While going through my old emails in an attempt to declutter my inbox, I found an email I had sent to my students in The Craft course in November 2006. I have decided to print it out and keep it where I can always see it. It reminds me of the fire I had in my belly- the passion I have for writing in specific and for teaching the meaning of writing to my students. Back then I was new and at the beginning of my career and I was young and still struggling with matching my words with who I am to be. This is a reminder to me of what made me who I am today.

Have you ever heard the story about the evil sea monster that drowns ships and kills sailors? How about the story of the evil woman with the donkey feet? Or the story of the crazy monster that likes to eat small children and has palm leaves for hair? If you answered ‘no’ to all these questions then you’re probably not familiar with Qatari folktale.

But you should be.

If you’re Qatari, live in Qatar, plan on visiting, or even just have the teeniest interest in the country, you should know its folktale because they not only tell a lot about Qatar’s culture and heritage, but they also offer a unique knowledge of its precious history. A folktale, according to the Oxford English Dictionary definition, is “a story that originated in popular culture, typically passed on by word of mouth.” It is the unwritten tale that was passed from one generation to another, from elders to children, and contains knowledge about the culture’s storytelling traditions. Qatari folktales transmit cultural understanding, beliefs, morals and values. They are important to know – now more than ever – because they are beginning to disappear from the Qatari society, especially with the rapid changes in lifestyles the society is experiencing in these last several years.

In typical Qatari culture, there are many stories that include different mythical characters that were told by the older generations. Unfortunately, these stories have been forgotten and have disappeared from our lives, possibly forever. However, some stories that were adapted and mentioned in plays, movies, and television shows remain, and are probably the only stories today’s generation are familiar with.

The first popular Qatari folktale is the story of Bu Daryah. The story of Bu Daryah is not only present in Qatari folklore, but also in the Emirati, Kuwaiti, and Bahraini folklore as well, due to the countries’ close proximity and shared traditions and beliefs. There are many different versions of the same story, but the end result is usually the same in all of them. Bu Daryah is believed to be a monster. Some believe him to be a Jinni, and he is considered to be the father of the sea. The word Daryah is Farsi in origin and it means ‘The Sea.’ The word Bu, shortened from the word ‘Abu,’ means ‘Father’ in Arabic, therefore Bu Daryah directly translates to ‘Father Of The Sea.’

The story of Bu Daryah is one of fright and terror for the people who used to live by the coast in Qatar, especially for sailors, fishermen and pearl divers. In one version of the story, Bu Daryah sneaks into the ships at night, precisely between Isha[1] and Fajir[2] prayer times, and kidnaps fishermen and sailors while they’re sleeping. Once he kidnaps a sailor, he destroys and devours him savagely and then sinks the ship along with every soul onboard. Due to this mythical creature, sailors and fishermen assigned two or three sailors to patrol the ship at night with swords and hammers, so that if Bu Daryah came, he would see them prepared and would run off (Usually without showing his features because he would always come in complete darkness – although the folktale asserts him to be a strong man with a huge body.) Another version has Bu Daryah pretending to be drowning in the sea while calling to the sailors for help and rescue. If the sailors rescue him and bring him onboard, he would steal their food and supplies, then destroy and sink the ship. To protect themselves, the sailors would commonly read verses from the Quran and recite prayers to keep the evil sea monster away from their ships, before going on their long trips.

While the story is of Persian origin, the people of Qatar and neighboring countries adopted it and told it over the decades when men depended on fishing and pearl diving to earn a living. Women purposefully kept retelling the stories to their children, in hopes of keeping them away from ever going to sea or pursuing the dangerous job of pearl diving.

The second popular story is the story of Homarat Al Ghaylah. Like Bu Daryah, she is also believed to be a Jinni. Homar, in Arabic, means ‘Donkey,’ and Al Ghaylah means ‘noon’ or ‘noontime.’ Therefore the direct translation would be ‘The Noontime Donkey,’ or ‘The Donkey At Noon.’ Similar to Bu Daryah, Homarat Al Ghaylah is also an evil, terrifying character.

Homarat Al Ghaylah is believed to be a savage female animal of sorts. She has a human body, but instead of human legs she has those belonging to a donkey. In some versions, she has the body of a human, the legs of a cow, and the face and feet of a donkey. She is also known as Om Homar in some other countries around the Gulf countries. The story of this character is basically that she hunts and eats young children for lunch and she only appears at noontime, when typically the streets are quiet, empty, and deserted.

This story reflects a lot about the cultural history of Qatar in the old times – that is, in Qatar standards, four to six decades ago. In the pearl diving, mud houses era, kidnappings of women and children were common, so grandmothers and parents invented the story of Homarat Al Ghaylah to keep their children inside their homes at noontime when the streets were considered dangerous and empty. It was also to protect them from the dangerous heat of the sun. This mythical creature terrified the children of that era, and her story remains etched in their brains till this day.

