Public Relations & Information DepartmentSultan Qaboos University

Thursday,18 November 2018 Issue #007

Mental HealthServices forthe Young

Supporting Extensive Reading

Oman’s Trade Potential with IORA Member States

Support for Global Learning

Perspective

Editorial SupervisionJamal Said Al-Riyami

Editor in ChiefHilal Saif Al-Badi

Senior EditorSanthosh Muthalath Kunhiveettil

EditorsNasebah Said Al MuharramiSara Mohammed Al GhailaniFatema Salim Al Ajmi

Design & LayoutAhlam Shaaban Al-WahaibiNajah Saif Al HarthiIbrahim Mohammed Al Hajri

General ServicesSalim Said Salim Al-Sadairi Khalifa Musabah Al-Salehi

PhotographyCentre for Educational Technology

C 2018 Sultan Qaboos University.

From the Bottom of HeartOn the occasion of Japan Day hosted by SQU recently, His Excellency Toshinori Kobayashi, the Japanese Ambassador to Oman touched upon certain similarities between the people of Oman and Japan. He said: “I have noticed that Japan and Oman share many similar aspects: both of our countries flourished as maritime nations, and in modern times, enjoy international respect for peace and stability. The warm hospitality freely offered by the Omani people reminds me of Japa-nese ‘Omotenashi’ meaning every service is from the bottom of the heart: honest, genuine and without concealment nor pretence”. ‘Omotenashi’ is Japanese hospitality. “Omote” means public face: an image you wish to present to outsiders. “Nashi” means nothing. Combining them means every service is from the bottom of the heart: hon-est, no hiding, no pretending.

During the Japan Day celebrations at SQU, a Japanese tea master presented the Japanese tea ceremony which itself carried the spirit of ‘Omote-nashi’. The tea master faces the audience and makes tea in front of them. Everything is open and clear. ‘Omotenashi’, does not ask for flawless skills, but a pure heart which leads back to the keywords: serve wholeheartedly.

On their part, Omani people are warm and wel-coming. It’s not unusual to be invited into a local’s home after a day touring the mountains or walking through the local souk. When entering an Omani home, you will likely be greeted with scents of frankincense and cardamom, and treated to Omani coffee, dates, and halwa. Coffee is served in small cups, which are refilled until the guest gives them a gentle shake to signal they have had enough. Omanis are all about social relationships and unity between people, even when those people may be complete strangers. Living within an Omani village, means that visitors will always find caring hearts that will stand by them in hard times and celebrate with them in times of joy.

His Excellency Toshinori Kobayashi deserves praise for his insightful remark on the warm hospitality extended by the people of Oman and Japan to their guests. It reminds us about Mahatma Gand-hi’s words: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

3Spotlight

For many centuries now throughout the world, medicinal plants have played an important part in the story of human development. Their effective-ness in treating diseases and helping people main-tain physical and psychological health has ensured that the use of medicinal plants has remained widespread to this day across a diverse range of nations.

Oman is blessed with over 250 reported spe-cies of medicinal plants that could be decisive in treating some of the world’s current and future diseases, according to Prof. Ahmed Al-Harrasi, Vice Chancellor for Graduate Studies & Research at the University of Nizwa. He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the “First International Conference on Frankincense and Medicinal Plants: Recent Advances in Research and Industry” hosted by Sultan Qaboos University. Among the medicinal plants grown in Oman, frankincense comes on the top. In fact, Oman’s diverse and fascinating flora and marine species coupled with the demand to exploit natural resources makes it an ideal location to conduct studies on natural products. In Oman, frankincense trees grow in the great arc of the Dhofar Mountains around Salalah and frankin-cense was traded throughout the ancient world from Rome to China. The sites associated with frankincense cultivation were inscribed in the UN-ESCO World Heritage List on December, 2000.

