iThra Comes to Close in Riyadh
OREANDA-NEWS. September 11, 2014. More than 640,000 visitors managed to take part in the fourth stop of Saudi Aramco’s iThra Knowledge program in Riyadh last month. The total number of visitors to all four programs in Dhahran, Jiddah, al-Hasa and Riyadh has surpassed the two million mark.
Visitors reflected on the value of the program, which offered — through well thought of pavilions — an attractive and entertaining, educational program suitable for all family members. Praise was received from regular visitors as well as high level Saudi officials and members of the diplomatic community in Riyadh.
HH Prince Saud bin Abdullah bin Thunayan, chairman of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu said: “Saudi Aramco is giving the young generation a chance to be exposed to culture and innovation through this program.”
HE Abdullatif Al-Othman, Governor and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority, said, “The program embodies the concepts of knowledge and community service, as well as the idea of edutainment to transfer knowledge and information.”
U.S. Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Joseph W. Westphal thought the program should be permanent and travel around the world. “I think we need activities such as iThra Knowledge to be applied around the world,” he said. “We need such activities to challenge the creativity within people.” Westphal’s sentiments were echoed by many visiting ambassadors, including Turkish Ambassador Yunus Demirer and Canadian ambassador Thomas MacDonald, who said, “Everything in the program delighted and impressed me; and Saudi Aramco should be proud of it.”
The success of the program was due to the thoughtfulness that went into the selection of creative displays in all pavilions, which included the “Names of Allah,” “Energy Efficiency,” “1001 Inventions” “Tinkering Studio” and the “Traffic Safety Village.”
The Riyadh numbers alone speak louder than words. In social media, the program generated 250 million tweets and 65 million Facebook impressions. In traditional media, 107 TV reports, 65 press articles and 40 live radio interviews highlighted the monthlong event.
Perhaps Amani AlHawwas, mother of Layan, the youngest volunteer at iThra Knowledge-Riyadh, captures the excitement and value of Saudi Aramco’s Riyadh program the best: “Above all, volunteering here has taught Layan to depend on herself, and there is no doubt it has developed the scope of her comprehension and personal cognitive skills. But on a different level the professionalism exhibited by Saudi Aramco and attention by the supervisors of the volunteer program created an outstanding atmosphere unlike anything I have ever witnessed before.”
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