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I recently returned to Saudi Arabia for the fourth time in two years, and I have additional trips planned for November and February.\u00a0\u00a0 With all the crazy activities by extremist, and the conflicts amongst nations in the Middle East, I am asked frequently if I feel safe there.\u00a0 The answer is an unequivocal YES.<\/p>\n
Though I have traveled to Dubai, Oman and Qatar in the past decade, most of my time recently has been spent in the city of Riyadh.\u00a0 This Capital City of Saudi Arabia is in the middle of the Kingdom and showcases some wonderful architecture.\u00a0 It has all of the personality of every large city I have been fortunate to visit with arts, entertainment, historical landmarks, shopping, big buildings, crowds, traffic jams and hard working people dreaming and building a brighter future for themselves.\u00a0 It is a bustling community with a rich culture, wildly different than ours in many ways, yet strikingly similar in a lot of their values.\u00a0 Though our cultural similarities are overshadowed by the difference in gender rights.\u00a0 And that is a whole other blog post.<\/p>\n
The people I have worked with in Saudi Arabia, both men and women, have been amazingly gracious and welcoming.\u00a0 They work hard to make you feel comfortable, welcomed and safe.\u00a0 There is an appreciated focus on safety with very tight security. \u00a0 Entering their country security is very much like ours.\u00a0 In the international hotel in which I stay they have a security check of your vehicle when you enter, and an airport style metal detector when you enter the building. \u00a0Now we don\u2019t see metal detectors at hotels here yet, but I did walk through one just this past week in two different schools in Oklahoma.\u00a0\u00a0 When meeting at the main offices of\u00a0the King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Public Education Development Project I usually walk, which is about a half mile from my hotel, and I have not once felt intimidated, concerned or even out of place.<\/p>\n
Now as for working with Saudis, there are a lot of communication differences making progress slow and frustrating at times.\u00a0 All the people I work with speak English, but I have to admit that I do not understand everything they are saying, and I absolutely understand no Arabic.\u00a0 It took me a while to realize they do not understand all of my English either, though they are hesitant to admit so, and most likely feel it would be rude to tell me as much.\u00a0 But we all try very hard to communicate and we all are learning every time we’re together. \u00a0I did purchase Rosetta Stone, but I can only say boy, girl, dog and cat so far. And Rosetta doesn\u2019t like my accent at all.<\/p>\n King Abdulla wishes one of his legacies to be a reformed educational system where all the children of Saudi Arabia are educated at a high level from kindergarten through college.\u00a0 Dr. Mohammed Al-Zaghib is the CEO of the project and leads an ambitious team with great passion and a huge goal.\u00a0 I certainly would not bet against this group, and am thrilled Solution Tree has been invited to play a role in their success.<\/p>\n Not surprising, the people of Saudi Arabia want the same things for their children as we do for ours.\u00a0 To have them educated, safe, successful and happy.\u00a0 They are absolutely no different than any other caring parent, and the people of King Abdulla’s project are no different than any other caring educator wanting to make a difference in the lives of their students.\u00a0 But it is easy to see why this country is cautious to work with Western Companies.\u00a0 So many outside companies look at the massive wealth of this nation and attempt to come in, make a quick hit, cash in and dash out.\u00a0 They don\u2019t really want to help, they want to prosper themselves, and only themselves. That is just plain wrong, especially in K-12 education were the stakes are way to important.\u00a0 At Solution Tree we really want to make a difference in the world, and it is our belief that the best way to bring about global change is through education.\u00a0 And that is why we do what we do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I recently returned to Saudi Arabia for the fourth time in two years, and I have additional trips planned for November and February.\u00a0\u00a0 With all the crazy activities by extremist, and the conflicts amongst nations in the Middle East, I … Continue reading ![\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ifomat.msk.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/ifomat.msk.ru92358554.jpg?resize=269%2C176\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ifomat.msk.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/09\/ifomat.msk.ru92358554.jpg?resize=269%2C176\")
King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz<\/strong><\/p>\n