Members of a group of U.S. students, who are in Oman on a leadership programme, have said they find Oman beautiful and Omanis warm and friendly.

The students, who are in the country for a week on the “Ibrahim Student Leadership and Dialogue Middle East Programme” organised by Queens College, stayed in Oman for a week and toured some of the most iconic spots of the city, including the Grand Mosque, Royal Opera House, National Museum and other places to get an insight into the traditions and culture of Oman and a perspective on the wider Middle East and Arab world. 

The ‘Ibrahim’ programme recruits undergraduate students with leadership skills, a strong academic record, and a deep interest in the Middle East to apply for a once-in-a-lifetime experience of a fully paid journey to the Middle East, with Saudi Arabia and Israel as bookends, and Oman, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan and the West Bank in between.

Students interact with a broad spectrum of national leaders, grass root activists and social and economic entrepreneurs. In Oman, they had the opportunity to meet with leaders, such as Dr P Mohamed Ali, vice chairman and managing director of Galfar, Sheikh Abdullah Al Araimi, founder of the Al-Raid group, and former U.S. Ambassador to Oman, Richard Baltimore. The group also enjoyed overnight trips to Nizwa and Jabal Akhdar.

The Ibrahim and Queens College Student Leadership Programme in the Middle East empowers cross cultural, interfaith networks of American students-scholar activists, with a nuanced understanding of the complexities of this strategically vital region.

Professor Mark Rosenblum from Queens College, who has been running the Ibrahim Programme for the last six years as its director, said, “I run some think tanks in my college and one of those that I am very attached to was founded by a Muslim American, who after 9/11 wanted to represent Islam. He was afraid that Americans had gotten the wrong, dangerous idea about what the true Islam was because of 9/11 and his idea was to identify some of the best and brightest interfaith Muslim, Jewish and Christian undergrad students, who were majoring in Middle Eastern studies to pick a few countries and go to them.”

“We choose students that are leaders on campus and can have an impact when they return. Since I started doing this, this is the sixth year I have been in Oman. I had been reading enough about Oman and hearing people talk, and also I know about the incredible developmental mini miracle that Sultan Qaboos had pulled off in the country.”

“So I felt maybe there is something going on in Oman that we are missing, and I was interested to take a trip here, and the trip blew me away. I said it’s not all talk; it’s something really interesting and its gorgeous, so this became a central player and my students universally had the same response, more time in Oman please. This trip is no exception, the students have said ‘more time here professor,’ it’s welcoming, it’s real, not razzle dazzle and it’s got something that has a little bit more of a sense of authenticity.”

Andrew, one of the participating students said, “My interpersonal connections here, talking to people who live here, has helped me in gathering greater understanding of the depth of culture in Oman and the UAE. We met with some Omani students, our bus driver is really friendly, so a lot of us have been talking to him as much as possible. People are very friendly and also very open.”

Henry, another student said he finds Omanis to be really polite. “Very very polite, if I had to put it in one word.”

“There is something, like the natural beauty you don’t see in other places, Oman is very beautiful, overlooking the sea, it’s very different and so nice to see,” said Suhair and Hanna, two other students from the group.

Source: Timesofoman