Prof. Al-Harrasi stated that the four components of the Land of Frankincense (The port of Khor

Rori, Al-Baleed, Shisr and Wadi Dawkah) dramati-cally illustrate the trade in frankincense that flour-ished in this region for many centuries. They con-stitute outstanding testimony to the civilizations in south Arabia since the Neolithic. “Among the 19 species of frankincense trees reported worldwide, Oman hosts one of the best quality frankincense that comes from Boswellia sacra.

According to Prof. Al Harassi, frankincense, the gum resin of Boswellia trees has been used as a remedy for millennia in different cultures for different social and medical purposes. With the development of in vitro and in vivo studies at the end of the last century, frankincense has gained more importance when these studies demonstrat-ed its superior anti-inflammatory activities. Later, clinical trials supported this fact when frankin-cense proved potent for treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, bronchial asthma and multiple sclerosis. The majority of the reported ac-tivities of frankincense were claimed due to its rich content of boswellic acids known for their anti-in-flammatory activity. Yet, another fascinating class of cembranoids mainly incensole and incensole acetates is proving exceptional anti-inflammatory and anti-depression activities due to their ability to activate ion channels in the brain to alleviate anx-iety or depression. In parallel to the advances of clinical trials, several pharmaceutical and cosmetic frankincense-based products have appeared in the market.

The True Worthof Frankincense

4

Oman is an emerging econ-omy which has witnessed rapid development and demographic shift over the past four decades. With such changes, the coun-try has witnessed a surge in the number of young people with various mental health problems. A special-ist in behavioral medicine at SQU Hosptial, in a commen-tary, says that despite the increasing need for mental health services for the young, there is a scarcity of such ser-vices in Oman due to severe shortage and maldistribu-tion of facilities. In a paper published in London Journal of Primary Care, Dr. Hassan Mirza from the Department of Behavioral Medicine at SQU Hospital, outlines how Oman is delivering mental health services for the young despite the challenges.

Mental Health Servicesfor the Young

5Scope

Dr. Hassan Mirza

Citizens constitute 54% of the population of Oman, with half of that population less than 25 years of age. Dr. Hassan Mirza’s article says that Muscat is the largest city of Oman where the majority of the population resides, and the only city with Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). “Overall, there is a scarcity of CAMHS in Oman”.

Oman’s national health system is offered free of charge to all the citizens from birth to grave. The World Health Organization (WHO), in its first-ever comparative analysis of health systems in 2000, ranked Oman first among 191 WHO member states for its overall performance on the level of health. The United Nations 2010 Human Development Re-port listed Oman at the top of the world’s 10 leading countries that have made the greatest progress in recent decades in public health. As a relatively high-income country in the past four decades, Oman has benefited from improved standards of living. But, accord-ing to Dr. Mirza, the country has witnessed a surge in the number of young people with cognitive, emotional and behavioral disorders. He says, “Despite this surge, many do not seek care from qualified mental health professionals”.

The first CAMH service was established in late 1990’s at the Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) with rudimentary services. More recently, CAMHS has developed a more comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach. Due to the demand, beds are available for urgent admissions, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, making it the only psychiatric inpa-tient service for young people in Oman. It aims to offer comprehensive care for children and young people up to the age of 18 presenting with mental health disorders. The service at SQU Hospital offers both outpatient and inpatient management, with the latter being a unique service making it mandatory for a caregiver to reside with the young person on the ward during the inpatient stay. Such policy has attracted major public appeal, making it the service of choice for inpa-

tient management over the sister institute, Al-Massarah Hospital (AMH), which is the only psychiatry hospital in Oman operated by the Ministry of Health, and has very recently started to offer admissions for young peo-ple. In addition, ancillary initiatives such as psychometric services have gained momen-tum. This is complemented by the neces-sary social support and by the generation of school reports by psychologists and social workers within the multidisciplinary team.

Moreover, in 2017, for the first time, the Ministry of Social Development in Oman launched a 24/7 child protection hotline, which aims to combat child abuse and ne-glect in the country. The toll-free hotline is a leading national project to protect children in Oman, and works closely with all health care institutes across the country, including CAMHS at SQUH. The unit’s ultimate goal in SQUH is for the multidisciplinary teams to work collaboratively in order to help and assist patients and families to work towards recovery together.

