A child enjoys a camel ride at the ladies tent set up at Darb El Saai.
A tent exclusively for women has been put up at Darb El Saai, hosting seven different activities for children and their mothers. The 'Ladies only Tent', a first at the venue, offers indoor activities for women.
Lolwa Al Naimi, the tent Manager, came up with the idea of the ladies-only tent this year for women to enjoy the activities indoors.
"We are seeing a high number of local and Arab ladies turning up at Darb El Saai, with this particular facility organised. Women can enjoy the festivities, with all the privacy ensured," Rouda Al Naimi, a volunteer at Ladies Tent told The Peninsula.
Storytelling, beauty salon, activities with camel and sheep, photo booth, stage for competitions, archery and traditional games have been organised inside the tent.
“Women along with their children get a chance to enjoy all the activities in the tent. Children can experience dressing the camels and milking the sheep. The kid who best dresses up the camel gets a chance to ride it,” Al Naimi said.
“Different traditional games such as tug of war and hopscotch are also organised here,” she added. Explaining about the story telling activity at the tent, Aisha Saoud Al Tamimi, Story Teller at the stall told The Peninsula: “This story by Lulu Al Ali is an old one about a girl named ‘Batlla’, in which she finds special medicine for her old grandmother in the desert. This story explains how to care for elders. At the end of the story, children are encouraged to make a flower from play dough and use glitter on top of it as sand."
“We make this story-telling session exciting for the children, to make them understand the blessing of having grandparents,” she added.
Al-Eman salon, in collaboration with another beauty salon, has installed a stall at the tent. The stall offers henna designing and nail art for the girls. Bella Bambino has arranged a photo booth for ladies and kids. Dana Al Khalaf, Photographer of the company, had different props and enjoyed clicking pictures of children and young girls.
Meanwhile, mothers and daughters get to compete on the stage inside the tent. Different competitions as blind-fold spices guessing and preparing (Karak) tea competition between mother and daughter are organised on the stage, with winners given prizes.
The Archery pavilion gives the visitors an opportunity to learning the sport.
"Girls are pretty active in participating in this activity, we provide them with three arrows. This exciting experience leads the participants to compete until the final round. The one who wins is given prize money,” said Eun Jung Cho, Archery Coach, Qatar National Team.
“This is my third year with Darb El Saai; I always love the experience of teaching archery. The girls who have visited so far were excited about it," said Fu Shiyi, Shooter with the Qatar National Team.
