Connecting from here to there

I recently joined BOPSource.com to gain additional insight into working on BoP topics. The site developer posted a video of an interview with a Nepalese man who worked in the Middle East. Curious, I just watched it at work (where I get YouTube connection). Sure, enough- the man worked in Qatar and did not have a good experience. The video brings a face to many of the stories my former colleague Silvia Pessoa and her Immigration Studies students discovered in their research. My own students in my 'Design for People and Planet' course investigated issues facing labors and documented further challenges they faced- high connectivity/transportation/living costs, contract disputes, health issues, abuse, and boredom.



I often wondered about what sort of life these Sri Lankan, Indian, Nepalese, Bangladeshi, Phillipino and other workers left behind (in terms of Sri Lankan, I can't imagine living with with the horror going on the island). Last week in Ehklaspur, I met two women whose husbands were off working in Malyasia or in another part of Bangladesh. Recalling that my students discovered that communication for workers back to their home is often expensive and they imagined that the worker's home village or family wouldn't have a mobile or computer. I found out that yes, it's cheaper to call from Bangladesh to Qatar than vice versa (~17 taka or .25USD a minute, vs. about 3 riyal or 1 USD a minute from Qatar). However, my students would be surprised to see how connected a village could be. This one woman had a mobile, as did multiple other villagers. She spent about 300-500 taka (4.35-7.25 USD) on her phone bill (or if she's BoP [earning <$2 a day] about 3-6% of her entire salary). The woman also quoted the per minute price to Saudi Arabia and Singapore, indicating that she had some familarity of situations with people working in those locales.

Much BoP communication work resides in mobile phone work, as they are portable, can be cheap and can provide built-in infrastructure for other initiatives, such as e-Health or e-Agriculture projects. GCC cites a study where mobile phones are only owned by ~26% of the population but a large of the population uses a phone. (will cite stat later when I can confirm it). How? People have businesses renting out their mobile for others to use- allowing more of the population access to mobile technology. In design school I wasn't as interested as mobile service design and application designs (especially so the privileged can more easily meet up with someone for a cup of coffee) but this mobile work intrigues me. Additional challenge of BoP mobile work: the issue of non-literacy or low-literacy. What to know what it's like to operate a mobile phone without being able to read? Change the settings on your phone (or iPod) to a language you don't know and see how well you do. Limiting, eh?

Sandstorm

My first day in Doha over a year ago, I brought crummy weather with me. Crummy weather in Doha can be heat and humidity or in the equivalent of a rainy day- a sandstorm. A year ago it was harsh winds and whipping sand but it was nothing compared to the storm that came in yesterday afternoon.

Yesterday Darbi and I were discussing the effects of the Carnegie Mellon's building shadow on the vegetation outside (plants in the permanent shadow didn't flower, those on outside the shadow would). I stepped out of her office for one moment and suddenly she began yelling for me to return. What had moments before been a bright blue sky had become hazy and golden as the sandstorm rolled in. We watched the sky become hazy and fog-like, only the fog wasn't moisture but sand. After experiencing sand in your eyes and teeth during windy days, I have a better innate understanding and appreciation for the tradition of the keffiyeh or the Arab headscarf. I've even wrapped my head and face, saving only my eyes, once during an extremely windy day.

Since Carnegie Mellon Qatar's building is not quite finished (especially on the third floor) and let's face it, the construction quality isn't amazing to begin with, within minutes of yesterday's storm the hallways and main atriums of the building had a hazy smoke quality to them as sand particles drifted in the air. It was very eerie.

The top image is from the QTel building on the Corniche. Below are some comparison shots from Education City, looking towards Ceremonial Court (gorgeous day vs. this morning)



See more at QatarLiving.com

Suffering of Students in Gaza

Two months without a post is too long. I apologize and Happy New Year!

I arrived in Doha less than 24 hours ago and I'm currently nursing a coffee to beat back jet lag. Instead of flying my normal O'Hare to Dulles to Doha route, I had purchased a O'Hare to NY to Doha route. Only my itinerary did not make it painfully obvious that I flew into La Guardia and then out of JFK, a detail I discovered when checking in at O'Hare. The United rep was nice enough to get me on an earlier flight to La Guardia (because I originally only had 2 hours and 13 minutes between flights), otherwise I might not be here in Doha right now.

