An exciting new initiative launched in Abu Dhabi to promote reading habits among the public. ZOWD is the brainchild of HH Shiekha Alyazia bint Sultan bin Khalifa Al Nahyan who took time off to explain her vision to Tempo:
YOUR HIGHNESS, PLEASE TELL US A BIT ABOUT YOURSELF:
In my free time, I enjoy reading. I’m also an avid horse rider and spend most of my time riding my horses out at Al Asayl stables. I’m the CEO and founder of ZOWD and I’m also involved in private equestrian activities.
WHAT WAS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND ZOWD?
I’m a big reader and wanted my friends to get into the habit as well so I started a book club. I saw how successful that was and how easy it was to get non-readers into reading and this inspired the initial idea of ZOWD: Helping people set up book clubs to encourage reading. And so we had a pre-launch last year to test the waters and see the response, which was much more successful than anticipated – ZOWD seemed to have tapped into a big pool of interest -especially from people in Al Ain.
This success led myself and the ZOWD team to start formulating from November of 2012 the initiatives and actions for ZOWD’s official launch in April 2013
What inspires me and pushed me forward is that I want to do my part to try and help making reading for pleasure a common habit in the UAE. The more I read the more I learn. The more I learn the better I am. The better I am, the more I appreciate my life and constantly get enlightened by new perspectives.
I just love to read. There’s a quote I really like that sums up how I feel reading can lead to achievement: “not every reader is a leader, but every leader is a reader.”
WHAT IS ZOWD?
ZOWD is an online and offline platform. Our physical activities can be divided into two subgroups; ZOWD-initiated activities, and activities in partnership with other organisations. ZOWD-initiated activities are those that will be set up and run by ZOWD staff members such as the ZOWD Book Swap at our offices. Activities in partnership with other organisations consist of ZOWD collaborating with other groups on reading/writing/book-related activities and making shared use of both groups’ resources.
TELL US ABOUT THE CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES
YOU’VE FACED.
I think we have two main ones. I think our first is perfecting advertising in a UAE setting. Conventional advertising is ok, but I’m discovering that social media has been much more successful, so we’re still tweaking how best to get our message across via our social media platforms.
Our second problem is ‘can we do it in Arabic’? In our offices we’ve come across so many great programs and projects but they’re usually in English. We don’t want to marginalize anyone who would want an event in Arabic, so it’s a case of trying when possible to create the same initiative in Arabic. We’re lucky that we’ve had so many ZOWD members who volunteer their own time to make that happen. Also working with a great institute can accommodate having their program translated into Arabic.
WOULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR FUTURE PLANS?
We have a really exciting and fun plan for the rest of 2013 and 2014. I can’t talk too much about it right now, but we have a couple of author talks and reading/writing workshops in the works, and we’re working with so many different reading groups and organizations in the UAE and they’re all fantastic. What I can tell you about is the ZOWD Book Swap that will be happening at our offices. As the name describes, you can come in and swap your books that you’ve had at home and don’t know what to do with; you can exchange your book with someone else’s who could also be in the same predicament as you. If people want to be up to date with our activities, they’ll need to start following us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
HOW CAN ONE BECOME A MEMBER OF ZOWD?
If anyone’s interested in becoming a ZOWD member they can contact us at info@ZOWD.org or 026815551 or follow us on our social media:
www.twitter.com/ZOWDproject
www.instagram.com/ZOWDproject
Our Facebook page ‘ZOWD’: www.ZOWD.org
MORE FROM SAFIYA YOUSEF, DIRECTOR AT ZOWD
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE ADVANTAGES OF ZOWD?
I think ZOWD’s biggest selling point is that it helps individuals and groups who have a reading-related program to put it out there in the public. ZOWD helps them promote the event as well as help the individuals themselves in their field.
What feedback you have received regards to the launch of ZOWD?
It’s been really positive. People check out ZOWD’s twitter, instagram and FB pages and we’ve had so many requests from volunteers and suggestions for events. It truly is a sense of community at ZOWD when it comes to our members.
By Ajir Shujahi
