In 2021 the Foundation awarded a large grant to the Bahar team to continue and expand their outreach activities. The project’s main aim is to raise public awareness of the value of underwater cultural heritage, by following a grass roots approach which works from the bottom-up to implement positive change. Educating children about Maritime Archaeology and UCH, will have a direct influence on the way they think about the material past, its discovery, significance, value and protection.

The project objectives are to:

• Create sustainable outreach resources on UCH for a general audience;
• Organize a series of events in different cities around Egypt;
• Introduce school children between 5-15 years old to maritime archaeology and the marine environment in an age-appropriate approach that teaches basic archaeological concepts and generates interest and awareness of the field;
• Educate children about the value of preserving and protecting their heritage and to cultivate pride in their ancestral history.

Bahar will be carried out over two years, by developing and expanding avenues for dissemination to include more segments and destinations. Bahar will continue to follow a hands-on and active approach which leads to enthusiastic and active participation by children, moreover modern presentation of cultural heritage. In doing so:

• Bahar will collaborate with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina and its affiliated cultural centres, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, and the Ministry of Education, Bahar’s destination strategy is to reach cities around Egypt to include Mediterranean cities, Red sea cities and Upper Egypt by hiring a truck.
• Year one will organize 12 workshops in number of schools, museums, and cultural centres; 9 workshops in Alexandria and 3 workshop in Cairo, Rashid, and Marsa Matrouh.
• Year two will organize 12 workshops; 10 workshops in Alexandria and 2 workshops in Sharm el-Sheikh, and Qena. At the end of the project period will be organized 24 workshops.
• While holding workshops outside Alexandria the team will include four members (three of Bahar’s team and the truck driver).

2022 Project Update

So far as part of this two year project, Bahar has been presented in
– A seminar on “Establishment of a Regional Network for Cooperation and Capacity Building in the Field of Underwater Archaeology” in the Centre for Underwater Archaeology, Bulgaria.
– The ‘International Expert Meeting on Underwater Cultural Heritage and World Heritage Sites’ in the Arab Regional Centre for World Heritage, Kingdom of Bahrain.
– A seminar on ‘’The Underwater Cultural Heritage (UCH) Education and Outreach in the Arab States’’- UNESCO’s event for launching MOOC in Arabic for UCH- Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt.

Media Coverage for the project includes;

– Bahar on TV for the first time in ‘’ Tonight with Qaswaa TV program’’ on the Egyptian channel CBC.
– Bahar appeared on a widespread online magazine in Egypt ‘’El-Fasla’’
– ‘’The Adventures of Bahar and Nejima Storybook’’ was in Cairo International Book Fair

Since Bahar is supporting the Disability Rights Initiative in Egypt, a workshop was organised in cooperation with the Regional Organization for Tourism Ministry of Tourism Egypt, in ‘’Waselt El-Kheer Foundation for Down Syndrome’’. Bahar reached more than 25 children and their parents, this was the very FIRST time to introduce children with special needs to different aspects of Underwater Cultural Heritage.

Moreover, Bahar organized a workshop for ‘’El- Mostaqbal School for Special Needs’’ and reached more than 30 students aged from 6 to 13 years old, this event was quite challenging for Bahar and the team to communicate with the students, so the team have learned some sign language to deliver the message, beside the genuine assistance and support from the school’s teachers, Bahar successfully introduced the children to the world of Underwater Cultural Heritage and its significance.

Although there are remarkable maritime and underwater archaeological site around Egypt, rarely can you find any dissemination activities related to the field outside Alexandria. Thus, Bahar Project started his journey around Egypt by visiting Elsherouk School in Cairo, Marsa Matrouh Museum, and Rossetta UNESCO School in Rasheed to be a beginning of wider deamination for our Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage. This year we have updated the workstations by creating new boxes, replicas of artifacts and developed new stations for engagement:

• At the ROV station the students are introduced to the concept of remote sensing survey by steering remotely Dory Underwater Drone in a pool full of water and archaeological finds by an iPad.
• At the Ocean acidification station the students are carrying out an experiment that clarify the link between carbon dioxide that released into the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels, and a process of ocean acidification and its impact on the marine life and UCH. This station facilitates our participating                                                                              in any events related to the ocean decade and cop27

• Finally, the Bahar Fortune teller station features a customized game, which includes 8 questions related to Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage, with 8 answers and 8 dares to be applied when the player answers the question incorrectly. 

The project has also just created the first mobile game application on the Egyptian Underwater Cultural Heritage. It is available free in the Apple and Android stores in Arabic and English.

The Bahar Project is planning to visit more cities around Egypt in Red Sea and Upper Egypt, as well as a developing children activities book, since all the project outcomes are for children over 10 and teenagers. 

Nada Nofal also featured on the HFF podcast series, Dive & Dig, listen to the full episode here