Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Backwater Weekends and Education City in the News



In the time that I have been in Doha I have met an incredible amount of Indian nationals. This makes sense because India passport holders make up nearly 25% of the total population of Qatar totally over 500,000 people. The vast majority of these people come from Kerala, a southwestern Indian state known for its lush green landscape and backwaters. The scenery in Kerala has also been called “God’s Own Country” for its striking beauty. Keeping all of this in mind, it has been a goal of mine to travel to Kerala since arriving in Doha.

This past weekend I finally got the chance as myself and travel buddy Kevin D’Arco took a three day holiday to float down the backwaters and find out what Kerala was all about. While we were there we were able to take a day out on a house boat, relax at some beautiful resorts, explore some local markets and see influences from Jewish, Catholic, and Islamic religions. We also met a lot of interesting individuals, the most interesting of which was an Indian Naval Engineer who went by the name Raghu. We met Raghu during a game of billiards and we proceeded to spend the rest of the night with him learning how play properly, having India’s entire history narrated to us, being educated on the benefits of being vegetarian, and attempting to solve all of India’s economic woes. We tried to get Raghu to be our life coaches but were unsuccessful. Although our time in Kerala was short we were both happy we had the chance to see where so many of our fellow Doha residents call home. 

Shifting gears a bit, some of you may have seen the Washington Post article from earlier this week titled “In Qatar’s Education City, US colleges are building an academic oasis”. If you haven’t you can access it here:


Education City is a really difficult initiative to describe to outsiders and one that I continue to develop an understanding for, even after having been here for four years. That being said, I think the article gives a good overview specifically around enrollment and budgetary figures that are difficult to come by, even here locally. The tone in certain sections is a bit presumptuous and judgmental of the foreign culture and is surprised at the level of sophistication and development that exists, but that is to be expected.

There is no denying that running academic institutions in Qatar could be seen as controversial. There is Qatar’s human rights track record, there is academic freedom, there is budgeting, there is brand management of main campuses, and many more challenges in operating such a model. But when you take back and look at what is really happening here, Education City transcends many of these challenges. During an era that has been marked by strained US and Middle East relationships I think Education City serves as a beacon for hope as education provides a way to overcome global conflict and challenges. Is this idealistic? Sure. Do I think our budgetary numbers to work towards this vision are inflated? Yes. But growth and change takes time. As Education City continues to build upon its first ten years of success, I am interested to see what the next ten years bring. 

As a final thought, take a look at the comments section. The discourse there is fascinating to me and demonstrates an inability to see from another person’s perspective, unfounded generalizations, and islamophobia. I would go so far as to say an Education City education would do a lot of good for the commenters as we graduate students who are culturally savvy, globally minded, and well situated to work in a global context. 

This weekend I head to Salalah, Oman for the annual Outward Bound course we host through the Student Center. I have never been to this location and am looking forward to a great 4 day/3 night hiking journey with 20 incredible students. Will report back when I return!

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