Mshiereb: Our Doha "What/Why"

A slice of Mshiereb at Night - someone is working in the Big Hole 24/7

 

Here's what I know about Bob's employment in Doha:

 

The project is big.  In the billion dollar plus range. In a "wow, that's a Big Hole surrounded by chain link you got there" and a "cheez, them's a lot of cranes" kind of way.

 

The project is important.  A special viewing balcony overlooks the Big Hole to accommodate Sheikha Moza's visits to the job site.

 

The project is complicated.  Phase One A involves construction of four buildings, including a National Archive, Eid prayer ground and the Diwan Annex.  Phase One B consists of 27 diverse structures: hotels, apartments, offices, retail and mixed-used buildings, a mosque and more.  Phase One C consists of a school, townhomes and office buildings. The project employs thousands of people from all over the world.

 

There are more phases.  At this moment, Bob's company is not involved in them.

 

The color of a worker's hard hat identifies his/her function onsite:

 

white - manager/supervisor

red - safety guys

yellow - regular workers

blue - skilled workers

green - security personnel

 

(The function relative to the color of each hat may differ depending upon the project and the companies involved.)

 

Bob wears a white hat.

 

Each morning, six days/week, Bob rises at 5:30am.  He showers, dons business casual, swigs a cuppa Folgers Medium Classic and is out the door by 6:15am.  At the job site, he sits at a desk inside a trailer overlooking the Big Hole.

 

Job Site Trailer - front door

 

Construction packets create mountains, hills and valleys across his desk.  He reviews packet drawings, writes emails, makes phone calls, participates in meetings.  

 

Bob and Randy confer

 

Sometimes Bob likes what he sees in the drawings.  At these moments there is great joy inside the Big Hole.

 

Sometimes Bob doesn't like what he sees in the drawings.  There is gnashing of teeth inside the Big Hole.

 

Sometimes the issue concerns areas prematurely constructed.  Wailing and beating of chests pours out of the Big Hole.  (Just before the sounds of ripping, tearing and rebuilding begins…)

 

I pick Bob up each day between 5-6pm.  Sometimes he's ready to go.  Sometimes he's meeting with a contractor and I get some extra study time in.  Sometimes he's not there and I get to wait longer.

 

Time is a variable thing in Doha.

 

Waiting on Bob in Doha

 

Not long ago there was a chicken coop/garden overlooking the Big Hole.  One day, with no fanfare, a group of yellow hats tore it down.  I never learned the official reason for the coop's presence except that "Sheikha Moza want(ed) it there."

 

As this first part of the project whittles to a conclusion, Bob spends more time inside the Big Hole.  He climbs to the roof tops of buildings, looks over protected ledges and safely navigates sky-high scaffolding.  He wears steel-toed boots, hard hat, safety harness, safety glasses, jeans, tee shirt and a bright yellow vest for job site visits.

 

Bob, white hat, yellow vest, steel-toed boots

 

Want to know more?  Here's an official project video, published by Mshiereb on July 2, 2012:

 

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmITqSVqx1o)

 

The Sheikha and the Chickens

Why is there a chicken coop overlooking the massive hole in the ground from which the Heart of Doha, Musheireb, will rise?

Giant Hole

Chicken Coop Overlooking Giant Hole

The answer: “The Sheikha wants them there.”

That would be Her Highness Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser al Missned, the Emir’s (second) wife - and Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development; President of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs; Vice Chair, the Supreme Education Council; Vice Chair, Supreme Health Council; Chair, Sidra Medical and Research Center; Chair, Silatech; UNESCO’s Special Envoy for Basic and Higher Education; and Member of the High Level Group, UN Alliance of Civilizations. The Times of London named her one of the 25 most influential business leaders in the Middle East and she’s on Forbes’ list of the world’s 100 most powerful women.

As if all that weren’t enough, Sheikha Mozah holds a sociology degree from Qatar University, has been awarded multiple honorary degrees - and she has seven children!

Think you know all about the “oppressed and invisible” Middle Eastern woman? Think again.

At the Heart of Doha, Musheireb’s groundbreaking ceremony, Sheikha Mozah set her palm print into the building’s cornerstone.  Nearby, her image appeared on a television screen.  She said:

“Our past clearly reflected that communities in Qatar have always
been close knit.  People lived and worked together in harmony with
the climate, with the land and with each other.  We had our own
ways of dealing with our environment which was sustainable and
human in scale, and thus, our architecture reflected the unity of
our family’s identity.”

Since the discovery of oil and gas in the 1930s, this little pearl and fishing village has grown into a booming, busy metropolis. There’s a building shaped like a bullet and another in zigzag form. There are resorts and yachts and malls.  High profile sports events are held here.  The country has its own airline.

With all that development comes advancement – Education City, for example. On the down side, Qatar has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the Middle East and a generation of youth that (…reputedly…) prefers not to work.

A nation can’t stop moving forward for fear of losing sight of its roots or otherwise outgrowing its civvies.  Instead, leadership finds creative ways to remind those on the developmental front lines to stay true to the country’s heritage and culture.

She brings in the chickens.