Download - Project B - ART221-501
The Old Box
Create
d By: A
sma Hass
an
ID: 2010
11100
ART 221-
501
حكايةالصندوق
القديم
The Stories Inside
The Reporter
My name is Asma Hassan AL-
Blooshi. I’m 20 years old. I am
a second year student at Zayed Uni-
versity. My major is Animation. I love
cartoons and drawing anime. I hope
that one day I will have my own car-
toon. I am a member at the Korean and
Chinese clubs at the university.
This is my Photo-essay for my
Research Methods course. I
choose to talk about an object that I
consider it as a part of my family his-
tory, which is an old box. I like this
project as I am excited to interview
the older people in my family and hear
their stories. I am also excited about
sharing my family stories with all of
you. I hope you will enjoy the presenta-
tion.
Table of Content
1. INTRODUCTION
2. SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE OBJECT
3. THE OLD BOX
4. MY FATHER’S SCHOOL CERTIFICATION
5. MY FATHER’S MEDAL
6. MY FATHER’S NOTEBOOK
7. EPILOGUE
IntroductionThis photo-essay will trace back the
history of my family and the sto-
ries related to them. My family consists
of my father, my mother, four boys and
three girls. I am the oldest girl between
my sisters. My father works in the Dubai
Police as well as my older three broth-
ers. I am the only member in my family
who continued her higher education. My
youngest two sisters and brother are still
in the school. The only time that all
my family gather during the day is on
the lunch. Therefore, I put the picture
of the lunch as a photo that represents
my family.
Short Description of the Object
The object that I choose is an old box that contains many
different things. The box is bigand old. I think it dates back to 1970s. The color of the box is grayand it has many nails on it. It has a lock on it but it is a new one as my father changed the lock before 3 or 4 years. The oldlock was big, so heavy, and it was easy to break it because it was so old. My father
has his name written on the box along with his number and police rank.
The box contains many dif-ferent old and new objects
as my father is still using it. Some of the things that are in the box are school certifications, old notebooks, important documents, pho-tos albums and passports and ID cards. I think that either the po-lice gave my father this box when he joined Dubai Police or that he bought it to keep his important police’s documents in it.
The Old Box
Did you buy or get this box? When?
Where?
I bought this box 25 years ago from
the Old Souq in Sharjah.
http://www.alamuae.com/gallery/img7108.htm
What material is it made of?
Iron
Does it have a special name?
My Father: No, not really but I call
it the old box.
My Mother: No, it does not.
What is the size of it? And how
many things it can contain? Is it
heavy?
My Father: It is a huge box and can
contain many things, and yes it is so
heavy.
http://www.rowad-math.com/vb/showthread.php?t=2837
What did you use it for in the past?
My Father: I used it to keep all of my
important documents in one place so
that I won’t lose any paper. Even if I
lost a paper, I know that it is lost in
the box and not somewhere else. Also,
even if there was a fire, I can take this
box that includes all the important
documents, so it is really good and
useful box.
My Mother: To keep any important
documents like passports. One day
your dad had an urgent work so he
was searching for some papers re-
lated to the house, before 6 to 7 years
when we wanted to sell our old house
in Ajman.
He tried to
search in
the box and
he could not
find the
papersو so he got angry and started
shouting. Then he said “who messed
with my stuffs? I always keep my
papers in the box”. I knew that the
papers where in the box and no one
actually dares to touch that box even
your brother when they were small.
So I went
to search
in the box
and I took
everything
out of it. I
searched carefully until I found the
papers that your dad wanted. I gave
those papers to your dad and he took
them and said nothing. From that
day, your dad started to buy envelopes
and files to organize the papers and he
even started to write notes on the en-
velopes about what kind of papers are
included in each envelop.
http://widowsvoice-sslf.blog-spot.ae/2012/09/fire.html
http://kevinfrank.ca/blog/
Why are you still using it? Are there
no other alternative for it in these
days?
My Father: Just like this. Why
would I think of buying a new box?
I like this box and I feel like it is a
part of me.
My Mother: When your dad is used
to something, he never change it.
I told him several times to buy an-
other box that is not heavy like this
one. However, he always keep say-
ing this box is big so we can put lots
of things inside it and it is not easy
to be broken or stolen, so it is better
than the boxes of these days.
http://www.stock2u.co.uk/Bre-tagne-Oak-Furniture-Bedroom/
1053/Bretagne-Oak-Blanket-Box.html
http://beediverse.com/products-page/accessories/831-1-box-re-lease-shelter-for-mason-bees-
duplicate/
http://www.readscreations.co.uk/boys-wooden-keepsakes-
storage-small-toy-box/
What objects are inside the box?
