of its strategy to encourage building more non-profit sharing Indian schools to address the shortage of seats.

At a press conference at the school on Tuesday evening, Shetty said the management is still waiting for the land from the council to start the construction of the school. He said that he had learnt from ADEC that about 12,000 more seats had to be created to address the shortage of seats in Indian schools in the capital.

"So that we are planning to build a news school to accommodate about 5,000 schools," he said.

Shetty said Indian Community Kindergarten (ICK) owned by him has also sought the permission to build a non-profit sharing school up to grade 12, so that both the schools can take most of the 12,000 pupils who will be seeking admission in the coming years.

As Gulf News reported the crisis erupted following an ADEC decision to close down schools being run in villas by 2013, citing lack of educational, environmental, health and safety standards.

Explaining the hundred percent results achieved by the students in recent CBSE examinations, Shetty and V.K. Mathu, the school principal, said ADIS management would be able to build a new school with the same academic excellence.

Shetty revealed that ADEC has promised the land on a nominal rent for the new school. "It would be probably near Mussffah or Mohammad Bin Zayed City,".

"Once the land is given, we can start the construction next day, as we have enough funds, so that it can start functioning next academic year [2012-2013]" he said.

ADEC has not yet officially confirmed the quantum of shortage in Indian schools in the capital. ADEC and DoT officials were not available for comments on Wednesday.

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Poetry library and research centre opened

Dubai: The Emirati classical Arabic and Nabati poetry library and research centre was inaugurated at the Juma Al Majid Centre for Culture and Heritage Saturday.

There are 800 titles in the library that goes by the name Bait Al Qaseed, or the house of poetry.

Juma Al Majid, Chairman of the Juma Al Majid Centre for Culture and Heritage, opened the library along with Sultan Bin Saqr Al Suwaidi, Federal National Council member and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Culture and Scientific Association, and Saeed Al Nabouda, CEO of Dubai Culture.

Exhibition

Al Majid and his guests also visited the Palm library that was opened recently which includes more than 100 studies related to palm trees.

An exhibition titled ‘Poets on the mail wing', was also opened by Al Majid, which was prepared in cooperation with the Emirates Association of Stamp Collectors and the Al Sarkal Cultural Establishment.

The stamp collection included seven prominent Emirati poets such as Al Majidi Bin Daher, Rashid Al Khudur, Rashid Bin Tannaf, Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais, Salim Bin Ali Al Owais and Hamad Bu Shihab.

The guests were briefed about the poets and their stamps by Shaikha Al Mutairi, head of the heritage section in the centre.

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Passenger's death delays flight from Dubai to Damascus

Abu Dhabi: A man's death on Emirates airline flight EK 913 to Damascus that was scheduled to depart from Dubai International Airport Tuesday afternoon caused the flight's delay, Emirates airline confirmed in a statement to Gulf News on Tuesday.

"Emirates confirms that a 66-year-old male passenger passed away after suffering a suspected cardiac arrest shortly before EK 913 departed from Dubai to Damascus," a spokesperson for the airline said. 

The passenger, who was of Syrian origin and whose name was not revealed by the airline, received emergency medical attention on board but died on the spot. 

"Emirates offers its condolences to the passenger's family and friends," the spokesperson added.  He also confirmed that Tuesday's flight EK 913 "departed (from Dubai International Airport) after a short delay at 5:45pm."

After the incident, the rest of the passengers on the three-and-a-half hour flight to the Syrian capital had to disembark and wait at Dubai International Airport's Terminal 3, according to K.W., a 33-year-old Syrian housewife on the flight.

"It was really sad what happened on the flight. The man, who appeared to be in his late 60s, was obviously experiencing some discomfort when the plane was taxiing on the runway before takeoff.

Call for help

"His wife called the crew for help and the plane was stopped to allow medics in. They carried him from the Economy to Business class of the plane and afterwards I heard one medic say the gentleman had no pulse," K.W. said.

"Although we received no official confirmation from the airline, most of the passengers were of the opinion that he died instantly," she added.

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Graduates in work versus further studies dilemma

Dubai: Mona Arif, an international studies major at the American University of Sharjah (AUS) who is graduating this year, is facing a tough decision. As her college years come to an end, Arif must decide: should she continue with her education and pursue a master's degree, or should she get a job and join the workforce?

Like many other students, she is uncertain.

"I've gone through periods of being convinced that I should do a master's straight away. At other times… I decide to take a year off and get some [work] experience," she said.

But while some like Arif are still busy weighing the pros and cons of each choice, for others, the decision comes more easily.

Ravza Altuntas Cakir graduated from AUS last term with a bachelor's degree in international studies. Now she lives in Sharjah with her husband, studying Arabic while preparing to leave for the United Kingdom to attend graduate school.

Pros and cons

Although she considered working in Dubai before continuing her studies, she found that there were few jobs available, especially in the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis.

