Date/Time
Date(s) - 27/05/2020
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Categories
Description
What is a perception, what is a myth and what is reality? May will take us to the Middle East (virtually), to deep dive into several countries in the Middle East and to discuss female travellers and their safety and security. We will have experts joining us to share their knowledge of these incredible and incredibly different countries and cultures.
We will be joined by Caroline Neil, the Managing Director of RPS Partnership, who will give advice on staying safe while travelling in the Middle East. Caroline’s adventures in the Middle East and beyond started when she was 6 months old when her Mum and Dad bundled her into a VW campervan (yes the cool type, split screen and no mod cons) and drove from Hong Kong to UK overland through Japan, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Jordan and westwards. You could not have had a better start to travelling than that.
Caroline went into Iraq the year after the war, as Head of High-Risk Security at the BBC, where she was responsible for the security of the Bureaux in conflict zones around the world as well as the safety of the staff who worked in them. She has meandered her way around the Middle East and North Africa dipping in and out of the peculiar cultures, often having the privilege to see places and meet people as well as experiencing their different cultures pre and post their revolutions and wars. Her job has allowed her to meet local and national staff both in their homes as well as offices and in the field and to experience at first hand working as a foreign female in often strict cultures.
Caroline has travelled to and worked in Kuwait, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Kurdistan, Israel, Jordan, UAE, Oman, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia. She is the Managing Director of RPS Partnership and is a security, risk mitigation specialist; providing security advice, training and travel support for a broad range of companies and NGOs; from large media corporations to oil and construction multinationals, as well as international charities.
Our guest speaker Dawn Ene Woodhouse – Digital marketing expert and female solo traveler. Dawn has spent the last 9 years working in the digital advertising industry, working for organisations that ranged from multinational to tech startups. Travelling from since she was two weeks old, she always had her sights set on the road. Having traveled to almost 40 countries across South America, North America, Southeast Asia, Oceania and Europe, she wanted to create freedom in her career to allow herself to see the world and do what she loved, finding herself working and living in Los Angeles, Paris, London and most recently Dubai. Naturally curious and a lifelong learner, Dawn is also currently studying Italian, set to start her Graduate Diploma in Law this fall (remotely), an aerialist and accompanied on her ventures by her cat companion.
Our guest speaker Evi Neil – Evi is an experienced traveller, since she began travelling at the age of 20 by leaving her native Germany to head off to Southern Ireland as an Au Pair. Since then she has travelled all over Europe and Scandinavia with her husband and at the time two younger children; camping, with bikes windsurf boards and an assortment of outdoor equipment. She has more recently travelled to Georgia last year on a camping road trip with her husband; the grown up kids now travelling on their own thankfully!
Amongst all this travelling, Evi was fortunate enough to live in Oman for 2 years when she accompanied her husband there for his work. Due to visa restrictions she was not allowed to work, but the positive side of this was that it allowed her time to see a country. She says this was both exciting and infuriating all at the same time if you were a foreigner and a female. She was lucky enough to head off to the deserts, the beach and inland to the smaller less visited areas of this country, getting a unique insight to a different world.
She will bring us her top tips for living in Oman as a female and how she navigated day to day life there; with advice for anyone about to embark on living in the Middle East.
Our guest speaker Wendy Storer – Ports & Aviation Security Trainer for Westminster International. Wendy is a motivated and customer focused member of a highly skilled team, with many years’ experience in aviation security. During her varied career she has had the great pleasure of working in many countries around the globe, including many Middle Eastern countries, Afghanistan, parts of Eastern and Western Africa and multiple countries in Europe.
Her aviation security journey began early in 2000s working for the cargo company DHL. She then began to work for an aviation company where she gained experience in all aspects of aviation security, including In-Flight catering, security in airports and airline security.
Her career took on an exciting direction when she began to work in Afghanistan, supporting each of the local airports in the country, assisting with compliance for the searching of female staff and the travelling public.
Working for Westminster International as a Port & Aviation Security Trainer has given Wendy a more varied insight into parts of the world and how rewarding, albeit, sometimes challenging it can be as a female travelling and working with diverse cultures.
Our guest speakers will take you for a truly insightful journey to Oman, Dubai and Saudi Arabia.
Book your places now to join us: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/female-traveller-safety-considerations-the-middle-east-tickets-104520642054