A third story in Qatari folktales is the story of Om Al Sa’af Wil Leef. This story is perhaps the least known story of the three, but the name, ‘Om Al Sa’af Wil Leef,’ is used in Qatari society more often than others. It is used as an adjective to describe an ugly person, usually a girl. Typically, Om Al Sa’af Wil Leef is an ugly faced woman with palm leaves or fronds for hair. She is scary, unattractive, and likes to eat young children.  Similar to Homarat Al Ghaylah, grandmothers have fabricated this story to protect their grandchildren from going outside in windy and rainy weather. While shaking palm leaves indicating the scary woman’s presence is the only specific detail known about the story, the rest has been forgotten but Om Al Sa’af Wil Leef remains one of the more popular characters in Qatari folktale.

It is not hard to see that most Qatari folktales were geared mainly towards children; they have magical elements with creative animal characters and a purpose to the stories. Whether its Bu Daryah, Om Al Sa’af Wil Leef, or Homarat Al Ghaylah, all three stories have the same lesson to teach; that is you should stay at home where you’re better protected and safe. This tells you a lot about the Qatari culture, its beliefs, and the mentality of people during the old days where life was much more difficult. So folktales are an important part in understanding people’s valuable histories and rich cultures.

Resources:

1. Um Khalaf. Interview by Sara Ibrahim Al-Khalfan. Tape recording interview. May 2010.
2. Al-Saied, Khalifa. Interview by Sara Ibrahim Al-Khalfan. Tape recording interview. 13 May 2010.
3. Al Nasser, Ali Bin Shadad. Of our Qatari heritage. Doha: Akath Islamic Bookstore, 2005. Print.
4. Simpson, J. A., and E. S. C. Weiner. The Oxford English dictionary. 2nd ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989. Print.

An interview in Arabic on QF Radio about my new book: Arab Women in Arab News: Old Stereotypes and New Media.

YouTube link: QF Radio Interview with Dr. Amal Al-Malki

• Why would you choose here over there? Who would leave the blue skies, the warmth and light, the sounds and smells to come here, where it’s suffocating and silent!

• It has changed:

You wouldn’t know the difference between dawn and sunset anymore.  

The grass has turned red from the blood it devoured; it has reached the length of men. The dead has been sharing our spaces.  Corpses lie on the streets of every corner of our world, while souls are flouting around them stuck and lost and calling for someone to respect the dead- but no one hears them.

The light has been seeping through the black clouds, hurting the clouds and our eyes.  The skies are no longer blue; they reflect the colors of people’s hearts and thus doubled the darkness we live in.  

The only sounds we hear have become the sirens of ambulances and the clichéd journalistic formulas announcing our deaths on hourly basis and calling us traitors.

Please I’m scared and would want to stay here. It is dark and it is silent and above all it is safe here.

• It is not your time. Your place is reserved here, but it’s not your time yet! It won’t be long though! Watch out for the next raid, it could come from the ground or the air; but it will come from the people whose blood runs in your veins and whose features can be seen in yours.

                 I am child from Syria. I’m a child from Yemen.

I was a guest speaker at al-Bayan high school graduation in June. It was an invitation that I couldn’t turn down, especially that after I spoke at Rota and judged Injaz, I was approached by school students and I got to know them and they got to know me. It was flattering to have been asked to speak at the students’ graduation as a role model. My speech which I wrote in English and then translated into Arabic was a personal narrative, in which I stood on the main challenges that I faced in life and education. I choose today to share this speech- in its both English and Arabic versions- with all of you.

Principal of Al Bayan Educational complex for Girls,

Proud parents and teachers,

Celebrating and celebrated graduates:

I would like to thank you for this precious invitation and for giving me the chance to share this special day with you. We held our own graduation party in Carnegie Mellon University last month and I know how it feels to celebrate the success of a class that you have nurtured and put every effort in helping them reach this milestone. I know how every teacher and every member who worked with the students feel; their pride and overwhelming joy, their anticipation and hope that they have equipped the students with what they’ll need in their next steps in life.

I’m here today, because of the great reputation that Al-Bayan has among the  educational institutions; because your graduates that have joined the Education City and Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar are some of the best students that we admit; and because I personally found these students to be exceptionally bright, capable of expressing themselves eloquently and able to think critically.

I’m especially excited in being here today to share this special occasion with the graduates, Congratulations dear students, dear sisters.

I’d like to share with all of you today my success story that is still in the writing, hoping that you extract from it some meanings that you can apply when you embark upon your own path of success.

I come from a generation that had limited ambitions, our dreams reflected our reality. It was a reality that wasn’t totally open for women; there were many doors shut and many paths forbidden and many dreams off limit. But I had a dream- a burning one- to study abroad. I dreamt of it since I was very young. I saw myself in a life in which I was in total control; in which I walked or drove to college instead of being dropped and picked up; in which I spoke for myself and voiced my thoughts and beliefs instead of having others speak on my behalf; in which I was confident and qualified to work beside men and gain the same respect that men do instead of shying away and playing down my abilities so not to stand out and be marked as different.

I dreamt of the degree as well as the life experience I would gain. I saw myself playing different roles, all of which were unconventional and not so common back then. I wanted to be a journalist, a novelist, a lawyer, a diplomat, among other professions that involved breaking some traditional conventions and expectations.

