Bahraini Gulf Air First Officer Yasmeen Fraidoon Mohammed

The Rotary Club of Adliya was proud to host First Officer Yasmeen who shed light on her job and field questions from members and guests during the Club’s regular monthly Vocational Evening which occurred on Monday 10th January 2011. The Rotary Club of Adliya features a high profile speaker on the first Monday of the month, a vocational speaker on the second, holds a board & business meeting on the third and enjoys the company of members and their families for the fourth Monday of every month.

First Officer Yasmeen, who is one of the very few women in the Arab and Muslim worlds to be a fully qualified commercial pilot, is in charge of hundreds of lives and millions of Dinars worth of equipment and cargo which she ably transports within the Gulf Air network on the Airbus 330 fleet. How has the job affected her and why did she choose such a vocation in the first place, considering that she is classically training and holds a BSc in Business Information Systems from the University of Bahrain?

[audio:RA-110110.mp3]

These and many other questions have been addressed by Commercial Pilot Yasmeen. Please listen to the podcast by clicking the Play button to listen to the proceedings.

The Rotary Club of Adliya would like to thank everyone for their invaluable help and support. In particular, the RCA recognises the Muharraq Governate for their ready assistance and support, the Muharraq Municipality for the provision of the Park, the Ministry of Interior and Traffic Directorate for the provision of security and traffic personnel and for their assistance with traffic at the venue, the American Mission Hospital for the provision of an ambulance, the RCSI for their provision of the event’s marshals, and of course the excellent ladies from Think Pink Bahrain who are an inspiration and for their unceasing enthusiasm and support for the project.

This film is produced by Gulf Broadcast free of charge as part of their CSR and community engagement effort.

The Indian Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal holding an Indian invented $35 computer

The transformation of the Indian economy over the last 30 years could not have happened without the emphasis on proper education. Now with around 220 million children going to school every year in India, the first task, Minister Kapil Sibal contended, was for him to ensure that they do in fact attend school. The renowned Indian Minister of Human Resource Development was speaking at a special luncheon hosted by the Bahrain India Society to which the Rotary Club of Adliya was proud to be invited to and made the guests of honour by H. E. Abdulnabi Al-Sho’ala, who himself is an alumni of Indian Education, and also recently shared his thoughts on Indian/Bahraini relations at the Rotary Club of Adliya.

Minister Sibal’s Herculean tasks do not end at ensuring that children go to school, but recognising that a wealth of a nation comes from the intellectual property borne by research students in universities, his task is to increase the induction of university students to a much higher level than what it is currently at. Of those 220 million, only 12.4% will enter into the university stream, a fact that occupies the minister’s waking moments. His plan is to increase that figure to 30% by 2022, which is the 75th anniversary of the Republic of India.

More over, he is setting about to completely overhaul the educational system in his country in order for it to be based on critical thinking, rather than rote learning, a past he is joyously engaging in destroying and upon whose ruins building the next generation of world leaders, one in which not only critical thinking will rule supreme, but one that is resolutely tied to ethical considerations which benefit the whole of humanity.

There are many more topics the Minister covered which we at the Rotary Club of Adliya are happy to share with you. We are sure you will find much to think about when you have listened to this excellent gentleman’s speech.

[audio:Kapil-Sibal-Role-of-Ethics-in-Educatioal-Strategy-Bahrain.mp3]

We wish to thank the Bahrain India Society for inviting us to this event, and hope that this is one of many instances in which we can continue to cooperate.

Remember that you can subscribe to our podcast channel which will automatically download our podcasts directly to your computer whenever they are released. Please click here to subscribe.

Mahmood Fadhel sharing his experience at the Rotary Club of Adliya

How would you go about managing a fleet of 650 vehicles and reconcile the needs of users and departments with varying needs? What would prepare you for this task?

Mr. Fadhel began his carrier as Workshop and Transport Controller when Batelco was experiencing growth and expanding its services. He gradually transformed the vehicle maintenance department from a simple maintenance workshop to a modern fleet management and maintenance centre, a centre which at times managed a fleet of over 650 vehicles ranging from normal cars and trucks to specialised vehicles like roading and cabling vehicles, pole erection vehicles, fiber optics specialised vehicles and mobile GSM base-station vehicles

Mr. Fadhel gained a Diploma in Automotive Engineering and a Diploma in Petrol and Diesel Vehicles Maintenance from UK. He also attained various practical certifications in vehicles maintenance and fleet management from vehicle manufacturers such as Toyota and Nissan, he was promoted to Manager Transport & Vehicle Maintenance Centre.

