Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Talented twins Lilo and Deena Al Dahwi’s way with words has won them high praise around the globe, as well as literary accolades and VIP visits.
When the dynamic duo, both nine-year-old students at St Christopher’s School, entered the International Torrance Legacy Creativity Awards, they never expected to win … they simply wanted to write.
Lilo, however clinched a joint first place in the 8-10 age group’s poetry category for her imaginative offering, Green is Glorious, and Deena secured second place in the creative writing section with her mythical story entitled The Legend of Hera and Athearus.
Lilo said: “I have always loved to write all types of styles, it is one of my passions. Words intrigue me. Sometimes I look in a book or take the thesaurus and find fascinating words and write them down.
“On some level, it felt good and unbelievable. When people started congratulating us it was quite embarrassing because it was just something we liked doing and it was not really a big deal.”
Deena also enjoys creative writing. “I keep thinking of interesting words and try to find a good use for them,” she said: “When I’m in an unusual setting or enjoying a new experience I often want to express my feelings and emotions on paper.”
St Christopher’s promoted the competition last spring for the first time in Bahrain and the girls competed against hundreds of students from 15 countries.
Junior School head teacher Wendy Bataineh said: “We were really proud to learn of their recent success. As far as we know, this is the first time pupils from a school in Bahrain have been successful in what is a very prestigious international competition. Congratulations to them both!”
The Torrance Legacy Awards began five years ago to celebrate the work of E Paul Torrance (1915 - 2003), described as the ‘father of creativity’ in the US. He was a researcher, university teacher and mentor to numerous individuals around the globe.
John Kauffman, of Scholastic Testing Service, and Joan Franklin Smutny, founder and director of The Centre for the Gifted, a Northern Illinois University Partner, admired his work and collaborated together to bring his vision to the children and young people of the world. The awards began with creative writing (poems and short stories) and other categories soon followed, with original work from all parts of the US as well as other countries such as Singapore, Turkey, India, Australia and Poland being submitted by enthusiastic participants aged from eight to 18.
Writing was the first activity chosen to inspire creative response but since then visual arts, musical composition and inventions have been added.
According to Joan, each year the response from children, beginning with Grade 2 and going to Grade 12, has continued to expand as more teachers have been encouraging students to submit entries towards the goal of being published in the Torrance Award magazine.
Aside from being featured in the US winners’ 2014 book, the girls have also received certificates for their achievements.
She added: “Congratulations to these two very gifted, bright girls in both poetry and stories. They expressed a high degree of creativity, originality and imagination. Both girls are excellent writers.
“Lilo’s poem evidenced creativity, imagination and a fresh approach to both content and form. Similar to the poem in its expression of excellence, Deena’s story also evidenced creativity, imagination, sensitivity and maturity. As Dr Paul Torrance once said, ‘creativity is the highest form of mental functioning’.”
The duo’s actions also speak louder than words.
Lilo said: “My family, led by Deena, had just run a project to help street children in Egypt. They were so sweet and it was really sad to see what they go through.
“So I decided to write a plea each year, a poem, to inspire many more people to help the needy. The world all depends on each other and it is very sad to see how much we are blessed with and how many other children and families just do not have.”
The Texas-born twins moved to Bahrain four years ago and dream of a career in journalism. They say they have are constantly inspired by their travels, meeting new people, global issues and books.
Their well-travelled family believes that little to no exposure to technology or television between the ages of two to seven encouraged them to read more, as well as instilling in them a profound sense of adventure and exploration from a young age. They already have more than 20 poems and a few literary pieces under their belt.
Lilo aims to attend Stanford University, invent something scientific and become a ballerina and continue writing and Deena, who is currently trying her hand at journalism as part of her school’s Year 4 Challenge, would love to be an architect and restaurant owner as well.
They said that the best part of being acknowledged by the judges was that their father, Ali, who heads a subsidiary of a multi-national power technology company, treated them both to a triple-decker Marble Slab ice cream as a reward for their endeavours!
According to their mum, Heba Fareed, a business consultant, both children were bitten by the writing bug at the age of five. She explained: “They both penned little rhyming lines from the moment they could write.
“The twins are generally very enthusiastic and work hard almost on everything that they do: homework, dancing, sports, piano and so on. The more they enjoy something, the harder they work actually.
“For writing, Lilo especially will keep going to find the perfect word or phrase. Deena also works hard generally but as this story involved her own creativity, with no boundaries, she seemed to whiz through it in a short space of time.
“Both girls are very well grounded and took all the success in their stride. When they come out last at other events they have the same huge grins as always and just keep trying.”
Heba says she is thankful to St Christopher’s School for spending time on traditional writing and for the way teachers encourage the twins. However, she also believes that generally creative writing is underdeveloped and not celebrated enough and she hopes that it will be given more support in the future in all schools.
The twins were recently received by US ambassador to Bahrain, William Roebuck, who wanted to congratulate them.
Green Is Glorious
Black
Black is the feeling of depression when you wake up amongst mountains of litter!
Black is the taste of dryness in the mouth of a dehydrated child.
Black is the smell of flames, and pollution.
Black is the look of death in a valley that has no water.
Black is the sound of moaning from starving children.
Black is the feeling of distress when you wash in revolting water.
Black is the taste of leftovers mixed with garbage, eaten because you must.
And Black is the colour of devastation and doom!
Green
Green wipes away the black of the past.
Green tastes like the most fresh water a child drank cheerfully.
Green is the smell of fresh air and a breeze.
Green is the look of pleasure from any person that helps.
Green is the sound of laughter from children who feel safe and blessed.
Green is the reflection of luscious grass on the clear sky.
Green is all the freedom and sunshine.
Green is the pathway to a glorious future.
And Green is a colour that fills your magnificent life!
Lilo Al Dahwi – May 2014