In high school I started negotiating with my parents. I skipped a grade and finished high school in only two years. I assured them that I can get the highest marks and make them very proud if they promised to send me to study in London. Their answer was a definite “NO.”  It wasn’t yet acceptable for a Qatari female at the tender age of 16 to study abroad without her father or brother! Although it felt like an unrecoverable disappointment, four years later after graduating from Qatar University with a bachelor degree in English and Education, my family sent me with my sister, who had just finished high school, to obtain my master’s degree from London. For them it made more sense that the two of us will be together, besides the fact that in the four years that had passed female high school graduates were offered scholarships to study abroad marking a new era in the history of Qatar.

My dream was four years overdue- but I did go to London and get my master’s degree from the University of London in Applied Linguistics and Translation. This taught me a valuable lesson and that is not to give up on my dreams. Also it taught me that I had to pick my battles, and education is a battle that is worth fighting. Also, I learnt that to be taken seriously I had to act in a mature manner; I had to formulate a logical argument for my case to earn approval and respect. There was also the need to compromise and be patient until the right time comes.

The master’s degree was a one year taught program. I didn’t feel satisfied, and it left me with an eagerness to learn more. So with the blessings of my parents I applied for a PhD when I was only 21 years old. The challenge I faced then was to convince my professors that I am mature enough to complete the degree, as being that young didn’t help as well as being a female from the Gulf. I was also inexperienced to decide on a topic to research and commit to for four years. The first topic I chose was “Arab Image in the American Press” but it took me a year to discover that the research was unattainable without travelling to the States, so I changed the topic to “Tradition and Modernity in Post-Colonial Novels.” This meant that I had to start all over again, which I did. What I felt was a waste of time back then, I see today as gaining experience through exploring different options.

I spent most of my twenties studying; some people tried to put me down for not choosing other conventional paths. While some of my contemporaries started their own families and had children, others established their careers, I chose the hard way. I chose to break the norm and do something different.

When I graduated, I was the youngest PhD holder in Qatar. But that was only the beginning of my journey. I had the knowledge, but didn’t know how to utilize it. I looked around me trying to discover the new Doha I came back to; a city that is more welcoming to females’ participation; a city that has an emerging population of working Qatari women overcoming traditional barriers and entering new fields. There was also a new educational reform that has translated into the establishment of Education City and the opening of branches of some of the most renowned American universities. I wanted to join Carnegie Mellon University and be a part of this reform. However, I was told that it was impossible to do so.

The mother campus of each university, I was told, controlled the hiring of faculty members; and that without a direct affiliation with the mother campus your chances were nil. I didn’t give up; I thought there should be a way around it and there was. I thought if I taught in Pittsburgh first, then I can be hired through the main campus; to do that I had to impress lots of people both in Doha and Pittsburgh. The head of the English department in Pittsburgh still cites me when I said: “I will do whatever it takes” and whatever it takes was to travel to Pittsburgh, teach at the mother campus for 6 months in minus 12 degrees weather with no guarantees to be recruited to teach in Qatar campus. Six month later I was hired as a visiting assistant professor of English in Qatar campus, making me the first Qatari professor in the whole Education City. These six months were hard, challenging in so many ways, but were the most fulfilling as well. I made it on my own. And today and after six years of teaching in Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, I am still the only Qatari faculty.

At the beginning of my career I had to face two sets of challenges- both were equally hard. One the one hand, I am a Qatari, western educated, and communicating mainly in English. The media exposure at the beginning of my teaching career in 2005 was frowned upon by the same people who were against co-educational institutions. The perception of me being western and modern has created a great deal of curiosity over my work and writings, leading to lots of praise and lots criticism. It is a price however that I am willingly paying.

On the other hand, I had to face a new kind of challenge just because I am Qatari!! Working in a multicultural institution is enriching in so many levels. Still it is in such multicultural settings that stereotypes and misconceptions come to the surface and interrupt healthy interactions. Some expats come with a preconceived notion of who an Arab and a Muslim is, and 9/11 certainly made it worse. I have come to discover that there is a myth created about the lazy Qatari and that lots of the people around me subscribe to it. The myth includes Qataris being filthy rich, paid monthly stipends by the government, and not needing to work, and the list goes on. Qatari women are a part of a bigger and older western rhetoric and that is the “oppressed Muslim women,” who are passive and voiceless.

So I have made it my job to expose all of these stereotypes and debunk them. I begin with the younger generation as there is more hope in them. I teach students about their own identities through writing and reading, instead of listening to people from the outsides telling them who we are or should be. I teach them how to express themselves in writing and be assertive and creative and discover their own voices and hence abilities.

Six years later, I’ve become one of Qatar Foundation’s achievers, a member of national and international committees and have edited a book and authored a second book that will come out in five months and will be distributed in the Middle East, Europe and the States.

Now, remember heroes are defined as such for their actions and role models are called such because of the impact they have on others’ lives. Therefore, always learn from the experience not the individual. We all might have the same admirable traits, characteristics, and dreams, but actions are what really count.

Each one of us is capable of doing great things in life and becoming a hero- an achiever. We are going through a transitional phase in our history. Regionally history is being written by the youth. The generation that has been doubted and wasn’t given a chance to prove itself has spoken. The younger generation who mingled between two languages and were criticized for that, who created and opted for different forms of social interaction, using social media, utilized their long spent hours on the net when all sort of interactions were blocked. They faced every single criticism and turned it into a success story. They used English and social media to communicate with the outside world transferring what was happening locally globally through an international medium that guaranteed a sympathetic audience. 2011 will always be referred to as the year of revolutions, the revolutions of the youth, who managed to write a new chapter in not just their nation’s history but the world’s history. They will be for centuries to come an inspiration to all youth around the world.

