Why Do We Dress Like This?

Likeable. Upbeat. Adorable. Genuine. These are words I would use to describe the refreshing Emerati couple in this video, Khalid Al Ameri and his lovely wife Salama Mohamed.  The parents of three young children, the Al Ameris live in Abu Dhabi - and they are living the dream and having lots of fun while they are doing it. 

But Khalid never forgets the struggles and hardships he went through to get to where he is today.  Today the 33 year old has to pinch himself for his success and good fortune, after taking a blind leap of faith when he quit his good paying government job in 2016 to carve out a whole new career and image for himself by utilizing various social media platforms, such as Facebook, Snapchat, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter. 

Khalid's educational background really did not prepare him for what he does today. The oldest son of an Emerati accountant and a Scottish mother, Khalid wasn't a great student, but he did earn a (rather useless for him) degree in Marine Operations at a nautical college before going back to school a few years later to obtain his MBA from Stanford. From a career in finance, he eventually landed a gig as CNN's MidEast Correspondent, despite the fact that he had no formal training or education in journalism.

Salama is a strong modern independent Emerati woman who holds her own in their partnership. She started her own jewelry business called Pearl by S. Salama also has vitiligo, a skin condition in which the pigmentation loses its color. Consequently she has white patches all over her body. Khalid's love and admiration for her is evident by his enthusiasm and inclusion of her in the videos. I loved the video they made together explaining vitiligo and the way he obviously adores her just the way she is.

Realizing the power of social media, Khalid has transformed himself and his life into a modern day dream where he is his own boss and calls his own shots.  Using his natural instincts and charm, he has rebuffed traditional older media platforms to stay ahead of the game. He is now partnering with Facebook, along with his other various endeavors which include TV presenter, motivational speaker, writer, and popular social media celebrity who makes upbeat videos with his wife and kids about "life, love, and family." His positive messages are inspirational to his large following who clamor for more.

Khalid and Salama together have emerged as a delightfully charming power couple who are putting a fresh face and a positive stamp on the images of the United Arab Emirates, Muslims, and the Arab World.

Email:  khalid.s.alameri@gmail.com
Twitter:  @KhalidAlAmeri
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/user/KhalidSAlAmeri
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/khalidalameri

A Real American Bedouin

Erga Rehns was born in Palestine in 1935.  She was raised in New York, lived in Portugal, and lived among the Bedouins in the desert of Wadi Rum in Jordan.  This post contains two videos from 2007 that were posted by Al Jazeera about her life in the desert.



Feeling the need to return to her roots and a simpler life, Erga had lived for seven years in the Wadi Rum desert when this record of her bedouin lifestyle was first presented.   She outlived two husbands prior to her move to Jordan and in the video shares a story about receiving a marriage offer from a Bedouin man when she was 70 years old. 

SAUDI ARABIA: Boredom + Lack of Activities = Unacceptable Behavior & Stupid Choices

A big problem that exists in Saudi Arabia is the lack of  activities for the youth here.  As a result, many young men end up creating their own forms of "fun."  I felt sickened and angry when I saw this video of these young Saudi bullies who seemingly have no respect for others or the property of others. 

7th MIT Pan-Arab Conference

Press release:

22,000 jobs needed per day to combat the high unemployment rate in the Arab world -

MIT AAA conference to address employment and innovation in the region

06 January 2013

The MIT Arab Alumni Association (MIT AAA), with the lead sponsorship of Sadara Chemical Company and its parent companies, the Dow Chemical Company and Saudi Aramco, is convening world and regional industry leaders this month in Dubai to address the future of manufacturing and economic development in the Arab world. The 7^th MIT Pan-Arab Conference: Manufacturing for Jobs, Growth and Diversification will be held at the Westin Dubai Mina Seyahi on January 19-20, 2013.

According to a recent IMF study, the Arab world must add 22,000 new jobs per day until 2020 and manufacturing is a key sector which can accelerate the growth and development needed to tackle this challenge.

Regional and global leaders speaking at the 7^th MIT Pan-Arab Conference include:

1.     His Excellency Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, Minister of Commerce and Industry, Saudi Arabia

2.     His Excellency Abdullatif Al-Othman, Governor, Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority

3.     His Excellency Ahmed Chami, Former Minister of Industry, Trade, and New Technologies, Morocco

4.     Mohamed Al-Mady, Vice Chairman and CEO, SABIC

5.     Jim McIlvenny, Senior Vice President, The Dow Chemical Company

6.     John Rice, Vice Chairman, GE and President and CEO, GE Global Growth and Operations

7.     Homoon Kang, Vice Chairman, Samsung Electronics

8.     David Steel, Senior Vice President, Samsung Electronics

9.     Motassim Al-Maashouq, Vice President, Saudi Aramco

10.  Martin A. Schmidt, Associate Provost and Professor of Electrical Engineering, MIT

11.  Joe Saddi, Chairman, Booz & Company

12.  Amer Majali, Chief Commissioner, Development and Free Zones Commission, Jordan

13.  Azzam Shalabi, President, National Industrial Clusters Development Program, Saudi Arabia

14.  Ahmed Yahia Al-Idrissi, Executive Director, Mubadala Industry

15.  Professor Fred Moavenzadeh, President, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology

16.  Professor Stefan Catsicas, Provost and Executive Vice President, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

17.  Ziad Al-Labban, CEO, Sadara Chemical Company

18.  Gassan Al Kibsi, Director, McKinsey & Company

19.  Dr. Hani Shammah, Head of Private Equity, National Bank of Abu Dhabi

20.  Nader H. Sultan, Senior Partner at F+N Consultancy and Former CEO, Kuwait Petroleum Corporation

21.  Zuhair Allawi, President, Dow Saudi Arabia

22.  Badr Al-Olama, CEO, Strata Manufacturing

23.  Abdulrahman Al-Ubaid, Founder and Managing Director, Saudi Development and Innovation Group

Mr. Talal Kheir, President of the MIT AAA, said: “The Conference will focus on the future of manufacturing and its potential in meeting two of the Arab world’s most pressing demands: job creation and economic diversification. The objective of the conference is to bring together leaders in technology, policy, industry, education and finance to discuss innovations and showcase solutions that have the potential to significantly impact today’s global manufacturing challenges.”

Topics addressed at the two-day conference will include institutional, regulatory, and macroeconomic issues pertaining to manufacturing; education, training and innovation in manufacturing and their impact on employment, entrepreneurship and investment opportunities; plus models for a globally competitive Arab manufacturing sector.

Conference delegates will include senior government and industry leaders from the Middle East, Europe, Asia and North America, MIT faculty, students and alumni, as well as regional business leaders and professionals. Registration is still open at http://www.mitpanarabconf.org/

-ends-

About MIT Arab Alumni Association:

The MIT Arab Alumni Association (MIT AAA) was established in order to bring MIT to the Arab World and to bring the Arab World to MIT. MIT AAA’s vision is to promote the highest interests of humanity, to support science and technology education in the region, and to facilitate education of the diverse MIT community in the region.

Since its inception in the late 1990s, MIT AAA has pioneered and developed a regional conference model for which it received the MIT Presidential citation. These high profile regional conferences bring together the MIT community from Cambridge, as well as alumni/ae and prominent leaders in the Arab region to the different countries in which the conferences take place: Cairo (2000), Amman (2001), Beirut (2002), Dubai (2003), Tunis (2004) and Abu Dhabi (2009) have been recent venues.

For more information kindly contact:

Rabih Riman

PR Manager, entourage

Mobile:         +971 55 414 929 6

Email:           rriman@entourageintl.com

Website:       www.entourageintl.com