When a patient asked emergency medical services student Hani Alqarni where he was originally from, he responded “Saudi Arabia.”
“Don’t they ride camels and live in tents there?” the patient replied.
Camel riding is now just for fun, Alqarni said.
Though many have heard of Saudi Arabia, Alqarni and fellow Saudi Amjed Alsulaily spoke of common misconceptions of their home country during yesterday’s “Creighton Culture Tour,” an event held in conjunction with International Education Week presented by Creighton’s Global Engagement Office.
International Education Week is celebrated nationally as a joint initiative by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education. Events at Creighton kicked off on Saturday with an International Education banquet and continue through Friday.
“It’s important because if we want to celebrate diversity and country, we can do something small to educate,” says Shama Ali, coordinator of international student and scholar services in the Global Engagement Office.
During the “culture tour,” eight students presented on their home countries including Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, Kazakhstan, India and Kuwait. Each presentation focused on history, culture and economy, giving attendees a quick glimpse around the world.
Many students spoke of misconceptions, like exchange students Amir Tazhinov and Adilbek Mussatayev from Kazakhstan, who want people to know more about their country than just the film Borat, and that even though it shares the ending “-stan” with many Middle Eastern countries, it is actually in Eurasia, south of Russia.
“It’s a peaceful country,” Tazhinov said. It’s huge too. Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country in the world, and the largest landlocked country, with more than 120 different ethnic groups.
Although Pacis Bana’s home country of Rwanda is not near as large in area (think the size of Maryland), its population is 11.8 million. Bana, a master of business in analytics student, noted that while most might know Rwanda because of the 1994 genocide, the country is now peaceful with no ethnic divides.
Rwanda is known for being very clean. In 2008, plastic bags were outlawed. On the last Saturday of each month, Rwandans come together for Umuganda, a time to clean neighborhoods, plant trees and perform other tasks that improve their communities.
Community was a common thread throughout each presentation. Master of Pharmacy students Prajakta Waghmare and Pooja Hedge, both from India, spoke of their country’s festivals such as Diwali and Holi.
Dana Al-Ghadban, an occupational therapy student from Kuwait, highlighted her country’s humanitarian efforts, which have been recognized by the United Nations. Al-Ghadban is a native of Kuwait, but is a minority in her home country. With many great job opportunities available, foreigners make up the majority population of the country.
In 90 minutes, Creighton students took attendees around the world with trivia and stories of their homelands.
The International Education Week celebration at Creighton continues through Friday. View the full schedule.