He was instrumental in Batelco winning numerous awards for fleet managements and vehicle repair and maintenance from reputable organisations around the world.
On retiring from Batelco after a service of 35 years, Mr. Fadhel started his own vehicle repair shop which he now personally manages.

To listen to Mahmood Fadhel’s story, please click on the Play button below and download his accompanying presentation [pdf].

[audio:RA-100712.mp3]

please press Play to start listening, or subscribe to our Podcasts to download and listen to them on your computer or mobile device at your leisure.

President Mahmood Al-Yousif presents Rotarian Dr. Faiza Ghabrial with a certificate of appreciation of her selfless dedication to the Rotary and its causes.

In a first of many to come, the President decided to honour a long standing and active member of the club for her exemplary service and attendance. He singled Rotarian Dr. Faiza Ghabrial for this honour and reminded the attendees of her services rendered to the Club and the larger community over a lifetime of selflessly giving without any expectations of returns.

The Club is indebted to Rotarian Dr. Faiza for her initiatives, particularly her suggestion for adopting the major cause of helping children with congenital heart defects, a cause which has now been fully adopted with committees formed to oversee the fund-raising and awareness activities to support such a worthy cause.

Rotarian Khulood Al-Qattan, the Service Projects Chairperson is closely working with Rotarian Dr. Faiza who now heads the Humanitarian Subcommittee to ensure the prescribed milestones are met and the vision for this program always remains at the forefront of the Rotary Club of Adliya’s agenda.

President Mahmood Al-Yousif with Think Pink Founder Jules Sprakel at the launch of a previous breast cancer awareness campaign

Earlier in the day, the Club approved its first activity of the Rotary Year: “The RCA Breast Cancer Awareness Walkathon” jointly with Think Pink Bahrain. The walkathon will take place on October 1st, signaling the start of a whole month of activities and events to increase breast cancer awareness in Bahrain.

Funds raised through this event will be equally shared between the Rotary Club of Adliya and will be used for its “Gift of Life Bahrain” program to help children with congenital heart defects and Think Pink Bahrain who will purchase a digital MRI machine specifically designed for the discovery of the onset of breast cancer in younger patients.

There are many corporate sponsorship opportunities available in this event, if you wish to contribute or talk to us about sponsorship, please contact Rotarian Khulood Al-Qattan or email us for more information. We expect the afternoon will be a lot of fun and be attended by a large number of people.

We welcome Rotarian and Guests to our meetings. For more information about our club and meetings, please link to http://rotaryadliya.org/about/club-meetings – we look forward to welcoming you.

Please click on the images below to view photos of the meeting.

President Mahmood Al-Yousif inaugurated the meeting at the Officers Club in the Elite Resort & Hotel by welcoming members and guests and inducted the first new member to the Rotary Club of Adliya in the year.

President Mahmood Al-Yousif inducts Mr. Fareed Bushehri into the Rotary Club of Adliya

The president then launched his presentation summarising his goals for the year and requested volunteers for various required subcommittees which would be critical for the success of the programs.

As you can see from the joint presentation and hear from the audio Podcast below, the major program for the year will be the Gift of Life Bahrain which is a program specifically designed to enable the diagnosis, treatment and ultimately surgical intervention of children with congenital heart defects. This program will raise sufficient funds to help the Ministry of Health to build and equip a specialised centre (the Children’s Cardiac Centre) to be housed within the Salmaniya Medical Centre, the main healthcare hospital in the Kingdom. To ensure its sustainability, the Rotary Club of Adliya will also ensure that a supervising doctor and some attendant nurses will be trained in the use of the provided equipment.

[audio:RA-1007-5.mp3]

Please click the Play button to listen to the Podcast

PP Redha Faraj discusses the budget for RY10/11

The Vice President and Honorary Treasurer PP Redha Faraj presented his budget for the year and explained how the sources of revenues to the Club must be utilised in order to achieve the required growth in program adoption, particularly the GOLB project, informed the club of the impact of membership growth and presented two scenarios for the Club to consider and suggested milestones and fund-raising possibilities and targets which should be considered to ensure the success of the Club’s endeavours.

