People from all backgrounds tend to celebrate and enjoy the Qatar National Day (QND) in their own way. Though the spirit of patriotism has not been dampened by the Covid-19 pandemic, it has taken away the freedom of having cultural shows and social gatherings this year.
Nonetheless, resilience of people in Qatar is unmatched. Different expatriate communities have plans to celebrate the National Day in style. There are some people who are trying to spread positive messages and raise awareness on a healthy lifestyle and cleaner environment on the eve of QND.
Ann Jangsell is president of the Swedish Association of Qatar, a community group of Swedish expatriates in Qatar. She has been celebrating the QND with her compatriots for many years as the community group was formed 12 years ago. A fitness enthusiast and environmentally conscious herself, the community leader raises her voice to adopt a more environment friendly and healthy lifestyle.
During a recent encounter with Gulf Times, the Swede spoke about her community group, its activities and how to make this QND more special. “I have been the president of the community group for two and a half years now. We have as many as 540 Swedes living in Qatar. We come together to celebrate happy occasions related to both Qatar and Sweden including the national days. We mark the winter festivities together. Usually on the QND, we arrange social gatherings but this year we are celebrating it on social media extensively together as a community group.
“My husband and I put Qatari flags on our car and take to the road. We will go to the desert to enjoy the natural environment and walk on sand dunes.”
A fitness enthusiast, Ann did the challenge of climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest's height on the staircase of her residential building last summer. “I completed the challenge as I wanted to be fit both physically and mentally after I lost my job at that point of time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I think physical activity and exercise not only keeps us healthy but also stable psychologically. We need to be aware of our daily lifestyle. I exercise daily and go to the sea on my paddle boat.”
As far as her interest in environment goes, the president of Swedish community group believes that every individual can do little things to make a big impact. “At a smaller scale, we can do much. We can change the way we travel to our offices. Nowadays, e-scooters are getting very popular among different communities. We can use an environmentally safe e-scooter to go to our office if that is not far. The scooters can be used to go to the nearby market for shopping. I use my Fenix e-scooter every day to go to my new office. I live in The Pearl and work in Lusail City. It is also fun travelling on my e-scooter. Instead of my car, I will travel on my e-scooter this QND. It can be a sustainable way of transport. It is cleaner and greener. I think use of e-scooter will increase before and during the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
“Further, we need to avoid plastic bags as much as we can. We can also recycle the waste material in different ways. Taking care of environment is in our genes as Swedes.”
The community group for the Swedish expatriates was founded to provide information and guidelines to those coming to Qatar from Sweden. “We are a small colony in Qatar. The community group offers an opportunity to celebrate our culture here and speak the Swedish language. Further, we also interact with other communities. Living in Qatar offers an opportunity to enjoy the diversity and multiculturalism it offers. As most of us come here to work alone without families, we tend to make friends and develop relations with people from different nations here.”
Ann Jangsell is president of the Swedish Association of Qatar, a community group of Swedish expatriates in Qatar. She has been celebrating the QND with her compatriots for many years as the community group was formed 12 years ago. A fitness enthusiast and environmentally conscious herself, the community leader raises her voice to adopt a more environment friendly and healthy lifestyle.
During a recent encounter with Gulf Times, the Swede spoke about her community group, its activities and how to make this QND more special. “I have been the president of the community group for two and a half years now. We have as many as 540 Swedes living in Qatar. We come together to celebrate happy occasions related to both Qatar and Sweden including the national days. We mark the winter festivities together. Usually on the QND, we arrange social gatherings but this year we are celebrating it on social media extensively together as a community group.
“My husband and I put Qatari flags on our car and take to the road. We will go to the desert to enjoy the natural environment and walk on sand dunes.”
A fitness enthusiast, Ann did the challenge of climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest's height on the staircase of her residential building last summer. “I completed the challenge as I wanted to be fit both physically and mentally after I lost my job at that point of time due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I think physical activity and exercise not only keeps us healthy but also stable psychologically. We need to be aware of our daily lifestyle. I exercise daily and go to the sea on my paddle boat.”
As far as her interest in environment goes, the president of Swedish community group believes that every individual can do little things to make a big impact. “At a smaller scale, we can do much. We can change the way we travel to our offices. Nowadays, e-scooters are getting very popular among different communities. We can use an environmentally safe e-scooter to go to our office if that is not far. The scooters can be used to go to the nearby market for shopping. I use my Fenix e-scooter every day to go to my new office. I live in The Pearl and work in Lusail City. It is also fun travelling on my e-scooter. Instead of my car, I will travel on my e-scooter this QND. It can be a sustainable way of transport. It is cleaner and greener. I think use of e-scooter will increase before and during the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
“Further, we need to avoid plastic bags as much as we can. We can also recycle the waste material in different ways. Taking care of environment is in our genes as Swedes.”
The community group for the Swedish expatriates was founded to provide information and guidelines to those coming to Qatar from Sweden. “We are a small colony in Qatar. The community group offers an opportunity to celebrate our culture here and speak the Swedish language. Further, we also interact with other communities. Living in Qatar offers an opportunity to enjoy the diversity and multiculturalism it offers. As most of us come here to work alone without families, we tend to make friends and develop relations with people from different nations here.”