In the last quarter of 2016, a pilot project for adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was initiated at SQUH. This was the first and currently the only adult ADHD service in Oman with an ambition to be the centre for research, training, and spreading awareness of adult ADHD. The clinic has been very well received by the service users and their caregivers, as in the past, there was no provision for the management of young people that continue to experience ADHD symptoms into adult- hood, with many being discharged from the CAMHS unit to their general practitioners without a comprehensive shared care plan.

“Currently, the only two institutes with CAMHS in Oman, SQUH and AMH, offer services to the whole country. Both are lo-cated in Muscat,and require many service users to commute long distances, result-ing in children missing school and care givers taking the day off work. There-fore, it is due to these current challenges that future perspectives focus on ensuring that more psychiatry trainees pursue ca-reers in child and adolescent psychiatry, with an ambitious vision to develop basic CAMHS in all secondary and tertiary health care providers in Oman”, Dr. Mirza con-cludes his paper.

Dr. Mirza’s analysis appeared in the London Journal of Primary Care, 2018 Vol. 10, no. 4, 121–122.

6

This theory is an elegant explanation of why some people find a book stimulating, while others find it boring – the synthesis is not taking place, because people’s life experiences differ. At the same time, however, the theory raises the danger of suggesting that those with written languages are somehow superior to those whose languages have no written form – thus privileging literacy over oracy.

It also raises an interesting question for Arab students. Bernard Haykel has said that “gener-ally speaking, Arabs are not great readers and they don’t buy a lot of books. Poverty and high illiteracy rates are clearly one factor.” Availabili-ty of books is another factor; there are too few really good bookshops, even in large cities, and censorship (political and religious) has also played a role. For most Gulf Arabs, however, the most important factor is the fact that they are still living societies where many people are probably only second generation literates. These are societies where television arrived before universal literacy and where the internet was established before access to public libraries.

This means that large numbers of our students still come from what are effectively bookless homes; where the few books that are available consist of devotional texts, old school books and some technical manuals. For EFL teachers, there-fore, the challenge is to offer students something that is actually worth reading; something that both engages and holds their attention.

In the 1980s, in Oman, secondary schools were issued with Longman Book Boxes. These were a welcome resource, although the book “boxes” were actually moulded plastic trays that con-tained some 25 very short, quite colorful, but essentially undemanding stories. The two princi-ple advantages of the trays were that they could be raised on a stand, thus displaying a choice of books. They also came with a strong cardboard sleeve that allowed them to be carried from class

to class.

The book boxes themselves have never been bettered for initial impact, although the books they contained were often an anti-climax. The book boxes were also linked to an idea that the then ELT advisor from the Ministry of Education described as “new and exciting.” This was a wall chart on which pupils recorded the books they had read. As an idea, it was neither new nor exciting – George Orwell’s preparatory school had used a “book list” during the First World War – and it introduced an unnecessary element of competition to what was intended to be a solitary pursuit.

Mercifully, other publishers ignored this approach and either concentrated on expanding their lists of classic and contemporary novels in graded reader format, or produced purpose written texts, Which tended to have more limited ap-peal. When endorsed by enthusiastic teachers, or offered as supplementary reading to particularly autonomous learners they were highly effective – otherwise they fell flat.

Recently, however, Heinle Cengage and the Indian Kalyani Navyug Media group have both produced some excellent graphic novels – re-telling of classic novels in a cartoon format, and there are also the Black Cat Readers from Cideb Edtrice. These books give the graded reader plus. Not only do students get the reader, they get an audio CD, interleaved chapters of background in-formation, an author’s biography, suggestions for project work and a constantly updated website. This approach to reading is far more engaged with the wants and needs of contemporary stu-dents because it allows them to read, or to surf off into any one of a number of related activities.

Wide choice, therefore, may be the key to culti-vating reading. Schemes like M-reader claim to foster extensive reading, but they frequently un-dermine themselves. The theory behind M-reader is that it fosters a culture of extensive reading by

Supporting Extensive ReadingOne theory of reading says that when we read, fictional situations become interwoven with experiences from our own lives, creating a new synthesis. We therefore develop new neural pathways in the brain, simply by reading.

