How Jaweed and family came to this tiny Emirate and began his construction company with nothing but vision dreams and hard work. A fascinating insight of how this tiny backwater became the vibrant city and country it now is.
It was a pioneering adventure. For me as a child it was idyllic. A tiny little town actually more like a village. The only thing s there were the British embassy compound, the British army camp, the British club, Spinneys and Wadi el Akhadar a Lebanese grocery and of course Jashmal, a store that was the source of our shopping needs with American comics Archie and Richi Rich trashy magazines and things for the home.
For dad and mum this was the second part of their journey to build a life for us. Dad began his construction company Safir that built the very first water pipeline from the AL-Ain Oasis to Abu Dhabi. Water was a more important commodity than oil in practical terms. While id did not bring the vast wealth and riches that were soon to come to Abu Dhabi, it was the lifeblood for he young country.
We lived in the Safir camp by the sea. The camp to begin with was made up of a few pre fabricated houses where we and other employees as well as various family members lived.
I was at boarding school in England at the time and the journey to Abu Dhabi used to take 2 days from London.
To come.
Photos.
Life at the camp
The British
Sheik Zayed the ruler
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