Photo from Flickr

In behalf of the Filipino community in the UAE, please accept our heartfelt thanks for the generous donation you have given to aid the victims and survivors of typhoon Haiyan that devastated the central islands in the Philippines. This gesture once again show us the humanitarian spirit of the founding fathers of the UAE, especially Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, which is being demonstrated as well by Shaikh Khalifa and other UAE rulers.

UAE donated $10 million aid plus relief goods to reach out to the typhoon-hit areas.  The nation also expressed condolence to the loss of lives and properties and infrastructure. Sheikh Khalifa also sent heartfelt and uplifting words that may the Philippines rise up quickly from this terrible devastation.

Thank you also UAE for encouraging other leaders of the world to stand together and assist in relief in times like these.

Your help will not only be able to contribute in the relief operations, but probably in the rebuilding process as well.

Thank you for the love, for your inspirational leadership and generous heart.

www.mumznbabyz.com

It’s usually the mom that does the shopping, but when it comes to online shopping, I’m in it.

Our baby, now 15 months has grown bigger and is not fitting on her infant stroller anymore. So we thought of buying a new one for the fast-growing little one. We checked several local online shops and compare prices primarily.

Mumz’n Babyz (www.mumznbabyz.com) is one of those that offers relatively lower prices of most baby gears. They have a wide range of products and brands from all over the world. Every parent’s needs from becoming a mom til the kids grow are available. Toys, nursing and feeding, apparel, health and safety and mom’s needs are in the store.

What we’re looking specifically is out of stock at that moment, but thanks to the courteous live chat representative we instantly learned that the item will be available in stock soon.

We bought a Disney Hauck Port V stroller which costs AED325 only and shipping is free (across UAE).  Hauck is a German brand with a license partnership with Disney. And since it is our first purchase, we got 10% off the price.  We got the item in good packaging and condition in just 2 working days.

Shopping experience is very easy.  You can search by product categories or by brand. The popular ones are given upfront.  The best sellers and the related products to your query is offered for your consideration as well. You can compare specs. The description and the features are very elaborate. The items dimension and the net and shipping weight are also clearly available.

There are also item reviews that could guide us how previous buyers feel about their purchases.

Payment is secured as they are a GoDaddy Verified Secure Site. But if you’re not comfortable of paying online, you can opt for Cash on Delivery option.

I think the look and feel of the UI needs a bit cleaning up to provide better user experience. Improving the visual design could equate to gaining more shoppers

Photo from acuns.org

GUEST POST – More students than ever before are choosing to study in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and it’s very easy to understand why. For a UAE university degree can match the breadth and depth of the very best of qualifications offered at top universities both in America or Europe.

UAE universities, such as the American University of Sharjah, or the string of foreign university branch campuses making up Dubai International Academic City, the world’s only free zone dedicated to higher education, are pushing the boundaries of research and development and thereby attracting the sharpest minds from across the globe.

Yet, although sometimes hard to believe, it was not always this way. The UAE has in fact come a long way in just a short number of years. In an article by Dr Abdullah Al-Awadhi, which is featured on the website of the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (ECSSR), a premier independent research institution, the total number of all public and private schools in 1971 stood at just 74. But by 2013, the number had risen to over 1,200 schools.

The number of university graduates at the time was less than 40 with thousands of vacant jobs awaiting them. There was not a single university then. Today, the UAE hosts 73 universities and colleges, with tens of thousands of students enrolled in them.

Dr Al-Awadhi writes, “These figures given indicate the progress made by the UAE’s education sector in the last four decades. The reality is actually much better than what these statistics show and this is reflected in the ‘UAE Vision 2021’, which contains remarkably ambitious targets.”

The founder of the UAE, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, relentlessly focused on education as an essential pillar and critical factor behind progress in all fields. He once said, “The real fortune of any developed nation lies in its educated children. The progress of peoples and nations is measured by the level of their education and the access to education among them.”

Recent data gathered by the UAE’s National Bureau of Statistics reveals that the country will ensure children complete their primary education and it will reach its targeted levels before 2015. Moreover, the Pearson Foundation, which specializes in providing education services across the world, confirmed in a report that the amount of investment in education technology and e-learning in the UAE is among the highest in the world.

Dr Al-Awadhi adds, “In compliance with and in response to the initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum regarding building a ‘Smart Government’, the UAE works diligently to achieve top status regionally in terms of ‘Smart Learning’, a program that is designed for the next five years.

“It includes training and development of teachers, preparing ‘smart classrooms’; building a special network for schools; distributing laptops for teachers, preparing classrooms for e-study environment, distributing smart tablets to students, receiving feedback, providing appropriate software to manage e-classes and utilizing e-syllabuses and interactive materials.

“The Smart Learning program aims to develop the education environment by using smart learning means and by improving the performance of students by empowering them and equipping them with technologies in conformity to international standards. The program also seeks to help students and teachers acquire knowledge and technical skills of the 21st century.”

Check out this and other articles and reports on the ECSSR website.