Of oil, pearls, sand & sun

"One more dispossessed child, do you suppose? Another refugee? Very much otherwise..."

Watch this vintage Brit documentary on the making of Abu Dhabi and the Baniyas bedouin tribes of the desert.

Part 1

Part 2

I teach in a small town called Baniyas on the outskirts of Abu Dhabi city. My students are the grand children of the people whose lives changed so dramatically after oil was found here in the 1950s. When times get tough in the classroom, I keep having to remind myself that these people have come from desperate poverty to immense wealth in just one generation. It would explain a lot. More on that later though.


Pop quiz:

What is the meaning of the name 'Abu Dhabi'?!