In Qatar, things are changing to the benefit of the younger generation and the women. The era of reform that Qatar is going through has brought reform to women in all aspects of life. Women have benefited from the educational reform, economic reform as well as social reform. Governmental bodies have been established to ensure that women are equal beneficiaries. Although women in Qatar enjoy a larger space of freedom than other women in other countries or than women of my generation, we could still do much better. And this is where each one of you can contribute. Each one of us could make history through hard work and devotion.  Each one of us should be educated about her civic responsibilities and her rights under the law and in Islam and contribute in making this country greater. This should be our collective duty, and we can work individually on achieving this by being the best we can be in our fields of study, careers or at home raising the future generation.

Remember education is the only guaranteed winning battle. Education is a continuous process, and I remain eager to learn more and seek knowledge in different areas and in different corners of the world.

Thank you so much for having me, and I hope to have you soon as my students in Education City.

الأستاذة الفاضلة مديرة مجمع البيان التربوي للبنات

أيتها الأمهات والمعلمات، الفخورات بتخرج بناتهن،

أيتها المتخرجات

السلام عليكم جميعا

أولا وقبل كل شيء،  أود أن أشكركم على هذه الدعوة الكريمة وعلى إعطائي الفرصة لمشاركتكم فرحة هذا اليوم المتميّز، لقد حضرتُ قبل شهرحفل تخرّج طلابنا في جامعة كارنيجي ميلون، وأعرف تماما الشعور الذي ينتابنا ونحن نحتفل بالنجاح، خصوصا ذلك الشعور الذي ينتاب الأساتذة الذين بذلوا كل الجهود لمساعدة الطلاب على تحقيق هذا التتويج.

وأدرك جيدا ذلك الشعور بالغبطة والفرح الذي يعمّ المشرفين على الطالبات، كيف لا؟ وهم يتمنون أن تتحقق أمانيهم وتطلعاتهم في الخرّيجين الذين أمدوهم بكل ما سيساعدهم في رسم خطواتهم المقبلة في الحياة.

أتواجد بينكم اليوم ، وأنا مدركة تماما السمعة الطيبة والكبيرة التي تتمتع بها ثانوية البيان، لدى مختلف المؤسسات التعليمية والجامعات، لأن الطلبة الذين تخرجوا من هذه المؤسسة وانضموا إلى المدينة التعليمية وإلى جامعة كارنيجي ميلون في قطر، يُعتبرون من أفضل الطلاب، ولقد وجدتُ هؤلاء الطلاب، أذكياء بشكل استثنائي، ويملكون قدرة هائلة على التعبير عن أنفسهم ببلاغة عالية  كما أنهم يتميزون بالقدرة على التفكير بشكل نقدي. إن فرحتي كبيرة بوجودي بينكم اليوم، لمشاركتكم  هذه المناسبة الخاصة، فألف مبروك ، أخواتي الخرّيجات .

أود أن أشارككم اليوم قصة نجاحي التي لا أزال بصدد نسْجها، على أمل أن تجدوا فيها  ما يساعدكم ويحفزكم على رسم قصص النجاح في مشواركم العلمي و العملي.

أنتمي إلى جيل، طموحاته محدودة، والأحلام دائما ما تعكس واقعنا، ذلك الواقع الذي لم يكن منفتحا أبدا اتجاه المرأة، أبوابُ كثيرة كانت مُغلقة، ومناطقُ عديدة كانت الخطوات فيها مُحرّمة، حتى أحلامنا كانت محدودة. لقد كان لدي حلم، حلمٌ كان يُعتبر غريبا،  كنت أحلم بالدراسة في الخارج. حلمٌ راودني منذ أن كنت طفلة صغيرة. لقد رأيت نفسي، أعيش حياةً أسيْطر على تفاصيلها بالكامل ؛ حياةٌ أمشي فيها أو أقود فيها سيارتي إلى الجامعة، بدلَ أن يُؤتى بي، أو يوصلني رجلٌ، سائقا كان أو قريبا. حياةٌ أتحدث فيها عن نفسي وأُعبّر عن أفكاري و قناعتي بدل أن يعبّر الآخرون نيابة عني، حياةٌ أكون فيها مؤهلة واثقة من نفسي وأعمل جنبا إلى جنب مع الرجل، وألقى نفس الاحترام الذي يلقاه الرجال بدل أن أقلَّل من قدرات نفسي كي لا أعامَل وكأنني كائنٌ مختلف.

حلمت بالحصول على مؤهل جامعي، وبخبرة معقولة في هذه الحياة، . رأيت نفسي أقوم بأدوار مختلفة ، أدوار لم تكن مألوفة في ذلك الوقت،  أردت أن أكون صحافية ، روائية ، محامية ، دبلوماسية ، وأقتحم مهنَ أخرى وأكْسر  بعض التقاليد . في المرحلة الثانوية ، بدأت أتفاوض مع والديّ. تخطّيتُ صفا  في الثانوية التي أنهيتها في عامين فقط. أكدت لهما بأنني يمكنني الحصول على أعلى الدرجات ، وسأجعلهما فخوريْن بي إذا ما وعداني بإرسالي للدراسة في لندن. وكان جوابهما قاطعا… “لا”. لم يكن مقبولا في ذلك الوقت أن تسافر أي بنت في قطر وخاصة في سن السادسة عشر، للدراسة في الخارج من دون والدها أو شقيقها!

