Sharjah sets its sights on tomorrow: children and young people
The clock struck just after ten o'clock in the morning and the day, whether it was a Monday or a Thursday, gave us a significant image: the car park of the Sharjah Exhibition Centre full of yellow buses, which are the schoolchildren.
Coming from the numerous schools all over the emirate, the young and adolescent students participated and enjoyed the SIBF, the most important in the Arab publishing world, and which has been loaded with multiple activities for them, in addition to the specific exhibitors with works for children and young people, where, of course, comics could not be absent.
Educating for the future
Sharjah, one of the seven Arab Emirates, has become a point of reference in the cultural sphere, but also in education, a sector in which they are committed and in which they do not skimp on resources. The future will be better if those who shape it, that is, these generations of children and young people, are well trained and educated and have the necessary tools to strengthen their thinking and guide their professional lives. This is the philosophy they hold and practice.
To have a good future, you have to sow in this present, and in Sharjah the bet is clear: the more educated they are, the better off the country will be. For this reason, although this sector of the population has its own specific Book Festival, which is held every May, or the Film Festival in October, in this global event, organised by the Sharjah Book Authority under the patronage of its governor, His Highness Dr. Sultan bin Mohamed al-Qasimi, they also enjoyed their own space and their own programme with a multitude of workshops and activities. Learn and have fun. To learn and to be entertained.
Hundreds and hundreds of children in their uniforms, the hallmark of the school to which they belong, and accompanied by their teachers, filled the corridors and the different stands in the various pavilions with energy and joy. After an intense morning, the younger children, and not so young, did not hesitate to sit down on the floor to rest after the early start, the visit to the fair, the participation in some activities and the excitement... because tiredness is not incompatible with the illusion of a different day away from the classroom.
Many teenagers in groups took their selfies and photographs in the Social Media. In this space, dedicated to social networks, influencers and experts talked about content, profile, language, design, animation and many other topics to make these social networks such as Instagram more attractive and better used. Many girls wore their Abayas, long black tunics, while the boys wore Kandouras, also down to their feet, but in white. In common, the interest in getting the most out of their mobiles.
Workshops for learning and fun
Inside the Exhibition Centre there was a separate area for children and young people up to the age of 17, with different spaces divided into numbered workshops to clearly distinguish the type of workshop being held in each one.
In these activities, sustainability, creativity, respect, imagination, good nutrition, sensitivity, recycling, reading, tradition and robotics became more than just words, they were the essential axes for transmitting values and important messages. The participants not only worked with their hands but also with their minds, they played while learning and reflected on the importance of the necessary actions to have a better world, to take care of it and to take better care of ourselves. A small grain of sand that will grow together.
In these workshops, open in the morning and afternoon, in addition to the hundreds of schoolchildren who arrived in the yellow buses, many children participated accompanied by their parents, who patiently waited for their children while, of course, they took photos of them with their mobile phones. For Sharjah, another of its great commitments is to the family.
Atalayar's camera also immortalised many of those moments, those enthusiastic children as they participated in these meetings. In one of the workshops, not only did they learn handicrafts by imitating a beehive that would become a cardboard box to store things, but they also learned why bees are so important for our environment and the role they play in pollination.
In another, the children created their own fridge magnets using polymer clay. After choosing three colours, and although the proposed theme was superheroes, each child was inspired by whatever they wanted to give free rein to their imagination.
Discovering all the possibilities offered by the art of voice was the focus of another of the workshops designed. Children and teenagers played with sounds and words while at the same time understanding the need to know how to express themselves, to get their feelings out.
Cooking also played a leading role, but from an educational and nutritional point of view, as it is important for children to learn to eat well and to differentiate between the healthiest foods. With their plastic aprons and healthy ingredients, the participants learned how to prepare different dishes. For example, in the kitchen corner, under the name ‘Little Emirati chef’, they learned about the typical dishes of the United Arab Emirates and prepared a good breakfast, Balaleet, which consists of noodles sweetened with sugar, cardamom and saffron, topped with egg.
Science and the humanities
And in this totally technological world, there were workshops on computer science, robotics, electricity, the development of sustainable applications... Once again, education and creativity went hand in hand and the participants who chose to enter the world of robotics were able to build and programme their own robot using the Spike Prime robotics set.
The children were also able to get into gardening while raising awareness of the importance of recycling. In another activity, using everyday materials such as paper bags, sticks and plastic straws, they designed a flower garden illuminated by LED bulbs, while in another, after painting them, they turned cans into beautiful flower pots.
Designing and making bracelets and other pieces of jewellery, sewing their own bags, learning to embroider, creating miniature books, turning disposable things into useful ones, playing with language and appreciating its value, approaching poetry, turning memories into beautiful stories, rescuing and getting to know traditions, such as, for example, the crafts of Morocco, a country that was the guest of honour at this 43rd edition of the SIBF, listening to stories, appreciating and approaching music... everything was possible at the SIBF.
Science and humanities, tradition and modernity have merged in this practical and interesting corner where the objective is more than achieved: to look towards tomorrow so that today children and young people can learn in a fun way.
