Elders Project
Introduction
Rapid changes have for a quite a while been the basis of our future, old men and women have always been regarded as a source to wisdom and knowledge store. It is thus very critical to seek wisdom and rich lessons material from people who have existed for quite a while. This paper seeks to establish stories from old men which have moral education and wise lessons. It will also reflect the rapid changes to the influences it has had on the old men’s today lifestyle, the rapid changes in United Arab Emirates and the general lessons from the stories.
Mohammad Salem fifty eight years of age and a father of four tells us a story about the UAE education system in the past, he says that old teachers both male and female referred to as Mutawwa and Mutawaa respectively conducted all subjects teaching to all children of the society. He goes ahead to tell us that these teachers depended so much on cramming the Quran together with calligraphic writings, the rituals of Islam and Hadeeth sayings. He sites the challenges which they went through while in this lessons due to lack of writing material and that sometimes the teachers forgot what they memorized.
Ahmed Hassan a 63 year old man tells us a story of the live of the past; he says that his family resided in a small house which was erected from wood coupled with a few other available environmental components. He says that his parents told him that during the day, there friends would visit them at their house and they would dine together while discussing issues. And says it was fun, when someone had a problem, they collectively helped him/her without discrimination.
Nigel Adnan a 61 year old tells us a story of how his life at Bedu desert was. He says that he together with the members of the community used camels for transport across the entire desert. He says that they commonly referred the camel as the ship of the desert. Food was a major problem and had to travel to various destinations in search of it. They also used milk from the camels and ate its meat while some used the camel’s skin to erect tents.
Rehan Varun a 57 year old who seems a bit wealthier tells us a story of how he used to get money. He talks about a social system which they referred to as pearling which actually formed the basis of today’s affluent traditions. He also says that he personally also used palm as a resource to obtain money. He says that Bedu’s connection with the palm tree was similar to man’s connection to the camel and that to him the palm tree gave him much of what he needed since it was the only protein source within the desert. He tells us that in his teenage years he used to trade palm products to the rest of the community members who could not find it.
Ahmed Hassan believes that imminent rapid changes have taken place in UAE with regard to life. He says that today there exists many distinct families which is different from what was the situation before, today families reside in big houses that makes families even look much smaller than those in the past. Furthermore, he believes that however, much relatives of a family might reside in different distant cities and only come together during special moments, if someone has a problem they shall all help collectively. This to him has forced him to adapt to the current lifestyle where there are no more home gatherings to discuss issues.
Rehan Varun tells us that the present UAE has seen a lot of changes such as oil becoming the most imperative asset. He says that today United Arab Emirates are the world’s third biggest oil producer. The current economy relies mainly on gas and oil production. He also says that UAE now has the advantage of being home to the worlds fourth biggest reserves. Such resources give the current UAE generation an upper hand to a simple life as opposed to that of his past. Lifestyle adjustment has been so easy to him since it is easier to obtain wealth today than his youthful days.
Nigel Adnan also shares similar sentiments, he says that today a lot has changed in UAE for instance the existence of many modern international airports, the road network is perfect and almost every home owns a car thus transport is very easy. Food is readily bought from the markets and balanced diets are the order of the day. To him lifestyle adjustment is simple since the current lifestyle is quite simple.
Mohammad Salem talks of the immense changes in the education sector such as existence of modern institutions of learning, many students turn out and introduction of computing systems for both preparatory and primary school students. Universities even exist with many students and good teachers in it. He says that todays children are lucky for the great opportunities provided by education and to him old age is a hindrance to enjoying such a lifestyle.
The current lifestyle harbors so many positive effects of lifestyle change. First life has been eased up no more struggles to find food, travelling with camels through thin lanes. Much of what was scarce in the past are now readily available with ease. The current generation is also blessed many avenues towards achieving education, there are many learning institutions with modern equipment, the teachers are also equipped with great learning material unlike the past, students also have the chance to interact with fellow students from different places.
Todays lifestyle also gives many alternatives to getting reach or making money, many trading centers have been created and availability of many trading commodities. We also have well established banks where persons can keep or borrow money. The road network is perfect and the fact that close to all homesteads own cars makes it easy to traverse areas of UAE.
The disadvantage of this lifestyle change is that people tend to be lazy since the struggles that existed in the past are no more. People do not have to struggle in order to eat, the current education systems give them much of what thy want to be in life. Also due to urbanization and cultural interactions some fundamental family features might be lost, moral decay is one major disadvantage and also many kids might drown in what technology offers. The other disadvantage is that people no longer meet to discuss matters at family levels hence many issues that could be resolved on family levels end up to the justice system.
The main advice learned from these old men is that life in UAE at the moment gives us many opportunities that we should take advantage of, the education system, the transport network and resources available to us. We should also be thankful that we did no experience what they went through and thus struggle in all our endeavors to even make UAE a better place for the future generation.
From them we learn that UAE has advanced steadily in close to all sectors of life. In a personal account, if I were asked the live I would prefer in UAE, today’s life would definitely be my answer.
