Many a life lesson has been taught to me by the animals that I have been fortunate enough to work with in my 23- year career as a Marine Biologist.

Nowhere has this been more apparent than here in the U.A.E, where Jumeirah Group proudly supports and provides resources for the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project’s work with critically endangered stranded sea-turtles, requiring human intervention.  As an indicator species, their abundance, distribution, and health in the ecosystem are reflective of local environmental conditions. 

Every year we are in awe of the resilience of these amazing reptiles, that have been around for eons, for despite all that is being thrown at them, in the face of adversity, they continue to adapt to the increasing anthropogenic pressures cast upon them.  We also witness more and more youth partaking in and being vociferous in the need for all to subscribe to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and in our case, particularly SDG-14-Life below water. 

Now, more than ever, we need the Voice of Future Generations to be heard, as we grapple with important issues affecting not only the future of the turtles, but also our very own. 

As one of the cornerstones of our mission is to educate the youth about the plight of sea-turtles globally, we are fortunate to be in a position to regularly engage meaningfully with them here at the project. We eagerly look forward to reading inspiring stories of these magnificent, ancient, ocean-dwelling mariners and their fight for survival, as seen through the eyes of the next generation of ocean ambassadors!

Favourite childhood book? Robinson Crusoe - Daniel Defoe. 

Favourite book right now? Voyage of the Turtle, Carl Safina.

Favourite lesson at school? Biology.

Favourite animal/lifeform? Too close to call between turtles and penguins.

Favourite hero/heroine? Ocean Elder, Dr. Sylvia Earle.

Gerhard Beukes, self-confessed Thalassophile, is the late director of the Dubai Turtle Rehabilitation Project, based at Jumeirah’s Burj Al Arab hotel, in Dubai, where his team has successfully rehabilitated and released 1856 sea turtles since project inception.

I’ve got two teenage kids, and a husband on the ‘highly vulnerable’ list. We’ve all been locked in the house together for almost two months. These are a few things we’ve learned as a result:

·  My extrovert daughter, who we all thought would be climbing the walls by now, has realised her crazy social life was driven mainly by Fear Of Missing Out. Now there’s nothing to miss, she’s loving staying at home. 

·  My son and I have learned, to our delight, that lazing on the sofa watching telly is now considered ‘saving lives’ rather than ‘being bone idle’.

·  We’ve discovered my husband is obsessed with anti-bacterial spray. Unfortunately, we’ve also discovered I’m allergic to it. So, my early Coronavirus-like breathing problems were the ironic result of my husband’s attempts to protect me from Coronavirus.

·  Although we began lockdown in different clothes – my husband in work gear, my daughter in funky dresses, and me in jeans and mumsy tops – after a few months stuck at home not seeing anyone, we’ve all discovered the joys of my son’s ‘gamer uniform’ of baggy joggy bottoms and unwashed t-shirts.

·  We’ve learnt we’re rubbish at online grocery shopping. On the positive side, we’re now the proud owners of a thousand and ten tea bags, eight bunches of bananas and a tomato ketchup bottle so small you can hide it behind an egg cup.

·  The shortage of snacks in the house has turned us into sneaky hoarders. So far, I’ve found Kit Kats hidden in laundry baskets, packets of prawn cocktail crisps stashed behind the printer and a Mars ice cream bar secreted in a Birdseye fishfingers box.

·  Luckily for us, after two months locked down together, and with more on the horizon, our favourite discovery has been how much we all like spending time with each other

Voice of Rachel Hamilton

Rachel Hamilton is an award-winning children’s author from the UK. Her books include The Case of the Exploding Loo and The Case of the Exploding Brains (Simon & Schuster), the Unicorn in New York series (OUP & Scholastic US) and The Falcon Who Found His Wings (Motivate). She is a graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge, and has put her education to good use by working in an advertising agency, a senior school, a building site and a men’s prison. Rachel loves to make people laugh, especially when it's intentional rather than accidental.

