The United Arab Emirates celebrates its national day on the second of December; it marks the UAE’s day of union between the 7 emirates. On this day, nationals and non-nationals both celebrate in many extravagant ways to show their pride and patriotism towards this great nation. Many events and exhibits are held all around the country showcasing the UAE’s heritage and it’s beautifully unique cultural lore. At SAIS, students of different nationalities teamed up to celebrate their national day by performing various Emirati cultural acts.

            On the boy’s side, Saeed Ahmed AlKaabi and Abdullah Adel AlBannay, both of whom are UAE nationals, gave speeches in both English and Arabic expressing their earnest affection towards their country. Local juniors and seniors danced to their traditional Emirati music, and an enticing game of “tug of war” took place between the different grades. Towards the end, everyone filled their bellies with various Emirati dishes.

            Over at the girl’s side, many were dressed as soldiers and stood solemnly as the national anthem was played to honor the soldiers that passed during the Yemen war. People came to cook traditional UAE treats such as “Gaimat” and several tents were laid out showcasing traditional UAE antiques from old Bedouin tribes. One of the most significant was the “Al Bastaki” tent, which offered traditional coffee, dates, and other sweet and savory delicacies.

     Imagine having a house without a roof. What about an earth without an ozone layer? The ozone layer plays a very crucial role in the protection and preservation of our planet from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Statistics show that since 1979, stratospheric ozone has decreased over the entire globe by 4 to 6% per decade. Climate change from the hole in ozone layer could drive over one million of the world’s species to extinction by 2050.

            Grade 12 students compassionately invested a great amount of time and effort into preparing an Environmental Fair in hopes to raise awareness about global warming and its negative effects on the 21st century economy. The fair encouraged students to find innovative solutions for the habits contributing to the destruction of our environment (CO2 emissions, etc.). The students used recyclable and eco-friendly materials during the fair to demonstrate how they could be used in our daily lives.

            One of the main attractions at the fair was the “make a change” booth where Nada AlMheiri and Waad AlMarzouqi from 12AA asked teachers and students to plant a flower each in a subtle but meaningful effort to get everyone involved in the grail to make a positive change to the environment. Nada shared remarkable trivia with the onlookers saying trees can absorb up to 48 pounds of carbon dioxide per year.

The sea shells hotel, on the other hand, represented by Nora Alameeri, was inspired by her homeland, the UAE, and promoted the use of hydropower instead of fossil fuels. She elaborated saying “the tourism industry is an essential aspect of the UAE’s economy, yet unfortunately, it uses a huge amount of fossil fuels which causes a lot of air pollution, so why not use hydropower”.

      The first place prize at the fair was awarded to both the robotic recycling bin and the aeroponics project. The robotic recycling bin, represented by Najem Adel, was an incredibly innovative idea: a robotic smart bin that could be controlled from a distance that collects recyclable material and can later be located using google maps. The aeroponics project was an astonishing mini farm, represented by Sammy A.Chacra and Maaz Butt, which shed great insight on the concept of aeroponics. This astounding farm grabbed the attention of many, as plants were able to grow in the farm without the use of soil or sunlight. Only water and nutrients were used. “The Ann”, as they dubbed it, was a highly successful project. In fact, personnel from the Ministry of Bee’ah were particularly impressed with the concept and asked the group members to send pictures of their work.

Perhaps the most notable aspect of the fair was the students’ profound creativity with regards to the outside gym decorations where recycled material was used in order to show how beauty does not always equate to the ignorance towards the environment. All the visitors who passed by the decorations were in awe towards the creativity of the artwork.

     Mr. Ali Katerji, the mastermind behind the event tried to encourage more visitors to use their creativity to come up with their own ecological solutions. “You might be awed by the complexity of the seniors’ projects” he said “But sometimes even the simplest ideas can have a major effect on the environment.”

Diabetes is a chronic disease that plagues many people around the world. It is a disease in which the body’s ability to produce or respond to the insulin hormone is impaired resulting in elevated levels of glucose in the blood.  The cause of diabetes is unknown and, in many unfortunate cases, can be fatal. As of 2015, there are 415 million adults living with diabetes, and that number is expected to increase to over 600 million by 2040.

World Diabetes Day is a global awareness campaign led by the international Diabetes Federation (IDF). The campaign is held on November 14th of each year and focuses on spreading awareness about the dangers of diabetes and how it can be prevented. On this day, people all over the world raise awareness by wearing blue t-shirts in a movement to empower those diagnosed with diabetes and to show them that they can beat it.

At SAIS, this day was celebrated by many students all over the school. The students collectively celebrated by wearing white and blue diabetes awareness t-shirts and by organizing an assembly in an effort to explain to everyone what diabetes is, the dangers it entails and how it can be prevented. Meanwhile, the girls set up a photo booth for students to take pictures with the caption “let’s diaBEAT it”, and posted them on social media. They also bought diabetic food and gave it to teachers and students to show them that diabetic food actually tastes decent and is healthier than daily food.

      October is the international breast cancer-awareness month. Everyone is in this, and believing in our role to educate ourselves and our fellow students and respected teachers, SAIS seniors16 have paid agreat effort preparing for their Breast Cancer Assembly held on the school campus on Wednesday, October 28th. The program started at half past one, immediately after the second break and was held in the school gym.

     Hosted by the two seniors from the AG class; Farah Hosny and Hadeel Atallah, the assembly started with a detailed and informative description of the disease; its symptoms and emphasizing the importance of early detection. That was followed by the song: “Just Stand up” performed by the girls: Malaz, Rajaa, Noora and Shaikhah from grades 10 and 11.

      The school nurse has also informed the attendants about doing their regular self-checks, after presenting the video by the 12A class. The video has shown stories of breast cancer-survivors and of their class supporting those fighting against the disease.

    The video was followed by the song “Flashlight” performed by the 12AA senior; Dania Kaoud. The second song was followed by a poem to everyone who had to face; or who is face breast cancer, written and read by Rawnaa Aboalwaffa from 12A.

       The assembly program was closed by a video prepared by Zeeward and Doaa Nazz, two seniors from 12AG class, showing students and teachers from holding signs supporting breast cancer-fighters.

     It is least to emphasize the effort put to the preparation of the assembly by the remarkable satisfaction of all the attendants; students and staff, who received a brochure with the most important information each of them needs to know about breast cancer.

        For the seniors, the day was closed with their first senior lunch, where all of them shared an early lunch with one another.

        The level of the assembly was promising and to be counted a strong start for the senior activity this year. The question, now, is : Will all the senior activities for the Seniors16 be of the same level? Better? Worse?

Only time shall answer this question.

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