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Me and my work

Training in Damascus

In early 2003 I was invited by the Thompson Foundation to run some lighting training for 10 students from Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia, Sudan, Qatar, Lebanon and Egypt.

	A.S.B.U. stands for the Arab States Broadcasting Union. The 21 states have jointly funded this dedicated training centre in Damascus for training TV people in the various disciplines of Radio and TV.	It opened its doors in 1982 and currently runs about 24 courses each year. Between its opening and the end of 2001, there have been some 300 courses attended by 5000 trainees.
The studio is well equipped with all the facilities that a small news studio would have in the Middle East. Everything was immaculately clean and functioned; a nice change from some of the studios that I have been in over the years!
	There are two modern Sony cameras and a spacious gallery. The lighting equipment was installed about 20 years ago by ADB of Belgium.
But of course, any training centre is a lot more than it's equipment. Mr. Oussamah Cheikh and Mr, Ali Sha-ar are heavily involved in organising the training and the provision of suitable facilities for the trainers. They have been an integral part of the centre for almost 20 years. They both speak excellent English and made me feel most welcome.
In the studio, I spilt the ten trainees into two groups and they set about experimenting with portrait lighting.		Haykel sets about applying make-up to Basel's receding forehead!
	Later in the week, we have a couple of drama scenarios, day and night lighting with a walk across the set.		Ms. Lisa Arsalinian, (who translated for me,) sits in as model.
Skylight has now joined the sunlight to make a convincing daytime feel for our 'actor' Radwan.