The reason I wrote my book was because I like stories; I love a good story, and I enjoy sharing them. Although there is nothing wrong with make-believe ones, mine were real experiences that I loved to share with others.

The second reason was because I wanted to record my experiences. Horses have always been an essential part of my life, and growing up around them has shaped the way I am today, which inspired me to write and share those valuable experiences with other people. People around me would always recall the little moments that they remember with my horses and it made me realize how sad it made me feel to lose those memories for myself, so I decided to write them down.

Horses were my teachers, and I believe they have shaped me to be a better human. Children who grow up with pets learn simple things that may not be taught to them without experience. First and foremost, they learn to listen; animals can’t speak our language, but we may learn to read their body language and facial expressions to better understand them. They also learn to think of others before themselves: children who are responsible for their pet’s well-being learn how to care for their pet’s basic needs and learn patience along the way. My horses were and still are my teachers, and I can’t imagine how I would have grown up without those few hours a week I spent at the stables.

Being outside in nature and around animals was a positive influence throughout my childhood, and I’m very blessed to have grown up in a household that appreciates nature and wildlife. One of my favorite memories during my childhood was having breakfast before school with my family, while watching wildlife documentaries before we went to school. Later on, during the day we sat down and talked about different types of birds, mammals or fish that live in the Arabian region or around the world.

I learnt about the wildlife in our region from the few moments every day I spent with my family, whether indoors or at the farm, and that helped me understand my heritage as well: I learnt about the different type of gazelles, birds and fish in our region, and how they are named both in Arabic and English and even why they are named that way.

As a grown-up, I now realize that this information was a big part of my education at home. It helped me appreciate the wonders of nature, and enjoy family time because it was always educational. I never thought that animals would end up being endangered, or our Earth would go through climate changes like global warming. It does make me sad that some other child might not experience what was a big part of my growing up. That’s why I feel so strongly about animals and saving their homes.

One of my favorite books that I loved reading throughout my childhood was Matilda by Roald Dahl. I loved Roald Dahl’s style of telling stories and enjoyed the little bits of humor he added to his stories. Matilda was one of my favorite characters in a children’s story: she was in many ways relatable and I admired her intelligence as well as her determination.

Another series I thoroughly enjoyed when I was much younger were the Little Princess books by Tony Ross. A very different character from Matilda; so much so that you might argue that the Little Princess and Matilda stand on different sides of the character spectrum, with one being much more mature and self-disciplined while the other was loud, childlike and demanding. Now I see why I loved both of them so much: they were strong characters who weren’t shy of showing who they were, no matter how little everyone thought they looked, and that in my opinion is a good role model to any young girl or child who reads these books.

Another good influence I can proudly recall happened in our local community. Unfortunately, I can’t remember the exact date, but the reaction of our community is something I would not forget. There was a parade of some sort a few years back, I believe people were celebrating the UAE’s National Day; with all the celebrations and crowds of people and cars, the streets were unfortunately littered with confetti, empty bottles of water and lots of trash. Local youth clubs and groups went on social media and asked people to come and help clean the streets of Dubai, and that resulted in a lot of people going out and helping the cleaners. That was a favorite memory of mine where I saw a positive impact on our local community, and I hope to see more people take action in helping to keep our environment clean.

Selfless good deeds are motivating to see, and so are stories: creating a character from our region in a story helps people from our community relate to the character, and the problems he or she faces. A relatable character encourages others to read more about them, step inside their shoes and understand how they would overcome their problems. Who better to represent our local community than the locals from our region? This is how we can overcome misconceptions and assumptions that only hinder our growth as a society.

Voice of HH Sheikha Hissa bint Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum

Sheikha Hissa, a passionate horsewoman and writer, is the author of Tajaarub: From a Horsewoman’s Journey, which explores the powerful connection between humans and horses. She has led her teams of horses in practices and trainings in both England and Dubai. In her position as Goodwill Ambassador for the Middle East Region she is committed to making a real difference in the lives of young people.