James West Bike Tours

www.emiratesbiketours.com

We are talking dirt bikes and desert tours here. This sounds like a great way to see another side of the UAE.

Emirates 101

Reem Captain and Roudha Al Majid join me to talk about their book, Emirates 101, the ultimate guide to the UAE.

People come the the UAE with a lot of questions and this book answers the top 25.

Facebook - emirates 101

emirates.101.feedback@gmail.com

www.story-night.com

Nightline, well me, will be at the Crown Plaza Festival City's Belgium Cafe Friday at 7:30pm to join in the story night!

www.story-night.com, it is free just RSVP to be part of this Fringe/Lit Fest fun!

See you there!

Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra

A conversation with 3 members of the EYSO.

Zoe Fries
John Edward Dragonov
Yannek Fries

The Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra in the UAE was established in 1993 by Mr. Riad Kudsi. Initially it was named Children's String Orchestra. To bring in more youth, in 2006 we changed the name to Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra (EYSO). The orchestra is dedicated to teaching the universal language of classical music to children and teenagers from primary school to high school. At first the Orchestra consisted of a limited number of students from Mr. Kudsi’s violin teaching practice. In a short period, it began attracting students and musicians from outside. Today there are more than 50 players of violin, viola, cello, double base wind instruments and percussion. Riad Kudsi The children who play in the Emirates Youth Symphony Orchestra come from many countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, British Ireland, USA, France, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, India, Sri Lanka, and Papua New Guinea among many others. They are joined by a common devotion and love for music, which we believe is the international language for expressing feeling and emotions. The recent Honorary Patronage of HRH Princes Haya Bint Al Hussein wife of HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Vice President and Prime minister of UAE, Ruler of Dubai has been a great source of hope that one day; this orchestra, festival & conservatory will be adopted by the government of Dubai in order not to waist the 16 years of relentless efforts of our founder and conductor Mr. Riad Kudsi. We are looking forward to and sparing no effort to encourage young musicians living in Dubai especially UAE nationals, to join our orchestra to overcome this constant migration of talent in order to retain our capabilities and feed new blood to a future UAE National Symphony Orchestra which we inspire. EYSO is proud that some of its previous members who completed their academic studies with Mr. Kudsi have gained distinguished musical scholarships to continue their violin studies at the French National Conservatoire, Chethams Music School in England, Indiana University for Music and Tchaikovsky Conservatory in Moscow. The Orchestra has repeatedly performed in several International Music Festivals in Czech Republic, France, Kuwait, and Oman. We are constantly invited to performances, festivals and charitable events all over the world. We make every effort to expose our young talents to these events subject to their other scholastic schedules and needs as well as to our budget.

Heroes of the United Arab Emirates

www.heroesoftheuae.ae

02-634-7117

Ms. Razan Al Mubarak, MD of the Emirates Wildlife Society, and Ms. Kaltham Al Koheij, regional head of corporate sustainability for HSBC, joined me for a conversation about
motivating our youth to be environmentally literate.

Introducing Heroes Of the UAE

It's only in times of crisis that heroes emerge. The UAE has the highest per capita ecological footprint on earth. It faces an impending energy crisis and the impacts of climate change. This will affect every single one of us, unless we seize the opportunity to become a hero and make a difference.

That was the insight and the starting point for the Heroes Of The UAE campaign, jointly developed by The Emirates Wildlife Society in association with the Worldwide Fund for Nature (EWS-WWF) and The Environment Agency-Abu Dhabi; and is endorsed by the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Environment & Water, MASDAR, and the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority. Through a major blitz of press, outdoor and radio advertising in early 2009, we are alerting the UAE to the fact that drastic action must be taken now to drastically curb our energy consumption, avert dangerous shortages and become a great deal more energy conscious. But while it makes it clear that this a very real problem that must be seriously addressed by everyone from governments to individuals, it also points out that straightforward, practical, successful solutions are readily available.

The campaign is centred around the www.heroesoftheuae.ae website, where people can find out everything they need to know about the causes of the problem and also find out what they can do to help solve it.

Principal features of the website include an animated sequence that explains the present energy and environment situation in simple, graphic terms, along with a long list of energy saving tips, a calculator that enables households to establish exactly how and where they can make real savings on their consumption, and a unique pledge facility which enables households to positively state their intention to make a difference.

For the sake of the planet, the UAE and our children, we need this campaign. More importantly, we need everyone - including you - to act on it.

Sounds of the United Arab Emirates

A group of Zayed University students, in Dubai, recorded the sounds of their UAE and talk about them. Great insight into the youth of the UAE and what they are thinking about.

All Those Left Behind

Volvo Cars Middle East, Emirates Driving Institute and Memac Ogilvy have teamed up to create a CSR campaign like no other when it comes to road safety!

http://www.godubai.com/citylife/press_release_page.asp?pr=29262

The initiative's first step will be gathering stories from the general public. Volvo has launched a site for this purpose: www.allthoseleftbehind.com. By sharing their stories, people will be empowered to promote responsible driving in their community, while cherishing the memory of a loved one. Moreover, the site will provide comfort to those who have experienced this kind of loss.

In October, 2009, these heartfelt stories will be published on a dedicated site, and will spread across all medium. The campaign will spread the message nation-wide: Drive Safely.

Volvo plans to reach out to drivers even further with a series of safety activities for the public with the help of partners such as EDI (Emirates Driving Institute) and MENARSP; the Middle East and North Africa Road Safety Partnership is a collaboration of governments, businesses, and civil society organizations that supports projects that reduce the burden of road traffic crashes.

Roula Beiruty, Marketing Manager for Volvo Cars Middle East said: “According to Abu Dhabi Police, in 2008, 2957 accidents took place in Abu Dhabi alone, resulting in 376 deaths and the injury of 4603 people. Thefore as one of the leaders in road safety, Volvo Cars Middle East has undertaken a major investment in this campaign in order to reach people's hearts and minds to achieve pro-active and positive change while creating safer roads.”

Beiruty adds, “This is not just another road safety campaign with facts and figures. This is as much an emotional initiative as it is rational and that reflects the strong family values of our community”.

With public concern growing daily about road safety, “All Those Left Behind” campaign comes at the perfect time.

You can follow us on twitter @thoseleftbehind and facebook allthosleftbehind.