The Gift of Life program will be supervised by Rotarian Khulood Al-Qattan who chairs the Service Projects Committee and ably assisted by Rotarian Dr. Faiza Ghabrial who heads the Humanitarian Subcommittee. The Gift of Life program was the brainchild of both Rotarian Dr. Faiza and PDG Nijad Alattasi.

To help raise funds for GOLB, the club will mount five major fund-raising activities:

1. Breast Cancer Awareness Walk
   1st October 2010 in cooperation with Think Pink Bahrain, subcommittee headed by President Mahmood Al-Yousif
2. Cricket Tournament
   scheduled for November 2010, subcommittee headed by Rotarian Zoher Taherbhai
3. RCA Bahrain Model United Nations XVII
   scheduled for February 2010, subcommittee headed by Rotarian Fareed Bushehri
4. The Bahrain Invitational Golf Tournament
   scheduled for March 2010, subcommittee headed by PP Peter Muijrers
5. Art Competition
   scheduled for March 2010, subcommittee headed by PP Redha Faraj

There are several more activities scheduled for the year and we need your help! RCA Rotarians especially are encouraged to contact me or any board member to offer your services. Please download the presentation and have a look at the available activities ready for your leadership.

Rotarian Khulood Al-Qattan, Chairperson, Service Projects Committee discusses her programs for RY10/11

Rotarian Khulood Al-Qattan then informed the club of her activities and emphasised her committee’s goals for the year, starting with the GOLB project and going on with educational, social and vocational aspirations. She specifically mentioned programs and ideas discussed during her meeting with her committee which comprise of:

• Rotarian Dr. Faiza Ghabrial – Head of the Humanitarian Subcommittee
• PP Dr. Khalid Tabbara – Head of the Educational Subcommittee
• and Rotarian Fareed Bushehri – Head of the Vocational Subcommittee

The Public Relations Chairperson Rotarian Ahdeya Noor then shared her plans on how the Club could be best exposed in the media and talked of her intentions to leverage the Arabic press more effectively and continue to work with the English papers who have always been supportive. Rotarian Ahdeya is also looking into exposing the Club’s activities in the national radio and television.

Past District Governor Nijad Alattasi then informed the club of the work and existential importance of the Rotary Foundation and declared his plans to activate the Club’s understanding in order to further the relationship with the Rotary Foundation.

The acting Sergeant-at-Arms Rotarian Jawad Hassan ably officiated the proceedings, PP Peter Muijrers entertained those present and acted as the fine master while Honorary Secretary and Incoming President Dr. Sajida Tabbara concluded the meeting by announcing the Secretary and positive Treasurer’s reports for the evening.

To be kept informed of the Rotary Club of Adliya’s activities, please consider subscribing to our Podcasts, view our photo albums, join us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!

The meeting was well attended, and was presided over by PP Redha Faraj, who invited Incoming President Mahmood Al-Yousif to share his goals and aspirations for RY 10/11.

In the attached Podcast, you could listen to the Mahmood’s presentation and download the accompanying presentation (pdf) to see and hear the plans and aspirations for yourself.

[audio:RA-100621.mp3]

Briefly, the following are the major points presented which will be the backbone of RY10/11 for the Rotary Club of Adliya:

The main cause: The Gift of Life Bahrain [GOLB]

For the benefit of children with congenital cardiovascular defects. It aims to not only build and equip a new annex to the Salmaniya Medical Centre, but also equip it with the appropriate equipment and help train a doctor and nurses to ensure its viable and long term sustainability.