على الرغم من أن الأمر بدا وكأنه خيبة أمل كبيرة،  إلا أنه وبعد أربع سنوات وعقب تخرجي من جامعة قطر ، وحصولي على درجة البكالوريوس في اللغة الإنجليزية والتربية، قامت عائلتي بإرسالي إلى لندن مع شقيقتي التي انتهت لتوها من الثانوية ، للحصول على درجة الماجستير. بالنسبة لهم، كانا يفكران بأن  الأمر سيكون مقبولا إذا كنتُ أنا وشقيقتي معا، بالإضافة إلى أنه  في السنوات الأربع التي سبقت سفري إلى لندن، كانت خريجات ​​الثانوية يحصلن عل منح  للدراسة في الخارج،  ما مثّل عهدا جديدا في تاريخ قطر.

لقد أخذ مني تحقيق هذا الحلم أربعَ سنوات، لكنني تمكنت من السفر إلى لندن وحصلتُ على درجة الماجستير، من جامعة لندن في اللغويات التطبيقية والترجمة. وهذه الخبرة علمتني  درسا  قيّما ، تعلمتُ أنه لا يمكنني التخلي عن أحلامي. تعلمت أيضا أن أختار معاركي، والتعليم هو المعركة التي يجب القتال من أجلها. تعلمتُ أيضا، أنه لكي يهتم الناس بمطالبي، عليّ أن أتصرف بشكل ناضج ، وكان عليّ  تقديم  حجة منطقية لمطالبي  للحصول  على الموافقة وكسب الاحترام. وكانت هناك أيضا حاجة لتقديم تنازلات والتحلي بالصبر حتى يحين الوقت المناسب.

درجة الماجستير استغرقت مني عاما واحدا ، ولم أشعر بالأكتفاء حيث شعرت بالرغبة في تعلم المزيد. وبمباركة من والديّ تقدمتُ بطلب التسجيل لدرجة الدكتوراه وعمري لا يتجاوز واحدا وعشرين عاما. كان التحدي الأول الذي واجهني أنني سعيتُ لإقناع أساتذتي،  بأنني ناضجة بما يكفي للحصول على الشهادة، فلا السن ساعدني ولا كوني فتاة خليجية، كما كنتُ قليلة الخبرة لاتخاذ قرار بشأن موضوع للبحث والذي سألتزم به لمدة أربعة أعوام.

كان الموضوع الأول الذي اخترته، عن صورة العرب في الصحافة الأمريكية،  واستغرق مني الوقت عاما كاملا لأكتشف بأنه لا يمكنني إتمام البحث  من دون السفر إلى الولايات المتحدة ، فقررت تغيير الموضوع إلى اللأصالة والحداثة في روايات ما بعد الاستعمار، وهذا يعني أنه كان عليّ الانطلاق من جديد، وهذا ما قمت به. ما اعتبرتُه مضيعة للوقت في ذلك الحين ، اكتشفتُ فيما بعد بأنه جزء من اكتساب الخبرة من خلال دراسة الخيارات المختلفة.

قضيت معظم فترة العشرينات من عمري في مقاعد الدراسة ، بعض الناس حاول إحباطي، لأنني لم أسلك الطرق التقليدية السهلة، في حين أن بعضا من بنات جيلي، تزوجْنَ وأنجبْن، كما تقلد البعض الآخر وظائف مختلفة، أما عن نفسي فقد اخترتُ الطريق الأصعب. اخترت كسر القاعدة والقيام بشيء مختلف.

عندما تخرّجتُ، كنت أصغر حاملة دكتوراه في قطر. ولم يكن هذا، سوى بداية مسيرتي.  كنت أملك المعرفة ، لكنني لم أعرف كيفية تطبيقها،  نظرت من حولي مُحاولةً اكتشاف الدوحة الجديدة التي عدتُ إليها ، المدينة التي أصبحت ترحّب بدور أكبر للمرأة ؛ المدينة التي أصبحت تشهد انطلاق يد عاملة نسوية قوية تتخطى الحواجز التقليدية وتقتحم مجالات جديدة

كانت  هناك أيضا عملية إصلاح  تعليمية جديدة، تُوّجت بإنشاء المدينة التعليمية التي ضمت فروعا لبعض الجامعات الأمريكية الأشهر في العالم . كنت أرغب في الانضمام إلى جامعة كارنيجي ميلون التي تأسستْ في بيتسبرغ الأمريكية، ، لكي أكون جزءا من هذا الإصلاح.  لكن قيل لي آنذاك ..إنه من المستحيل أن أقوم بذلك . لقد قيل لي، إن الإدارة في الجامعة الأم ، هي التي تتكفل  بمهام توظيف أعضاء هيئة التدريس، وإنني لا أستطيع التدريس لأنني لم أتخرّج من الجامعة الأم ولم أُدرّس في تلك الجامعة!

