A poetry and music festival was held Sunday night at the National Theatre in Abu Dhabi as part of the Abu Dhabi National Campaign for Social Cohesion 2009 with special guest Sheikh Zayed bin Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in attendance. The campaign is held under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Latifa bint Zayed Al Nahyan and organized by the Al Tawasel Center for Training and Consultancy under the slogan Building a Family…Building a Nation.
The festival also honoured Ahmed Al Rashidi, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Al Tawasel Center for his outreach efforts and attendance at the event. The night started off with recitations of verses from the Holy Quran by Muhammed Abdullah Al Siari, followed by a entertainment piece representing the heritage of the UAE by the group Al Maqabeel Military Task Force led by the poet Khamees Al Muqbali.
The night’s special guest, Ahmed Al Rashidi, delivered a speech welcoming HH Sheikh Zayed bin Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and praising the goals of the campaign and the unwavering support of HH Sheikha Latifa bint Zayed Al Nahyan. Rashidi stressed that their sense of responsibility lead them to establishing the campaign and deemed the project a promising start to shape a safe community.
The festival saw the guests interacting with the performers during an Emirati song titled “Mother of the Emirates.” With such an inspiring beginning to the musical part of the show, the five singers set to perform took to the stage. Emirati singer Osama Al Safi, Iraqi singer Mohammed Al Aazawi, Ahmed Al Hajiri, Mohammed Anas and Mohammed Al Mueteiri sang an operetta entitled “Zayed the Good” by Emirati poet Mubarak Al Aanzi. Then singer Osama Al Safi sang songs for love, God, family and mothers.
Singer Mohammed Al Aazawi sang a series of songs dedicated to the Al Tawasel Center in recognition of their efforts. Mohammed Anas concluded the first part of the festival by performing a song titled “Our Father Zayed,” written by the poet Al Mubarak.
The second part of the night was dedicated to the poets who took to the stage with their poems of praise, love, faith and the nation. The two poets Saoud AL Musabi and Mohammed Saeed Al Muharami started off with their poems declaring their pride in the nation and the efforts of the government in supports the pillars of the family.
In a surprising turn, the festival welcomed two children, Hazaa Ahmed bin Al Nouh Al Munhali and Khaled Abdelraheem Bawzeer, to recite their poems on stage addressing the role of women in the UAE and their participation in the national campaign.
The festival ended with HH Sheikh Zayed bin Saeed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ahmed Al Rashidi and Abeed Al Jeiaidi, the technical coordinator of the festival, presented prizes for the five singers, the Eldiar Band and their leader Mohammed Salem Al Hashimi and the poets who participated in the festival.
The Abu Dhabi National Campaign for Social Cohesion 2009 aims to build a community that cherishes the value of maintaining family stability, reduce the incidence of divorce and family disintegration, educate newly married couples to meet the challenges affecting marital stability and give couples the skills to solve marital conflicts. One of the main aims of the campaign is to guide couples through the dissemination of programs to increase awareness of, cultural, social and family for all groups of society.
The campaign is sponsored by many governmental and private organizations including Abu Dhabi Police, Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority, Abu Dhabi Municipality, Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage, Pyramedia, Al Jawda Association and many other supporting and media sponsors.
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