89-year-old man will not give up building dhows. Working out of his small house in Sharjah, Ibrahim Buhazza builds small replica dhows. At a young age he travelled to Bahrain to work as a pearl diver and used to watch as the men built dhows nearby. He was soon inspired to try building one for himself as has been making them ever since. See more at: http://gulfnews.com/gntv
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00:00We've come to Sharjah to meet an 89-year-old pearl diver who makes miniature dhows at home
00:09to keep the tradition alive.
00:12Ibrahim Bouhaza's small Sharjah house is filled with miniature dhows.
00:16The amount of details on the dhows is incredible, all designed, built and painted by him.
00:23He doesn't need to draw any plans, it's all done from his memory and with only one good
00:27eye.
00:28I don't go to school, I don't work, any teacher, nothing, I'll go for somebody, I'll look what
00:34they do.
00:35I'm sitting a day, then every day I'll go, and then I find a good idea for it.
00:42He spends most of his time building these dhows, which are replicas of those used for
00:46pearl diving, in hopes of selling them.
00:49But until he finds a home for them, they sit on display in his yard.
00:53He moved when he was very young as he didn't find many opportunities in Sharjah at that
00:57time.
00:58One day in Bahrain, he saw a man carving a little dhow, and he immediately fell in love
01:03with the idea of building his own.
01:05The big dhow they make, I'm sitting with them, every day I go and see what they do, like
01:12that, like that, and I put it in my idea.
01:15Then I start, I say, why I'm not start for that, I make a small, then I make a bigger.
01:22He soon started experimenting with different wood to build his own dhows, and became an
01:26expert in no time.
01:27I make everything, the body, then I start for that, the wood.
01:35I get it, which side I need it, I write it, half-inch, three-eight, inch, two-inch, I
01:45make it.
01:46Then I take it to the carpenter, the machine, and they cut it, everything.
01:50Then I do it here, myself.
01:53At almost 90 years old, moving these dhows around is no easy task for him.
01:56They are bigger and heavier than him.
01:59He says he has fallen over on several occasions when trying to lift them, but he just laughs
02:04and shrugs it off.
02:05He says he will not stop.
02:07His passion and knowledge for pearl diving is evident on the dhows.
02:11He puts in details such as ankle weights, nets, coffee jugs, and even treasure boxes
02:16for the pearls.
02:17Ibrahim has passed his knowledge to three of his 12 children, and hopes to teach other
02:21people so that his knowledge about pearl diving and dhows can live on.
02:26This job is difficult, but if you are not like it, you cannot do anything, for any job,
02:36not this job.
02:37Ibrahim is truly inspirational.
02:40Eighty-nine years old, and he says he will continue to make these dhows for the rest
02:43of his life, and hopes to pass the knowledge on to the younger generation.
02:47Sarah Graham-Peyer, Golf News.