SHARJAH// Twenty-four students from across the country visited Sharjah for the first time on Wednesday for the sixth leg of the Journey of the Union – part of the National Day celebrations.
Their destination was the American University of Sharjah (AUS), where they were welcomed by the campus’s higher management team.
A question-and-answer session tackled an array of topics such as registration, accreditation, faculties, as well as undergraduate and master’s programmes. The students, aged between 14 and 16, also asked about the university starting up a medical programme. They were then taken on a tour of the AUS campus, during which they visited the library, one of the biggest of the UAE’s educational institutions.
“We were then taken to a photo gallery for the late Sheikh Zayed. It was amazing and very inspiring,” said Abdullah, 15, from Ajman.
The visit concluded with a lunch, after which the students left for their next destination – the headquarters of Bee’ah, the environmental and waste management company. The students were shown the process of recycling a scrapped car, by compacting it inside a machine that turned it into a lump of metal. They were also shown how retired tyres were recycled and reused to manufacture pavement material for pedestrians.
By next year, Bee’ah will be able to recycle 100 per cent of all the material referred to the company. Many of the students described the tour as a highlight of their time in the emirate.
“They told us that they generate Dh2 million per month from selling the recycled material, which is great,” said Sheikha, 15, from Umm Al Quwain.
At 6pm the students were taken to the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation, located at the Waterfront, where they were given a guided tour, including the Ibn Al Haitham Gallery for Science and Technology. They were shown a machine used by Muslims centuries ago to distil water, as well as apparatus used for medical purposes.
They were also shown a room that contains one of the Al Kaaba covers gifted to Dr Sheikh Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, the Ruler of Sharjah, and the Abu Bakir Gallery for Islamic Faith, which contains rare and priceless copies of the holy Quran in various calligraphy, referring to different times of the Islamic civilisation.
Alaa Al Shaweri, 16, from Umm Al Quwain, said of themuseum: “It showcases a vital part of the Islamic history. It showed us how our Islamic scientists were pioneers and how their knowledge and work brought light to the nowadays world.”
The next leg of their 10-day journey is Ras Al Khaimah on Thursday.
tzriqat@thenational.ae