There's apparently a flurry of activity here at Education City over the recent violence in Gaza. I've noticed more Palestinian references on student's away messages and Facebook images. There have also been more references to Naji al-Ali's 40-year old image of 'Handhala' image that represents a child of the Palestinian refugee camps. (One student even used this image in his final design project about recycling last semester).

I just found out that Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned (Chairperson of Qatar Foundation) plans to launch an international initiative aimed at addressing the need to protect education and students in Gaza. There's a planning event in CM-Q's auditorium tomorrow evening and the Education City students are organizing a march on Tuesday to show support with the students in Gaza.

It's weird to be back. I was certainly sad to leave the States and especially my boyfriend James, but it's nice to know it's only one more semester. And yet I'm still conflicted. Much as I know I need to return to States, there is still something alluring about being abroad. My heart warmed to hear Arabic music on my car radio and I felt expanded to witness another side of the Gaza conflict rarely presented in American media. I have a sense in the future I will either need to continue to work internationally in some capacity or save my pennies and travel often.

Traveling to Jordan

I'm off in an hour and a half to Jordan for four days. I'll be traveling with my good friend Darbi and her hometown friend Anne. We plan to do the basics- Amman, Dead Sea, Petra, and Wadi Rum. Prior to living in Qatar- visiting Jordan would have made me more nervous- especially if you pay attention to everything the US State Department sends out.

However, I find that I seem to be one of the last people on campus still to visit Jordan. Those that have gone before came back with rave reviews, fun stories, and only praise. We'll see how it goes.

I'm about to give myself away when I'll say I knew nothing about Jordan until a week ago. Darbi suggested the trip and made most of the details and I simply booked a plane ticket. Only a few days ago did I realize what we will be visiting or what's in Jordan. (Petra is the ancient city built into the rock & where they filmed the ending scene of 'Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade'!)

I have to pack but I'll leave you with the Visit Jordan website- which is fairly well done and includes some great photos. Since the semester is done and I only have grading to do when I return to Doha, I will retroactively update folks on the events of the last month. I feel like one of those kids on a school trip who fills out the required travel journal at the end of the trip but I will do my best.

Urban Myths

On Sunday, I emailed the students the details for a short 24-hour design charrette assignment. I challenged them to come up with an engaging story using only 3 images and no words. The first image was to be an object, the second image was to be an action, and the third image was to be the effect/result, arranged in some way on an A3 sheet of paper. They could take their own images or find them on the Internet.

The results varied in complexity, readability, jumps in logic/comprehension, and one or two presented cultural discussion opportunities (one included a rotting brain, a protester holding a sign of Bush & Hitler and the words 'Kill People', and then a dead Arab child in his mother's arms).

However the one that struck me the most was an image of Starbucks, then people holding a Starbucks coffee cup, and then a bloodied, wounded crying child with a bandage around his head. I was thoroughly perplexed and asked another student to explain this image story to the class. Without hesitation, she explained that the image was an injured Palestinian child, pointing out a faded image of a Palestinian flag imposed on the corner of the image. The class explained to me that the Starbucks CEO is Jewish and Zionist, and a portion of Starbucks profits go to support the war against Palestine. (The British-based Marks & Spencers' support of Israel also came up.) So- did everyone see that story in this series of images? Of a class of 18, only 3 people (myself included) did not see that story in the images. Some students reported that they do not purchase Starbucks coffee (of which there is a location in our building) because of this story. 'Why do other Arab students purchase the coffee then?' Perhaps it doesn't bother them as much was the answer.

Instead of focusing on the legitimacy of the story (because I had never heard this before and could not comment on its validity), I focused on the jumps of logic the image story required of the viewer and what the images actually conveyed. Later, I mentioned this incident to Darbi who works in Carnegie Mellon Student Affairs. She sighed and said that story was the result of a hoaxed email forwarded by another student last semester. The email was a hoax but many students saw it out of context and had strong responses to it.

This morning I did a bit of my own research on the topic and sent the following email to my students:

"Because it intrigued me- I did an Internet search on the issue of Israel and Starbucks and found the following links suggesting that the story appears to be an urban legend of sorts:
http://www.snopes.com/politics/israel/schultz.asp

Also- interesting enough- Starbucks does not have coffeehouses in Israel any more...
http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/bl-starbucks_israel.htm

So the particular picture story using Starbucks and an injured Palestinian child could reflect a spoof of a story, rather than a story itself."

I'll be curious to see how this image story gets revised for tomorrow's class.