By: Neil Mcbeath

7Vista

setting targets, while simultaneously checking comprehension, and reward-ing success. Being digital, M-reader is also supposed to have automatic appeal for 21st century students but, like the Longman book lists, once it is used as an instrument for assessment, students stop reading extensively, for their own pleasure, and begin to read intensively, to obtain marks.

Returning to the initial theory, there-fore, the question is really what kind of reading are we trying to foster. Are we “integrative” or “instrumental”? Do we wish to cultivate readers who can interweave fiction with their own experiences, or those who can hunt through a text, seeking answers to specific questions? It can be argued that there is a place, and a need, for both types of reading skill, but wheth-er they can be fostered by a single approach is another question entirely.

8

The outcome of the study shows that Oman can benefit from engaging in deeper integration with IORA countries. It is observed that a more solidified bilateral relation with IORA countries would increase total trade (by 55 percent) and agricultural trade (by 90 percent). In addition, the cost of trading, because of deepening in-tegration with IORA (Average Tariff Equivalent) is expected to drop by 10.3 percent and 14.9 percent for total and agricultural products trade respectively. The results support the fact that the level of income, population, geographical proximity and historical linkages are important in explaining bilateral trade flows in IORA. Based on this, Oman would benefit from its strategic location in the Middle of the Indian Ocean to expand its economic space.

The study further shows that Oman still has un-exploited trade potential with a majority of the member countries in IORA and can expand its market base thereby benefiting from its strategic location in the Indian Ocean. “Oman still has unexploited export potentials with Australia, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauri-tius and Sri Lanka. Oman can expand its agri-cultural exports to Australia, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mozambique Seychelles, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Thailand. Therefore, Oman should take due advantage of its proximity to other markets apart from UAE, Somalia, Comoros and Yemen with which it has seemingly exhausted its export potentials”, the researchers indicate.

The economists point out that throughout his-tory, Oman trade had inclined towards the GCC

Oman’s Trade Potential with IORA Member StatesA group of researchers from the Department of Natural Resource Economics of the Col-lege of Agricultural & Marine Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University suggests that it is time for Oman’s bilateral trade to exploit new trade opportunities beyond its predefined regional entity, particularly with the Indian Ocean Rim Association countries (IORA). The economists, quoting their latest research project, state that the level of Oman’s intra-trade within the MENA region has stagnated and seemed to have reached its potential. This research funded by World Trade Organization (WTO) Chair program hosted by SQU, and done by Abdallah Akintola under the guidance of Dr Houcine Boughanmi, Dr Hemesiri Kotagama and Dr Lokman Zaibet, sought to explore the trade potential of Oman with the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) countries, focusing on both total trade and agricul-tural trade.

9In focus

and MENA region that have captured during the last decade around 15% and 40% of Oman’s exports and im-ports respectively. “Over recent times, however the level of intra-trade within the MENA region has stagnated and seemed to have reached its potential. Oman, in order to diversify its economic alliances has been engaged in region-al integration schemes with countries beyond the MENA region, including western and eastern countries. Despite traditional and cultural linkage with the MENA or Arab region, Oman has also historically entertained a strong eco-nomic and trade linkage with coun-tries around the Indian Ocean which represents a source of potential trade expansion and economic growth”, they observed.

The Indian Ocean Region has always been a trade nexus connecting the Asia, the Middle East and Africa and has recently seen key players in glob-al trade showing great interest in the region. In the coming decades, eco-nomic and productivity growth in the Indian Ocean region is expected to rise factoring its relative population, growing market and strategic location. Oman has always been regarded as an

enthusiastic founding member that has pushed heavily in enhancing cooper-ation and trade in the region. Oman has contributed to the establishment of Fisheries Support Unit located in Oman and has provided a large financial share to the association trust fund. It is also home of the proposed Maritime Trans-port Council in Muscat. Data show that Oman’s total export worth of 11.1 USD in 2001 billion has increased over time to reach 32 USD billion in 2015, of which 24% went to IORA countries. Oman’s total imports during 2001-2106 period was worth of 232 US$ billion, of which 47% were supplied by IORA countries.

