World Water Day celebrated in Oman to raise awareness

Muscat: The Middle East Desalination Research Center (MEDRC) celebrated World Water Day 2018 with a three-tiered event under the theme of ‘Nature for Water’.
The event incorporated MEDRC’s annual Walk for Water, an art competition for children, and the Sultanate’s first Sun Glacier challenge.
Ciarán Ó Cuinn, centre director, said on the occasion, “It’s about raising awareness. It’s about letting people know that this ‘thing’ we can take for granted is so important to our lives and we need to work together.”
“Our door is always open. If you have ideas for World Water events next year or for working with us or anything else please just pick up the phone or knock on our doors and we will listen to you.”
The World Water Day celebrations began with a group of schoolchildren from OurPlanet International School Muscat welcoming several Omanis concluding this year’s Walk for Water.
The annual trek was led by MEDRC staffer Hilmi Al Kindi, who walked from Wadi Al Khoudh to the MEDRC Headquarters with a team that included Nawaf Al Sulaimi, wheelchair-bound inspirational figure Abdullah Al Salmi, and videographers.
The trek was held to highlight Oman’s natural water resources as solutions to current water challenges.
Guest of Honour Her Highness Sayyida Basma Al Said, founder of Whispers of Serenity and the 2016 Omani Woman of the Year, was on hand to honour the Walk for Water team and the winners of an art competition organised by OurPlanet International School Muscat. The second edition of the Omani Young Water Researchers Award was also launched during the event. The accolade recognises excellence in water research and is open to undergraduate and postgraduate Omani students between the ages of 20-35 years.
Prospective scholars have until June 10 to submit their applications for a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to the Netherlands where they will share their research with the continent’s brightest minds during the 2018 European Water Tech Week in Leeuwarden. Last year, Manal Al Balushi won the award for a research paper on water losses in Wilayat Seeb.
Marcel Rompelman, programme manager of the networking and cultural exchange event Wetskills, then held the formal beginning of the first-of-its-kind Sun Glacier Challenge.
Founded by Dutch visual artist Ap Verheggen and supported by Sultan Qaboos University, the challenge will see several international university teams attempt to create water out of thin air using specially created Sun Glacier technology. The solar-powered, water-making technology operates without batteries.