لم أفقد الأمل، وآمنتُ بأنه لابد أن تتوفر حلول أخرى، قلت في نفسي لو فكرت في العمل في بيسبيرغ يمكن أن أنتقل إلى فرع الجامعة في قطر بداعي الإعارة، ولتحقيق هذه الفكرة كان علي أن أبرهن لكل الناس سواء هنا أو في بيتسبيرغ بأنني قادرة على هذا التحدي، .رئيس قسم اللغة الإنجليزية في بيتسبرغ،  ما يزال يردد تلك العبارة التي قلتها أمامه، : “سأقوم بكل ما يتطلبه الأمر” ، وكان كل ما يتطلبه الأمر هو  السفر إلى بيتسبرغ … كان عليّ التدريس في الجامعة الأم لفترة ستة أشهر، وكان ذلك في فصل الشتاء ، وفي درجة حرارة متدنية، تحت اثتني عشرة درجة تحت الصفر،  مع عدم وجود ضمانات بتعييني في فرع الجامعة بقطر.

بعد ستة أشهر وظفتني الجامعة، كأستاذة مساعدة  زائرة في قسم اللغة الإنجليزية، وكنتُ أول أستاذة قطرية تُدرّس في المدينة التعليمية بأكملها . لقد كانت الأشهر الستة صعبة جدا، واجهتُ خلالها  العديد من التحديات ، وكافحتُ خلالها بمفردي. والآن وبعد ستّ سنوات من التدريس في جامعة كارنيجي ميلون في قطر لا أزال الأستاذة القطرية الوحيدة في هيئة التدريس بالمدينة التعليمية.

اضطررت في بداية مسيرتي إلى مواجهة نوعين من أصعب التحديات ، إحداهما أنني امرأة قطرية، تعلمت في الغرب، أتواصل بالانجليزية في معظم الأحيان، وفي عام ألفين وخمسة حين بدأتُ مهنة التدريس، كنتُ محطَّ أنظار وسائل الإعلام المحلية،  وقد لاقيتُ هجوم من طرف نفس الأشخاص الذين عارضوا مشاركة المرأة في مسيرة التعليم، كما لاقت أعمالي وكتاباتي الكثير من الثناء ولاقتْ الكثيرمن النقد لكوني امرأة عصرية تعلمتْ في الغرب… إنه ثمن، أنا مستعدة لدفعه.

من ناحية أخرى ، كان عليّ أن أواجه نوعا جديدا من التحديات، لمجرد أنني قطرية! إن العمل في مؤسسة تتعدد ثقافاتها  هو بالتأكيد إثراء للمسار الشخصي على مستويات عديدة ولكنها أيضا أرض خصبة للتصادم الثقافي فالمفاهيم الخاطئة والصور النمطية التي يعتمد عليها الناس من شأنها أن تخلق مناخا غير صحي في أي تفاعل مع الآخر. بعض الغربيين تسيطر عليهم فكرة نمطية مسبقة عن هوية العربي والمسلم ، ولا شك في أن أحداث الحادي عشر من سبتمبر زادت في ترسيخ هذه الفكرة في الأذهان.

لقد اكتشفتُ أن هناك أسطورة تتحدث عن القطري والقطرية الكُسالى،  وأن الكثير من الناس من حولي يؤمنون بهذه الأسطورة، التي تقول أيضا إن القطري يتمتع بثراء فاحش. ويتقاضى منحا شهرية من الحكومة ، وإن القطريين ليسوا بحاجة إلى العمل ، إلى آخر مما نسج خيال الغربيين . المرأة القطرية بطبيعة الحال هي جزء من الأسطورة الغربية القديمة، امرأة مضطهدة وسلبية ولا تستطيع التعبير عن نفسها.

لقد أخذتُ على عاتقي مهمة تفكيك تلك الصور النمطية ومناقشتها ، وبدأت العمل مع جيل الشباب الذي يُؤمل منه الكثير، كنتُ دائما ما أركز في تدريسي الطلاب على هويتم التي تُميّزهم،  وذلك عن طريق الكتابة والقراءة ،بدل أن يحدّد لهم الأجانب هوياتهم  وما عليهم أن يفعلوه . كنتُ أعلّمهم كيف يعبرون عن أنفسهم عن طريق الكتابة والإبداع لاكتشاف ذاتهم.

بعد ستة أعوام ، تم اختياري واحدة من مبدعي مؤسسة قطر ، كما أصبحتُ عضوا في لجان محلية ودولية ، وقمت بنشر كتاب، وكتابي الثاني سيرى النور بعد خمسة  أشهر ، وسيتم توزيعه في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وأوروبا وأمريكا الشمالية .

الأبطال يُعرفون بأعمالهم ، ونعتبرهم قدوة، بسبب تأثيرهم القوي في حياة الآخرين. وهكذا فإنه يجب علينا أن نتعلم من الخبرات وليس من الأشخاص، قد نتقاسم سمات كثيرة وأحلاما كبيرا ، لكن العمل على الأرض هو الذي يُغيّر الواقع. فكل واحد منا قادر على تحقيق أشياء عظيمة في هذه الحياة ، ويمكنه أن يكون بطلا  ورائدا في الانجازات.