10

Support for Global LearningThe International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience commonly referred to as IAESTE is an international organization for exchanging students for technical work experience abroad. Students gain relevant technical training lasting from 4 weeks to 18 months. IAESTE in-cludes committees representing more than 80 countries, with the potential of accepting new countries into the organization every year. IAESTE’s aims are to connect students with employers in foreign countries, provide university students with technical experience, and culturally enrich students and their host communities. Prof. Bernard Baeyens from Colombia is the current Pres-ident of IAESTE. He came to Oman to attend the 8th Asia and Pacific IAESTE Forum (APIF) hosted by Sultan Qaboos University from 30 September to 1 October, 2018.

11Face to Face

How would you comment on the APIF host-ed by Sultan Qaboos University?

Prof. Baeyens: The IAESTE organizers in Oman really made this regional Forum highly success-ful in fulfilling its objectives and made the event enjoyable for the participants from the Asia Pacific region. These kind of regional meetings are new to our Association that was established in 1948 initially focusing more on the European continent and North America. Now Asia-Pacific region is coming to the forefront in terms of higher education, research and development, and exchange of students for internships and technical work experience abroad. Regional Forums like this would help the association to tackle different problems specific to the region regarding exchange of students under IAESTE. IAESTE Oman chapter was established in 2001.

Howe would you comment on the perfor-mance of IAESTE Oman so far?

Prof. Baeyens: Oman is doing exceedingly well in terms of sending and receiving international students for career-focused professional intern-ships abroad in engineering disciplines under the umbrella of the IAESTE. “Considering the small size and population of the country and the relatively smaller number of students pursu-ing engineering related programs in the univer-sities, I would say that Oman’s performance in international student exchange is exceptionally good. IAESTE Oman plays a key role in con-necting companies, universities and students in Oman to foster cross-border collaboration in research and development and increase the mobility of engineers. In the course of time, Oman will gain more reputation among the members of the Association and students and will become a popular destination for exchange students from all parts of the world. The im-pressive record of accomplishment of Oman in exchange of students abroad within a very short span is a testimony for that.

In your view, what are the advantages of organizing such regional forums IAESTE, a global association?

Prof. Baeyens: As you know, IAESTE is a flexible network of people across the world. All the 87 members of the Association tend to communi-

cate frequently in our efforts to providing young science and engineering students from around the world with paid, course related work experi-ence. In IAESTE we are committed to fostering international understanding and influencing the development of young people through interna-tional exchange. Our core values of friendship, trust, respect, professionalism, development and intercultural cooperation serve as a founda-tion for our strong organizational culture and as the principles that guide all our work and daily activities. Regional meetings help us to address the specific problems and issues related to the particular region. For each region, the prob-lems are different and the approaches to tackle the problems have to be different. Regional meetings ensures more commitment from the members for specific projects and programs for any particular region. With regard to Asia Pacif-ic region, I would say that so far the region has responded positively with all our proposals.

How would you comment on the way the information and technological revolution has changed the way in which the IAESTE network performs?

Prof. Baeyens: 70 years ago, when IAESTE had its humble beginning in the Europe, the Asso-ciation used to communicate with people with limited technology available at that time. Back in 1948, there was no Internet, not event fax machines. We used to communicate with our members mostly through letters sent by post, telex and telegrams. When members gather for a conference or a meeting, it assumed the form of a market place where people interact with each other face to face to update on the train-ing position available in each member state. Now, everything is online and there has been remarkable change in the way we communi-cate with each other. Faster communication technologies has changed the way the IAESTE network functions. Through online platforms, our members prepare everything in advance without the need to meet each other. However, being a global non-profit association and the networking is based on trust, face-to-face com-munication is vital for us. Hence, we meet each other by organizing regional forums, annual and general conferences and other activities from time to time.