That is not the only reason behind her decision. In today's increasingly competitive job market, Cakir feels that an undergraduate degree simply will not give her the kind of opportunities she's looking for.

"A master's degree is a must for our generation," she asserts. She quotes her uncle, a business adviser in Turkey, as saying that employers today are asking not only for a graduate degree but for proficiency in foreign languages as well.

But does a master's degree really pay off? Some, such as Huzaifa Haidar, do not think so. Haidar recently graduated from the University of Wollongong in Dubai with a bachelor's in commerce and is currently looking for a job.

He said he has no intention of pursuing a master's degree. Instead, he wants to apply for a British accounting certification programme, which he says will give him an edge a master's degree will not when applying for a job later.

Master's not worth it

A master's degree is simply not "worth the money or time", Haidar says. "So many [cousins] are doing MBAs and master's and are still jobless."

He may be on to something. According to Liz Weston, a personal finance columnist, in a New York Times "Room for Debate" article, published in 2009, Weston wrote that a master's degree's costs tend to outweigh its benefits, especially in the liberal arts and social sciences. In other words, it costs most people more money to get the degree than is made up for through the salaries of careers in those fields. Weston noted that while there are many factors to consider besides the cost, the financial investment involved is certainly enough to make a person pause.

Money is not the only sacrifice graduate students may have to make. Dr Stephen Keck, Head of the Department of International Studies at AUS, said that going to graduate school can involve more sacrifices than some students realise. It requires a significant amount of time during which students may have to put off other plans, such as getting married or starting a family. If students are planning to travel abroad, they will be separated from family and friends during their years of study.

Once they finally hold their graduate diploma, students may find that their sacrifices will not immediately pay off. Keck points out that as graduate degrees become more and more common, they are not "a magic wand that will open doors with great riches behind them". In fact, a master's cannot even guarantee a job, he says.

It may make more sense for students, both personally and financially, to get a job on graduation, even if it is not exactly what they're looking for.

"The safe thing is always to get the job," Keck says. Students who have work experience will do better in graduate school because they have had the chance to develop professional skills, he said.

Taking a few years off from education to get some work experience not only gives students the chance to earn their tuition fees, he said, it also allows them to relax and really think about what it is they want to do in their careers.

More credible

David Van Over, dean of the School of Business at the American University in Dubai, agrees, pointing out that some MBA programmes, including the one at AUD, require two years work experience. He also says that such experience makes it easier for students to understand concepts taught in master's programmes.

However, Van Over points out that in many jobs, "bachelor's degrees are the equivalent of a high school diploma 20 or 30 years ago".

A graduate degree helps job applicants stand out, he said. Keck agrees, saying that not only do graduate degrees help students look more credible in front of potential employers, they also help students throughout their careers. A master's degree is something "[that] will continue to pay off as the skills you learned in graduate school are useful to the organisation that hires you," he says.

Van Over says that the decision to pursue a graduate degree "depends on what your job aspirations are".

This is especially true for Rana Abdul Fatah, who will be attending her senior year at York University in Canada in the fall. Rana said she wants to pursue a master's in communications so she can avoid an entry-level job on graduation.

Rana has done an internship and volunteer work in public relations, and says she is given administrative jobs she does not enjoy. The degree she plans to purse is one with practical applications, with the added advantage of being a one-year programme, and will give her a "competitive edge in the corporate world", she said. But Keck also points out that the decision to go to graduate school is a personal one, and many factors are involved in the decision.

For Mona, who is preparing an application to a Middle Eastern studies graduate programme, motivation to pursue graduate studies comes from wanting to be part of the changes currently occurring in Egypt. Cakir looks forward to using her master's degree, also in Middle Eastern studies, in working with the Organisation of Islamic Conference in their Istanbul office. For them, the decision is made.

Of course, they could always change their mind.

— The writer is a student at the Amerian University of Sharjah

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Reaching out to African students

Dubai: An old Arabic proverb says if you educate a woman, you educate an entire nation. It is a saying the Al Maktoum Foundation has taken as a fundamental principle for its work.

Over the years the foundation has built, and operates, nearly 40 schools in Africa. It is at one of these schools tucked away in a rural town in Kenya that a small group of Emirati students from Zayed University (ZU) found their calling.

Fatima Al Sayegh, Khadija Al Abbas and Arwa Al Mazroui's lives changed when their capstone graduation project landed them at a girl's school in the Kenyan town of Kajiado. Their project is Al Bedayah (Arabic for ‘the beginning') and the idea is to promote self-learning through the social media.

Their proposal was to create a website to essentially be a social media portal for self-education, on which they would tutor students in Africa. Their idea was such a hit they received the sponsorship and backing of the Al Maktoum Foundation, which exists under the patronage of Shaikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance.

"The notion that students here in the UAE would help other students in Africa learn about social media was a powerful proposition," said project supervisor, Dr Badran Badra, Professor of Communication and Media Sciences at ZU. "However, I wasn't totally surprised to see an idea like Al Bedaya because of the UAE's strong tradition of helping other nations."

