A family's lockdown Lego project that could launch a career


Gillian Duncan
  • English
  • Arabic

Like many families, the Salloums had a lot of spare time on their hands during the early days of the pandemic.

They decided to spend it doing what they loved: building Lego. But the trio did not just assemble the sets. They devised entire scenes, accompanied by props and elaborate backgrounds, which they would photograph.

The restrictions were eventually lifted, and life returned to near-normal.

But the two boys, Lucas and Noah, who are aged seven and five, continued their project.

They recently set up an Instagram page, which is attracting the interest of Lego fans from all over the world.

Ziad Salloum, the two boys’ father, said it all started around this time last year, when the family visited Prague.

Ziad Salloum and his children started a Lego building project during the stay-home orders and have continued since. Victor Besa/The National Reporter:
Ziad Salloum and his children started a Lego building project during the stay-home orders and have continued since. Victor Besa/The National Reporter:

“We realised there was a Lego museum and the kids are completely mad about Lego,” said the lawyer, who lives in Abu Dhabi.

“We went there and we got to see this fan’s story. Because it’s owned by a fan who is completely Lego mad and it took over his life and he kept collecting and collecting and he eventually opened up this museum.”

That gave the boys an idea: to set up their own Lego museum one day.

The restrictions gave them the time they needed to start collecting.

“We were all home. We weren’t quite fraying at the edges. But we started this little project,” said Mr Salloum.

“Every few days we would come up with an idea and talk it through. Talking it through would take a few hours sometimes to a few minutes.”

They have now created more than two dozen scenes, including a ship that looks like it is sailing the high seas, a helicopter rescue, a moon landing, a pirate fight and the Saturn V rocket launch.

Lucas, the eldest, had built the rocket unaided a couple of years before.

They took some Tupperware, which they painted orange, lighting it from behind to make it look like it was on fire, adding cotton wool balls on top to represent smoke from the take-off.

“I have two or three favourites. The first one was the rocket,” said Lucas, who is seven.

“The second one was one of my Ninjagos, when they were fighting against the bad guys.

“The third one was when we were in the desert. I got the Land Rover and my dad continued it and I used tracks to make it look like it was driving.”

Next up is a fisherman’s hut with a kayak, said the Cranleigh Abu Dhabi school pupil.

“We’re going to put water around with a small lake with a kayak. There are two people, a kid and an adult.”

“I want to do a space station,” said his brother, Noah, five. “I would like it to be all dark behind like space with planets.”

The boys have it all planned.

Their museum will even have its own cafe, catered by Noah.

“On top of the museum there will be a restaurant and I will be the cook,” said the five year old.

“I will cook fish, pancake, pasta and vegetables and a bit of chocolate.”

Five famous companies founded by teens

There are numerous success stories of teen businesses that were created in college dorm rooms and other modest circumstances. Below are some of the most recognisable names in the industry:

  1. Facebook: Mark Zuckerberg and his friends started Facebook when he was a 19-year-old Harvard undergraduate. 
  2. Dell: When Michael Dell was an undergraduate student at Texas University in 1984, he started upgrading computers for profit. He starting working full-time on his business when he was 19. Eventually, his company became the Dell Computer Corporation and then Dell Inc. 
  3. Subway: Fred DeLuca opened the first Subway restaurant when he was 17. In 1965, Mr DeLuca needed extra money for college, so he decided to open his own business. Peter Buck, a family friend, lent him $1,000 and together, they opened Pete’s Super Submarines. A few years later, the company was rebranded and called Subway. 
  4. Mashable: In 2005, Pete Cashmore created Mashable in Scotland when he was a teenager. The site was then a technology blog. Over the next few decades, Mr Cashmore has turned Mashable into a global media company.
  5. Oculus VR: Palmer Luckey founded Oculus VR in June 2012, when he was 19. In August that year, Oculus launched its Kickstarter campaign and raised more than $1 million in three days. Facebook bought Oculus for $2 billion two years later.

Arabian Gulf League fixtures:

Friday:

  • Emirates v Hatta, 5.15pm
  • Al Wahda v Al Dhafra, 5.25pm
  • Al Ain v Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, 8.15pm

Saturday:

  • Dibba v Ajman, 5.15pm
  • Sharjah v Al Wasl, 5.20pm
  • Al Jazira v Al Nasr, 8.15pm
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
Abu Dhabi GP Saturday schedule

12.30pm GP3 race (18 laps)

2pm Formula One final practice 

5pm Formula One qualifying

6.40pm Formula 2 race (31 laps)

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
if you go

The flights

Air France offer flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi to Cayenne, connecting in Paris from Dh7,300.

The tour

Cox & Kings (coxandkings.com) has a 14-night Hidden Guianas tour of Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana. It includes accommodation, domestic flights, transfers, a local tour manager and guided sightseeing. Contact for price.