إننا نمر بمرحلة انتقالية في تاريخنا ، فالشباب يكتب التاريخ في هذه المنطقة . فالجيل الذي عانى من الإقصاء ، ولم تتوافر له الفرص لتحقيق طموحاته، قد قال كلمته،  والشباب الذي كان محل انتقاد لأنه يتحدث  لغتين، هاهو الآن يقود مختلف أنواع التفاعل الاجتماعي ، وذلك باستخدام وسائل التواصل مثل Facebook and Twitter، ، عندما سُدت كل المنافذ في وجهه، لقد  واجه الانتقادات وحوّلها إلى قصة نجاح. واستخدم اللغة الانجليزية ووسائل الإعلام  للتواصل مع العالم الخارجي ونقل ما يحدث على المستوى المحلي والدولي من خلال لغة عالمية تضمن جمهورا متعاطفا

سيكون دائما عام ألفين وأحد عشر، رمزا للثورات،  ثورات الشباب ، الذين نجحوا ليس في كتابة فصل جديد في تاريخ بلدهم بل في تاريخ العالم بأكمله. وسيكون هؤلاء الشباب على مدى قرون مصدر إلهام، للشباب في جميع أنحاء العالم.  إن الأمور تتغير في قطر لصالح الشباب ولصالح المرأة، إنه من أهم الإصلاحات التي تقوم بها دولة قطر هي تلك المتعلقة بالمرأة، وبجميع مناحي حياتها.

لقد استفادت المرأة  من الإصلاح التعليمي والاقتصادي ، فضلا عن الإصلاح الاجتماعي. وتعمل الهيئات الحكومية على ضمان أن المرأة تستفيد من حقوقها على قدم المساواة مع الرجل. وبالرغم من أن المرأة في قطر تتمتع بمساحة كبيرة من الحرية مقارنة بغيرها من النساء في بلدان أخرى أو من نساء جيلي ، إلا أنه يمكننا أن نحقق نتائج أفضل بكثير. وهنا يأتي دور كل واحدة منكن.

يمكن لكل واحدة منا أن تصنع التاريخ، وذلك من خلال العمل الجاد والتفاني. وعلى كل واحدة منا أن تعرف مسؤولياتها المدنية وحقوقها كامرأة في القانون والشريعة الأسلامية، لتسهم في تقدم وازدهار قطر.  ينبغي أن يكون هذا واجبنا كمجموعة، كما يمكننا العمل بشكل فردي على تحقيق ذلك،  من خلال التّميز  في تعليمنا و عملنا وطريقة تربيتنا لأولادنا.

 تذكري جيدا عزيزتي الخريجة أن التعيلم هو المعركة الوحيدة المضمونة العواقب. التعليّم هو عملية مستمرة ، وأنا لا زلتُ حريصة على معرفة المزيد والبحث عن المعرفة في مجالات مختلفة وفي كل زاوية من زوايا هذا العالم.

شكرا جزيلا لاستضافتي ، وآمل أن أستضيفكم قريبا  كطلابي في المدينة التعليمية.

This post was re-posted on DohaNews.com

When I was a kid, idea of being a superhero thrilled me. For some kids it was Batman or Spiderman; for me it was Superman. Setting aside that they’re all male figures, what struck me the most about Superman wasn’t only his sense of righteousness, bravery and strength, as much as it was his ability to fly. Without notice, without restraint, he’d take to the sky without a care in the world. For weeks, I wore my little Superman suit everywhere, feeling, living that same spirit of freedom I admired so much.

One morning, I wore my Superman suit to school. Stomping the playground with fists on my hips, I made my way to the classroom. For a few brief but wonderful moments, I was the superhero of my first grade class. My reign as a superhero was cut short by the evil Ms. Suhair.  She was the Kryptonite to my Superman. With one pass of her disapproval ray, in her syrupy sweet, super villain voice, she said, “tsk, tsk, tsk…Nofe, don’t you know that a proper Qatari girl can’t be Superman?”  The sense of power that came along with the suit immediately vanished.

She became one of the first of many voices who tried to define my role as a Qatari, Muslim woman.  Most often, it seemed, the messages were of things I could not do rather than of things that I could; jobs I could not hold, choices I could not make and travels I could not take. Superman’s boundless power and freedom would not be available to me. I had been born into a place and time where, for me, doors seemed to be closed rather than open. Years later, I understood why my teacher had forced me to take off my Superman costume; she believed that she was preparing me to put on another costume, my abaya.

My story of putting on the abaya inverts my story of taking off the Superman costume. This time instead of people telling me who I couldn’t be, people started to tell me who I had to be.

When I made the decision to wear the hijab, my tenth grade friends reminded me that it also meant I got to wear an abaya. Like most Qatari girls, for me wearing an abaya was a lot like wearing high heels. I was declaring to the world that I had grown up. That Thursday night, I followed my mother into the women’s majlis proudly wearing my matching sheila and abaya. I claimed my seat among the women for tea and grownup conversation. In the years that followed, those grownup conversations began to paint a picture of the life I might someday lead. In the stories I heard, societal expectations restricted Qatari women.

I started to learn that being a woman meant I couldn’t have an equal voice in society. What started out as a positive symbol of womanhood unfortunately began to change. It seemed as though wearing the abaya was synonymous with disappearing under it.  Let me be clear here.  I’m not talking about covering my hair; that was a decision I made as an expression of my faith. I’m talking about the abaya as a representation of the limitations placed on Qatari women.

