I would like to share with you this fascinating speech by Dr Ismail Serageldin, the Director of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and the former vice president of the World Bank for Water and Environment. Dr Serageldin is a phenomenal person with an encyclopedic knowledge on science, culture, development and politics in one holistic humanist package. This speech is about his selection of the ten books that... [read more]

Despite the great importance attached by the Jordanian society to education, which is reflected by the willingness of Jordanian families to spend a large proportion of its budget on education of sons and daughters in universities, the recent transformations in the Jordanian economy have made education a minor element in the process of wealth creation in Jordan.    It is true that education still... [read more]

Few weeks ago I found myself in a room with 20 foreign maids and 40 children as I was supervising my daughter playtime in Mecca Mall. I was astonished to see that I was the only biological parent of any child present in the play area. Other parents were sipping "Mocca Freez" outside the play area or shopping in the mall. I love to take my daughter to play areas and recreational events and usually... [read more]

Bibliotheca Alexandrina is not only a library. It is a place for creativity, cultural dialogue and tolerance. It is a platform for the imagination of the human mind and simple a temple for knowledge. The BA has an area of 40,200 square meters composed of 11 levels. The Library's main reading area can accommodate up to 2000 users and contains 200 study rooms equipped with computers. The library... [read more]

Last week I have been privileged to visit the magnificant Bibliotheca Alexandrina. This is one of the few places in the Arab World, and maybe the whole Globe that can be conisidered as a cultural acheivement. I was participating in a workshop organized by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) about new learning for sustainability in the Arab World, where I have presented the case study of using blogs... [read more]

During the five decades ranging from the 50s to the 90 the masses of Jordanian students and their institutional representatives and political parties tried relentlessly to establish the long-awaited dream of having a unified Students' Union in Jordan but ended up in the 90s with the scattered student councils that were further stripped of power with the appointment rather than election of 50% of its... [read more]

My daughter Suzan has just entered her 1st year at school starting 1st grade at the Rosary school in Marj Al Hamam. She wakes up at 6:00 a.m to have breakfast and some nagging and please for more sleep before we force her to school. She carries, and drags her heavy weight backbag to go to the bus which arrives at 6:45 a.m. Suzan spends about 7 hours at school spending 8 sessions and finishing at 2:30... [read more]