Tapping the global village

He added it was therefore not unusual to see Emirate students looking to other countries and societies to extend their humanitarian work.

Al Bedaya is a website that incorporates different free online tools such as Google and Wikipedia, with the aim of promoting self-education. However, the idea stemmed from the students' own learning experience at university. "As university students, we believe most of the knowledge we've retained through the years is information we sought out on our own through our investigative research," said Fatima. "We therefore believe self-education is the best kind and as the saying goes: a formal education will make you a living, but self-education will make you a fortune."

The website www.al-bedaya.org is split into three parts: lessons, research and fun. During their eight-day trip to Kenya the ZU students tutored over 40 female students. The students learned how to access free education web tools such as BBC Learning in order to quench their thirst for knowledge.

"The website essentially teaches how to use Google and social networking sites because of the vast amounts of news we get on Twitter for example," said Fatima. "The tutorial includes blogs and sites like YouTube and most useful Web2.0 user-generated interaction sites to bring the global village to the tip of the students' fingers."

Changing perspectives

Mohammad Bin Ganem, Secretary General of the Al Maktoum Foundation, said an initiative like Al Bedaya has a reciprocal benefit for both sets of students.

"It is important for our country's young women to know other civilisations around them and see how they suffer and struggle to survive," said Bin Ganem. "In our country, the UAE, the youth take everything for granted and therefore if they see the realities of life in other nations their perspectives will change."

Fatima affirms Bin Ganem's opinion as the recent public relations and advertising graduate believes she has found her calling in Al Bedaya. "I never thought my capstone project would be what I'd want to do for a living but it is," she said. "It's not something I expect to find a profit from because it's more personal, but right now we are exhausting all our efforts to keep Al Bedaya alive."

The recent ZU graduates are in talks with the Al Maktoum Foundation to continue the project in more of the foundation's African schools. This initiative not only educates African students to equip them for the development of their nations but to serve as an example for African women.

"When we asked some of the girls if they think they can have an impact on their society they weren't very positive; because in their culture a woman's place is in the kitchen," said Fatima.

"[But] as Emirati women we were an example to them because years ago, in a culture with similar views as theirs; no one would have thought we'd now see women taking up active and powerful roles in our society."

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EPIC Expo: Pass the parcel

Dubai: With summer vacations round the corner, a top official of Dubai Police has warned the public not to accept packages from strangers when travelling in and out of the country.

"It is dangerous to accept packages from strangers," said Major Mohammad Salim Al Muhairi, Head of Awareness, Crime Section of Dubai Police, during EPIC Dubai, a sustainable living expo that was launched at the Dubai Mall on Wednesday.

Pointing to a list of guidelines prepared by the General Department of Airport Security and the General Department of Communication for airline passengers, he said residents should not give in to requests to carry packages as they "might be used as a crossing bridge for smuggling illegal or dangerous materials".

Major Al Muhairi, who drew attention to a number of other issues concerning public safety, said the EPIC or ‘Eco-Wise Progressive Intelligent Consumer' Expo gave government departments another platform to create awareness.

Among the other public departments present were the Dubai Municipality, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and the Roads and Transport Authority.

The Dubai Municipality, which sought to create awareness about cosmetics that have been banned in the market, displayed some of these items.

They included: Gold Ginseng Soup, Elmore Crème Bleach, DAX Wave & Groom Hair Cream, DR Brightening Cream, Latif Eyeliner, Zeniac Dermo Purifying Lotion, a Chinese cream which had no Arabic or English markings and Vera Vamp Body Cream (banned for its obscene packaging).

The pest control section of the municipality educated the public on how they could protect themselves from mosquitoes and other pests.

EPIC Expo also introduced a host of eco-friendly products for consumers.

Stealing the show was a set of six solar cars built by the Dubai-based Lootah Technical Centre.

"These cars are in the R&D stage but they are a predecessor to improved versions that will eventually go into mass production," said Denis Lefrancois, General Manager, Sustainable Media Group, on behalf of the Lootahs, as two of the cars made a grand entry at the Grand Atrium.

Inside the mall, a kiosk with degradable clothing stood out.

"We've used 100 plastic bottles to make a pair of shorts and three to make a T-shirt," said Kris Barber, director of Degrade, the UK company behind the Dirtball brand.

"The plastic bottles are washed, crushed and chopped into chips. They are then melted and converted into fibre which is knitted on its own as 100 per cent polyester or blended with cotton."

Each T-shirt sold for Dh130.

Also present were electronics brands like Philips which, among other things promoted a 42-inch Green TV made of recycled aluminium. It comes with a solar rechargeable remote and is priced at Dh5,200.

Nokia also promoted its eco-friendly mobile phones like the E6-00, E7-00 and N8-00.

"We save up to 80 per cent of energy using our eco-friendly chargers," said Tala Wazzan, a sales representative.

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