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

These were the hidden stories inside “The Old Box”

The End