With the aim to raise BD100,000 (US$ 265,000) to enable us to achieve this goal, we are planning several major fund raising events throughout the year; some of which will be:

Fund Raising Activities for RY10/11

• Breast Cancer Walk • shared with Think Pink Bahrain
 • October 2010 – P. Mahmood Al-Yousif
• Cricket Tournament • Rotarian Zoher Taherbhai
 • November 2010
• RCA Bahrain Golf Invitational • PP Peter Muijrers • 
Jan 2011
• RCA BAHMUN XVII • Rotarian Fareed Bushehri • 
Feb 2011
• Earth Day / Art Competition
 • March 2011

IP Mahmood Al-Yousif also detailed some other events which the Club will take on as part of its community responsibility, including:

• Orphans Cinema Outing in cooperation with the Bahrain Cinema Club • Sept 2010
• Bahrain National Day • December 2010
• RCA Family Fun Day activity • December 2010
• DG visit • February 2011 • should coincide with BAHMUN
• Elderly & Orphans desert camp • March 2011

The members expressed full support for these programs and committed to exert all efforts at ensuring their success.

We look forward to RY10/11, please join us!

Rotarian Wesam Baqer delivering his speech

Rotarian Wesam Baqer has a long history in community service. having been a Rotaractor (Manama & Salmania) for some 9 years and having gone through various leadership positions with the Rotaract Club, including a presidency and a leading position within the District’s management.

As Wesam wanted to continue serving his community in a structured and institutionalised manner after he naturally left the Rotaract Club, he decided to join the Rotary Club of Adliya.

Rightly thinking that others would benefit from his experience, Wesam approached the club and asked to be featured as a Speaker so that he can share his experiences, reflect on his time as a Rotaractor and also share his enthusiasm and aspirations with his fellow Rotarians to inspire them to do even more within their community.

Please click on the link below to listen to Rotarian Wesam’s talk and click here to download his presentation [pdf 12MB]

[audio:RA-100510.mp3]

The refuse from discarded electronics products, also known as e-waste, often ends up in landfills or incinerators instead of being recycled. And that means toxic substances like lead, cadmium and mercury that are commonly used in these products can contaminate the land, water and air.

Fareed Bushehri, the UNEP’s ROWA DTIE officer, and an acknowledged expert who provides technical assistance to countries of the West Asia Region to promote Sustainable Development, will be speaking to us at our regular meeting tomorrow evening (April 19th, 2010).

Mr. Bushehri covered:

• What is E-Waste and Why E-Waste is an issue?
• The Arab region and Its ICT Industry
• E-Waste Projects & Initiatives currently undertaken by UNEP
• Results of the Desk Study on E-Waste Management in the Arab Region
• Potentials for Environmentally Sound Management of E-Waste in the Region.

Please listen to the podcast of the meeting and Mr. Bushehri’s talk by clicking Play below:

[audio:RA-100419.mp3]

You can also download Mr. Bushehri’s accompanying presentation by clicking here [pdf].

disclaimer: some text copied from Wired.com

On the night that PP Alan Blackman stood-in for President Hasan Al-Balooshi due to the latter being on a business trip, our very own Rotarian Zuhair Taherbhai stepped up to the plate and spent the next 20 minutes trying desperately to explain something which was rather obvious to him (and to both Rotarian Sam Mulholand and our stand-in president PP Alan Blackman) to a roomful of people who were utterly bewildered as far as Cricket is concerned. Thankfully, Rotarian Zuhair was finally able to get us to start to comprehend it.

That’s a good thing, as our club is putting a plan in place to mount another Cricket competition in Bahrain to raise money for our endeavors. Rotarian Zuhair spent a few minutes talking about the plans and suggested ways in which club members can contribute.

On behalf of the club, we wish to extend our thanks to PP Alan Blackman for chairing the meeting. We hope you enjoy listening to the Podcast.

To explore this and other issues, our club invited Abdulkarim Abu Jaber, Managing Director of Primus Bahrain to discuss this topic and share some of his experience to start the attendees on the right path of creating or strengthening their company’s ICT strategies. Some of the topics to be discussed include:

• General IT industry Trends
• IT in business and personal life
• How IT can help organization grow and reduce cost
• Adoption of new IT trends
• How in the current economic downturn technology can drive innovation, as people and enterprises need new technologies and new products
• How can IT and technologies provide companies with a competitive advantage
• How running a business and overseeing IT is a tough task in the best of times. But in today’s environment—with consumer and business spending shrinking, budgets declining, the stock market sinking, and the pressure to adopt new tools and technologies growing—many organizations are finding themselves stretched to the limit.
• Software as a Service

You can listen to the talk and download the Podcast here:

Please click here to download the accompanying presentation.