July 9, 2004

PRINCESS SARA BINT BANDAR BIN FAHD DISCUSSES THE CHILDREN OF PEACE PROJECT AND OTHER PROJECTS. Al Hayat Princess Sarah bint Bandar bin Fahd bin Saud has an interesting and important story; she entered the fieldwork as president of "Art Vision Group." The thirty-year old woman is currently continuing her doctorate degree in administrative education at King Saud University, and holds a masters degree in business administration. She also has other social, administrative, and educational tasks. She is a member of the committee of businesswomen in the Riyadh Chamber of Commerce, a member of the committee of women action for disabled children, and most importantly a member in the committee of developing curriculum for the women's colleges in Saudi Arabia. What attracts even more attention in her personality is the big love she has for children. This big love is the reason behind her adoption of a one-day-old infant, which made her a mother before getting married, which in itself is a unique, and perhaps the only, experience to occur within the Saudi society. Hakem, the little baby, celebrated his first birthday a few days ago. However, Princess Sarah does not only love her son Hakem; her concerns are focused on all Saudi children. The feeling that there is a total lack of interest in childhood was the incentive for her working on a children's project called "children of peace." Details will be given during the interview with the Princess, which discusses several fields of work, because she does not wish to be a Princess only, but a woman with specialties that help its society and its progress. The interview started with the princess introducing herself, "I am Sarah bint Bandar bin Fahd bin Saud. I am currently working on my PhD dissertation at King Saud University. The topic of my thesis is administrative education. As for my work, it is divided into two dimensions: there are first the issues concerning women; we would like to establish a magazine that first starts on the internet, and would later be published in print. The second, focuses on children; we also have a plan for a magazine for them, but the special thing about it is that its editorial board consists of children themselves, which is also the case with the satellite TV channel. In the company, I am responsible for the Multimedia Division which is responsible for creating children computer games. I am currently studying in order to get a degree in animation arts. As for the games and cartoons released by our company, they are imported from the West, and then translated into Arabic." Interviewer: A magazine and a TV station run by children, does this not necessitate having adult professionals to supervise them? The Princess: "Certainly, a number of artists, experts, and professionals work with me. We are currently working on launching a children's TV station that broadcasts in Arabic via the internet. The children will be responsible for it certainly with the guidance of adult experts and professionals. I named the project the "Children of Peace." She continued: "We are currently producing a children's computer game. Its events take place in Riyadh, and the hero is a comic figure that would, hopefully, be appealing to the children. It was my idea, which is 100% Arabic, and will hopefully be out soon." Interviewer: You talk about producing children's programs, which need expert research. Adults should undertake this. Do you have a group of professionals for all this? The Princess: Certainly, we have professionals training and teaching the children, but I am trying to let children themselves be the source of information, and directors of programs; I want the child to write the story. We work with specialists in children's literature in matters of advising or training, but we do not adopt their writings addressed to children, no matter how good they are. I personally prefer to have the child write about himself. Indeed the project needs time, but we have come a long way. An example about an interest in encouraging children's creativity and achievement is an agreement we reached with the Saudi Electricity Company to decorate their street cabins with children's drawings. The project is in process, and within a few weeks, you would see these drawings on the walls of the cabins in the streets. The aim of this is to give Saudi children a chance to tell the society: that even if one is an orphan, he is still a child, and deserves attention. We are working with children coming from orphanages. We train them; try to integrate them with normal children, and to make them become as productive as other children are. We also give them something in return for their work so that they will learn the value of work. Any normal child could send a civilized message about his country. My objective is to promote the culture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Thus, I got the approval of Prince Sultan bin Salman, head of the High Commission of Tourism, to produce computer games containing children's stories and cartoons that represent the archeological and tourist sites in the Kingdom, and that tell stories emanating from actual life. We had enough of translated Western movies, which transmit Western ideas; our children have the right to watch a movie about their country, and speaking their own language. We have seen enough of the West's cities and traditions; time has come for them to see our cities and traditions. Besides, I plan on distributing these films to both the Arab and Western worlds. Interviewer: There must be a complete plan regarding the way in which these children would fulfill their roles. Could you elaborate on this point? The princess: First, we will start by helping the "Children of Peace" find their inner peace, and then their security within their close environment. Once the child finds inner peace and feels good with his environment, he would be able to communicate peace to the outside world. The children of peace are those who drew the paintings that will appear on the electricity street cabins, as messages to society. These children gather in the kindergarten I established for them. There, they learn cooperation, love, and drawing. The next step is the establishment of TV programs, radio shows, and news programs, which will all be under the name of "Children of Peace". We will start with children of our own country, and then expand to Gulf countries and the rest of the Arab World. The word "peace" is broad; it is not merely opposite of the word war. Men placed peace in the face of war, while the world needs nothing but peace. Interviewer: Do you have partners in your project? What is your family's reaction? The Princess: I do not have partners, the funding is personal, and the project is self-funded. As for my father and family, they are very supportive. If it were not for this, I would have faced a lot of obstacles and constraints. However, the difficulty is in convincing society, as it does not imagine a girl my age could run such a big project. The idea is simple and easy, this is why people might find it difficult. The hardest thing for me is to prove that I can do what I say. Many people, including employees in the company, told me: "You are dreaming." I said that every big achievement starts with a dream. Moreover, this is a dream, not a nightmare. On the other hand, I found cooperation from governmental and non-governmental organizations, which means that my project started to achieve recognition and to receive support. Interviewer: What are the most important challenges that the Saudi women face today? The Princess: The first and most important challenge is to convince the Saudi society, which does not wish to recognize women's ability to work. This is a problem I personally faced; maybe because I am a Princess, my mission was even more difficult. Although I do not consider my title to be a privilege, I am certainly very proud of my parents and family. I must note that the views about women in the Saudi society are starting to change gradually. Today, the Saudi woman can work in many fields; she started imposing herself and her ambitions on society. When she proves her aptitude, she will oblige society to change its beliefs. Thus, I consider Mrs. Lubna Al Alyan a role model of mine, and a source of pride for women. The Saudi woman is full of ideas, talent, and culture. Thus, our company takes charge of all talented artists above the age of 16. We provide them with a showroom in the Muhayya region of Riyadh, where they could exhibit their paintings and pieces of work for free. We also work to provide job opportunities to the disabled, and to those who could work from home including those with speech or hearing impairments. We also have a visually impaired girl working with us, and she draws beautiful paintings.