Fuad Alqrinawi

There is no doubt that Fuad - similar to all students at IHE - is an exceptional student driven by his passion towards the water sector and his willingness to help out his country in facing water challanges. On that he says: ''Jordan is a dry and water scarce country, with insufficient water resources. For example, there are only 3 rivers, 2 of which are tributaries of the Jordan River. The issue is that the Yarmouk River is dammed from upstream in Syria, so we don’t receive the flow that we are supposed to receive. The Al Zarqa river is located in the most habitable and industrialised area in Jordan and thus contamination levels are high. Needless to say, we don’t really use the few resources we have in the best possible ways.''. He continues: ''Also, the fact that Jordan has hosted a large number of refugees since 1948 from Palestine and recently in 2011 from Syria, means there is a huge stress on the water sector as well. In addition, the state of the infrastructure and management of surface/ground water resources are not optimum''.  

He then links these issues with his goal to become a water professional: ''I am really interested in environmental issues and especially in water, since I am living in a water scarce country. I was hearing about water scarcity in Jordan since I was little, but I was only hearing about these issues but not about solutions.This is why I want to be a water professional, someone who is capable of solving these issues, and to achieve this, doing an MSc here is the first and the best step to take''.

Fuad Takes us through his Journey from Jordan to IHE: ''One of my professors back in Jordan is an IHE alumni, Dr. Naser al Manaseer, who is also a water expert. He posted this MENA Scholarship to my previous Civil Engineering Department online group that I later saw. Obtaining the International English Language Testing System 'IELTS' certificate and an excellent Grade Point Average (GPA) and applying for this scholarship were easy for me. I eventually wrote my motivation letter and got accepted. I was really happy!''.  He Continues: ''When I was in Dubai airport before coming to Delft, I met an IHE student there in the same specialisation as me so it was really good as we became friends really quick. Also, there are a lot of Arab students here from Egypt, Sudan and Yemen so it was really easy to get to know them since we speak the same language. Moreover, here in IHE delft there are people from all over the globe and it was easy to start conversations with others because we want to know each other's cultures''.

Fuad explains how IHE Delft can help him in acquiring the knowledge he seeks: ''IHE Delft is one of the best water institutes in the world, and I am certain that I will receive the knowledge I am seeking. Also all our professors are real experts in their field. They are also always willing to answer our questions and engage with us, so I think learning from them will give me an extra advantage. I believe that I can do better than others who studied somewhere else.

However, there is also a lot of pressure and some stress that accompanies the programme which I find totally fine of course.''

Regarding stress and the ongoing pandemic he elaborates: ''Teaching styles are quite different, especially with the modules system. I can say that I encountered stress, since every day we have some long sessions. However, sometimes, I think we are a bit lucky since we are in remote learning where lectures for instance are recorded, which is an advantage as I can return to them later. Still, if we were on campus, we would have the full experience and we would enjoy the interaction and the different field trips that the programme normally offers. Nonetheless, our professors are always willing to help and as a student, you will definitely get all knowledge from them anyway.''

On Delft, Fuad is quite positive about the city: ''From the first day, I fell in love with Delft and The Netherlands in general, as everyone here is friendly, quiet and polite. Using the bicycle is another story, which is something I am not used to back in my country, but it is really fun. Sometimes when I am free and the weather is nice, I just ride the bike around the city or even to explore different places. Regarding the food, there are a lot of markets offering diverse options like Arabic food which is convenient for me.''

Finally, on his goals after completing his studies: '' My main goal is to complete my studies and pursue a PhD degree. But if I find an opportunity to work in Jordan using the knowledge that I intend to acquire at IHE to fix the water problems in my country, this will be something that I will actually consider. I would like to feel that I am contributing my knowledge to help my country.''