As I have grown, so has my world. People throughout the region are asserting their presence, reclaiming their rights and demanding that their voices be heard. In my lifetime, Qatar and the women who guide her have undergone long-awaited changes. Women have emerged as leaders and role models. H.H. Sheikha Moza championed Education City—without her vision, we would not be here this evening.  H.E. Sheikha Mayassa, our keynote speaker, drives the philanthropic and arts initiatives in Qatar.  Hessa Al Jaber leads one of the most prominent organizations in Doha.  They, along with other Qatari women, have begun to change our path.

We don’t need to take off our abayas to make some startling proclamation of our liberation. We need to strip away the self-imposed and culturally imposed misconceptions of what it means to be a Muslim woman in Qatar. Wearing the abaya should not mean disappearing under it. We can express our cultural pride and actively participate in our society at the same time. Wearing the abaya does not have to mean we can’t wear our superhero costumes. We can and should wear them both.

At Carnegie Mellon, we learned to do just that. Four years ago we all came in wearing the costumes we thought we had to wear, each of us acting out the roles that our cultures had prescribed for us.  In the years since, we have preserved the best of those traits and shrugged off the worst.  Prof. Al-Malki’s Writer’s Craft and Prof. Kaba’s Identity, Statehood and Nationhood encouraged us to express ourselves and stretch our views, to break through our own barriers. All of our classes dared us to set higher goals for ourselves.  As friends and classmates, we’ve challenged each other every chance we had, whether over a business ethics debate or a competitive game of تابو. Carnegie Mellon exemplifies what I hope our future will look like: a place where we can create and compete while we celebrate our core values.

As we proceed to the next stage of our lives, we shouldn’t aspire to be the grade school teachers who tell little Qatari girls stories of limit. We must be the moms and dads who tell daughters and sons that they can be any superhero they choose to be. We must be the educators who tell their students stories that empower them and set them free.  From our minds and from our hearts we must tell each other stories of equality.  Our work is not yet done.  Instead of recreating a past built on restriction, we will help to create a future built on freedom and opportunity.

Class of 2011, I hope and expect that we will all come back one day and share the story of the future we have created together. Congratulations to you all.

 

I attended the annual conference of AIWF- Arab International Women’s Forum in London on the 12^th of May. This year’s conference was titled “Women in the Arab World, Africa and Asia: Emerging Economies, Emerging Leaderships, Shaping the Future Together.” It was held in Lancaster House, a breathtaking building with its high golden ornamented ceilings and luxurious ambiance, which has an interesting history behind it.

This high profile conference included women leaders from all around the world, such as senators, ministers, baronesses, university professors, CEOs, and more. It was enriching to witness women’s voices merging into one harmonious melody.

Here are some snippets of the sessions, and some quotations I managed to write down:

“Women are underrepresented economically and politically. %70 of the world’s poor are women. Also, unemployment among the youth is higher among women. We need to enact laws that enforce gender equality.”

Suha Al-Ali, Senator, Jordan

Following a session on “Leadership Redefined: Arab, African and Asian Women Effecting Change,” the conversation got exciting between the speakers and the audience. One of the issues raised was the issue of quota among speakers like Maryam Al Roomi, Minister of Social Affairs in UAE, Raya El Hasan, Acting minister of finance in Lebanon, Senator Suha Al-Ali, and Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne. The speakers were divided between proponents and opponents of the quota. The question was settled by a speaker from the audience who turned to be a Spanish parliamentarian for 20 years, and who argued that the quota is paramount for respect and consideration. She added that men for centuries held %100 of the quotas, so why is it wrong now to assign some percentage to women!

In the session, “Job Creation, Innovation & Entrepreneurship: Reaching a New Level of Competitiveness”, Rania Rizk, Vice President & Chief Legal Counsel of Middle East & Africa Region PepsiCo stated that  %50 of the Arab population are under the age of 30. The key words used in this session were “training”, “innovation”, and “technology.” One of the inspiring speakers in this session was Sung-Joo Kim, the chairperson and CEO of MCM worldwide/Sungjoo Group, Korea. She is one of the most celebrated businesswomen in Asia, whose success is marked by hard work rather than privilege. She established a company that is run mainly by women, creating new business regulations and rules of conduct- the women’s ways of doing business. You can read more about her inspiring story here. Another inspiring speaker was Dr. Shaikha Al Maskari, the Chairperson of Al Maskari Group in UAE. Her talk was filled with personal anecdotes and humor. She presented herself as the grandmother who can get away with any blunt and rude comments to any trade and economic leaders, including ministers. This amazing grandmother said that women don’t need empowerment; instead they need to be invited as partners in progress. And Empowerment should come from within.

Other sessions included other bright examples and women leaders. It was nice to hear Dr Afnan Al Shuaiby, Secretary General and CEO of Arab British Chamber of Commerce in UK talk about her own experience being a young Arab woman leader in a male dominated job environment.

The conference was a perfect networking opportunity for women to meet other women and learn about their work. Lancaster House hosted amazing examples that day of successful and hard working women who were there to celebrate each others.