My Father: Lots of things. For ex-
ample, I put all the certifications of
my children since kindergarten un-
til they graduated from high school,
as well as any certificates of ap-
preciation that they got from their
schools. Also, it contains guarantee
papers for different machines, our
passports, my and your mum mar-
riage certification, photo albums,
my note books, property papers of
the house, identities cards, hospital
cards and many other things.
My Mother: Any important paper
that comes to your mind like certi-
fications, passports, identity cards
and...., it’s better if you asked your
dad about that.
Why there are many nails on the
box?
My Father: It was just like this
when I bought it. I think the nails
on the sides help to make the box
stronger. The upper nails used to
install additional parts to the box
where you can put extra stuffs in-
side.
Why did you write your police
number on it?
My Father: I just write this number
on anything that is important to me
even if it is a note, book, or box.
My Mother: He always does that on
everything that belongs to him. I’m
not sure why he keeps doing that
but I think he likes this number.
Is this box special to you? And why?
Why you did not replace it with a new
box?
My Father: Yes, it is like a part of
me as I had it long time ago. It is like
something that is attached to me and I
cannot simply get rid of it.
My Mother: Yes, kind of.
Do you have a story related to the
box? Or any memories that comes to
your mind when you look at it?
My Father: No, not really.
My Mother: I think I remember one
story. It is the story that I told you
before about my wedding photos. One
day I and your dad had a big fight
over something, and it was the big-
gest fight we had in our marriage
life. I was so angry on that day that
I asked for divorce. So while I was
angry, I started to put my clothes in
a bag as I wanted to go to your grand-
parent’s house. When I was looking
for my passport and hospital card in
your dad box and it was the first time
I opened the box without him know-
ing, I saw my wedding photo album.
I took the photos and cut them with
a scissor and then I through them
away. I had already 4 children at
that time and you were my first
daughter and the youngest between
your brothers. My mother told me to
think about the future that I want
for my children and depending on
this answer I should make a decision
about the divorce. Later on, the prob-
lem solved but I really regret cutting
the photos as I wanted to show them
to you and your sisters.
http://www.weddingbee.com/2012/01/24/wedding-ceremony-outline/
#axzz2R1fsanML
http://www.mattdavisphotography.co.uk/wedding-album-options/
http://www.aklrockandrollclub.co.nz/photoalbum.html
My Father’s School
Certification
What school where you in?
ALAhmadiya School
Which grade is that?
1st year in the Adult Literacy pro-
gramme
When did you get that certification?
1978-1979
How did you go to school? Bus – bi-
cycle – car – walking
Bicycle or walking
What were the subjects that you
http://www.emaratalyoum.com/life/four-sides/2012-09-05-1.509225
http://www.123rf.com/photo_11278421_cartoon-illustration-of-a-young-man-riding-an-electric-bicycle-wearing-a-
helmet-and-a-back-pack.html
What were the subjects that you stud-
ied there?
Arabic – Islamic – Math
What was your age when you start go-
ing to school?
I was 21 years old when I started
going to school. I studied in ALAh-
madiya School for the 1st year and
then I moved to Dubai Police Center
for adult literacy programme in the
second year. After I passed that grade,
I moved to
grade five
and started
studying in a
normal way
in Rashid
Bin Humaid
School. When
I reached pre-
paratory, I
moved to AL-
Hassan AL-
Basri School
in Ajman. I
failed many
times in the
school as it
was really
hard for me
but I always
tried my best.
In fact, I failed 7 times in high school
but I passed at the 8 year of high
school at the age of 46 in 2003. I said
at that time “if I was not educated,
how am I going to teach my children”.
Therefore, I continued studying until
I graduated.
http://lib.eap.gr/en/danismos-vivlion.html
How did you manage your time be-
tween your family, work, and school?
Actually, I did not have much time
to spend with my family those days. I
used to work from 7am to 2pm. Then
I go to school which start at 4. When
I come back home, I rest for a while
and then I start studying. I did not
have much time to spend with my
children, and that is why your mum
did not continue her study. She only
studied until grade 6 and then she
decided to stay at home to take care of
our children.
Were the subjects easy at that time?
Maybe easy for your generation, but
there is a huge different between a
person who learned how to read and
write at the age of 6 and a person who
learned it at the age of 21, so yes it
was very hard for me.
What is your favorite subject? And
what was the subject that you did not
like?
