Schools delighted with seeds of success

There are four very happy schools in Bahrain, delighted in the knowledge that they are category winners in this year's Riffa Views Eden Challenge schools competition.

The results of the environmental challenge, open to all schools, were recently announced and Amena Bint Wahab Girls School had two reasons to be delighted - not only did they win Category A, they were also awarded 'Highly Commended' in Category B. Category A covered the Junior Primary age group for children between six and nine years and required project entries to produce a water based sculpture.

Safeya Kamal, administrative supervisor at Amena Bint Wahab, said, "We were delighted to hear this news, the girls and teachers worked so hard for it. When we saw the entries last year, we thought that we could enter again and win this year. We would like to thank Riffa Views for organising such an interactive competition and giving us the chance to win.

"Last year when Richard Browning visited our school for tree planting, we thought it was a great and kind gesture ... I am happy to say that the tree is coming along very nicely."

The other school to take two awards was the Um Al Qoora Primary Intermediate Girls School which took the top spot in Category B, as well as being 'Highly Commended' in Category C. Category B required primary schools, with pupils between 10 and 12 years, to produce a mosaic artwork image, highlighting the important role played by water across the course of history.

Reem Abdulaziz Al Arrayedh, Um Al Qoora's art teacher, was very happy to comment on the awards saying: "Obviously we are very glad that we participated in the Eden Challenge. It was really great news that not only did we win one category, but we got the highly commended in another category as well.

"When we were told about our win, the principal, the teachers and the entire school were really happy - we received so many calls to congratulate us. We are looking forward to Riffa Views visiting our school so that we can show more of our work."

Al Qayrawan School took the top prize in Category C, which covered the 13-15 years age group at intermediate schools. Entries in this category had to design a water mobile to demonstrate the way in which the power of water can be harnessed to perform technical tasks.

Principal Mrs Raja Al Zayani was delighted with the result. She said: "We are very happy to hear that we won the prize as the school and children enjoyed working for the competition, it gave a great atmosphere to the school; it was quite hard for us in the beginning, but the whole experience was just great. To be honest, I didn't expect that we were going to win - it was a surprise for all of us because all the other entries were so amazing; when we saw last year's entries in the Eden Challenge calendar, we decided that we needed to take part this year and try to make a difference.

"We love gardens and take good care of ours; this is the first time that we have received a cash prize for the school and it's so overwhelming because we already had plans to redesign the school's garden - I had a whole plan in mind and just needed the funding, so this is the best gift from Riffa Views to make our school's dream come true."

Rounding off the honour roll was the entry from Khawla Secondary Girls School, who were winners in Category D for secondary school students between 16 and 18 years; project entries in this category required the teams to design a water conscious garden, where the garden design had to interact with the environment and include innovative water saving devices.

Seham Al Kooheji, community service specialist at Khawla, expressed the excitement of the school saying: "When we first heard the news, I called everyone to the principal's office and shared it with them, they were extremely happy ... many schools called to congratulate us.

"This year's competition was really hard and required a lot of information - it was a huge challenge to come up with a water conscious garden, so the girls researched through the internet and our library; then one of the girls came up with the idea of using the Riffa Views Eden Challenge logo as a base for the entry and all the hard work came together in the garden that we submitted. The girls are really happy and would like to thank Riffa Views for giving us this chance."

All the schools are delighted to have come out on top of the competition so far, but they are all hoping to go one better and be judged the Overall 2009 Eden Challenge Winner when Chris Beardshaw, Riffa Views' Garden & Landscapes Ambassador and chairman of the judging panel, makes his final selection from the four proud category winners during the Riffa Views Bahrain International Garden Show (RVBIGS) in April.

Richard Browning, CEO of Eden Challenge organisers Riffa Views Signature Estates, is under no illusion as to how hard that final selection will be.

"The judges had a very hard time selecting the four category winners from the many wonderful entries the schools came up with," he said. " I have no doubt that Chris will find it even more difficult to select the overall winner as all four schools are worthy of the title. I am looking forward to seeing the winning entries displayed on the Eden Challenge stand at RVBIGS and congratulating them all on their great achievement; it has truly been a pleasure to support the schools once again this year with the Eden Challenge."