Qatar students celebrate National Day
Thu, 10 Dec 2015 16:58:00 GMT
The University celebrates Qatar National Day and welcomes the Qatari Cultural Attaché Dr Mohammed Al-Kaabi
â–º Mayor of Kirklees Cllr Paul Kane with Qatari Cultural Attaché Dr Mohammed Al-Kaabi (standing centre)
BEING a long way from home didn’t stop the University’s Qatari students from celebrating Qatar’s National Day in style, when they took part in festivities on campus.
This most-anticipated event saw over 500 UK, European and International Students taking part on a day when the VIP guests included the Qatari Cultural Attaché Dr Mohammed Al-Kaabi and the Mayor and Mayoress of Huddersfield.
The whole of the Qatari Student Society attended and their President, Mohammed Alkubaisi, was extremely proud and honoured to be sharing his country’s heritage with everyone at the event.
On the day, there was traditional food on offer and a cultural display for people to walk around and enjoy. Later, the Qatari students displayed their native talents when they took part in the country’s traditional sword-dancing, as well as Arabic and English poetry reading. For many students attending, this was their first true taste of Arabic culture.
Different cultures
The University’s Director of International Development, Andrew Mandebura, said how impressed he was at the scale of what the students had organised.
“The event saw many students from our other societies on campus attending,” said Mr Mandebura. “It was wonderful for us to be able to host the Mayor of Huddersfield and for Dr Al-Kaabi to take time from his busy schedule to come and see our student society. Overall, the event was a real credit to our Qatari students and the time and effort that they put into arrange everything,” he said.
British Contemporary Art student Laura Broome was at the event and believes these interesting and informative events help students to absorb different cultures.
“Events like these give students the opportunity to make friends and to become involved with others outside of their own countries,” said Laura. “Most people don’t have much knowledge about other areas of the world and I believe events like these can help people to become more open-minded,” she added.