I loved Arabic since my first year in
school and I loved Arabic grammar. I
used to read the newspapers everyday
in order to learn how to read well in
Arabic. The subject that I did not like
much was math as we did not have
calculators like your generation but
instead we used to do all the calcula-
tions by ourselves. I felt it difficult at
the beginning but
later on I started
liking math.
http://www-math.ucdenver.edu/~wcherowi/clockar.html
http://www.face-book.com/3arabi.
language
http://www.newgrounds.com/bbs/search/author/giantdouche/4
Do you have memories related to that
school? Or related to that period of
your life?
Yes, I have a memory related to that
time. One day I was coming back from
school and instead of going home I
said I will go to buy bread from the
baker. I was on my bicycle, and I had
an accident but I do not remember
what happened exactly at that time
as everything happened so fast. When
the car hit me, it threw me away from
the bicycle immediately. It was like
me and my bicycle flew for few me-
ters and then I fall down on my head.
Actually, I do not remember that
from the accident but that was what
the people told me when I woke up in
the hospital. My head was so big from
the bump and I bled a lot of blood, but
nothing really dangerous happened to
me. I was so worried about my father
at that time because I was late for
home and it is not something that I
usually do. I knew that my father was
worried, but we did not have phones
at that time so I can call him.
My father was sick at that time and
I knew that if he started to be wor-
ried about me, he will look for me
in the streets and he will start imag-
ing things that would have happened
to me, and that will make him more
sick. http://bogieteves.com/almost-
had-an-accident/
http://www.vyukaprvnipomoci.eu/pomoc.html
http://rambod2.blogfa.com/post/54
Therefore, I stayed in the hospital for
few hours and then I told the doctor
that I want to go home. The doctor
told me to stay in the hospital for at
least one day to just make sure that I
am fine, but I insisted to leave and I
told the doctor that my dad is sick and
if my dad knew that I had an acci-
dent, something might happen to him.
So later on the doctor told me it is ok
to leave but I should come back to the
hospital if I felt anything wrong with
me. I went back home and my dad was
waiting for me in front of the outside
door of our house. When he saw me,
he started shouting on me and then
he said “do you know how much I
was worried, I thought you had an
accident or something really seri-
ous happened to you”. I did not tell
my dad about the accident but when
he asked what is wrong with me and
why do I look like that, I told him
that I fall down from my bicycle. My
dad never knew about the accident.
I am not sure if what is happened to
me later is from the accident or not,
but sometimes when I drive my car
on the street, I forget the directions. I
see myself driving in the street but I
do not know which street I am in and
which direction should I go to. I do
not remember when this thing started
to happen to me but it happened long
time ago.
http://blog.lib.umn.edu/meyer769/myblog/2011/11/
http://www.vectorstock.com/royalty-free-vector/bike-accident-vector-179753
http://www.clipartof.com/portfolio/toonaday
When did you start working in the police?
What was your age?
Did you work somewhere else before?
Why did you choose to work in the police?
Why did you work in Dubai police not Ajman police as you lived in Ajman?
My Father’s Medal
My father started working in Du-
bai Police in 31-8-1977 at the age of
20. Before that he used to work in
a Bank but he moved to the police
as the salary was higher compared
to the Bank. My father worked in
Dubai police not in Ajman police
where we lived because at the time
he joined the police we were living
in Dubai until 1998 we moved to
Ajman.
Why did you study IT?
When was that?
Where did you study it?
How did you find this technology?
My Father’s Notebook
My father studied IT in 1990.
This is his note book that he
used for that course. At that
time, everyone started to use
computers so my father wanted
to learn how to use it as well.
He studied in Ajman Educa-
tional Institute. He found the
computer an amazing machine,
but it was hard for him to learn
how to use it.
This project was really interest-ing. Throughout the project,
I learnt many things about my fam-ily which I did not know before. What was really surprising for me is that my parents were excited about sharing their stories with me. When I start-ed ask-ing my parents about different objects, I felt that they were happy that there is someone who wants to talk to them about their past and know more about their life. I am glad that I joined this course and did this project as it really made me more connected to my parents by knowing their experiences in the life. When I thought about the whole project and about the process of asking
someone to tell you his/her story about an old object, I felt like I would really love if my children in the future cared about my life’s stories and asked about that or about their grandparent’s stories.
Through-out the
project, I realized that every object has a value no matter how small, big, old or new it is. I think that the process of
searching about my family stories was an interesting thing, as I learnt many stories about them, specially my father in this project. These stories made me realized how my parents suffered in their life and sacrificed things in order to give us a better life. Therefore, this project made me appreciate my parents more, as well as, made me proud of them.
Epilogue