While Saudi university students in the United States are concerned about Saudi Arabia’s image abroad, efforts to change negative and false stereotypes are being put together by a group of Saudi students at the Indiana University World Fair 2008.

The fair is an international event held annually at the state university with the participation of more than 22 international organizations on campus, presenting their cultures, traditions and cuisines.

Loay Al-Alfi, Osamah Feda and Heba Al-Khateeb, three of the 19 Saudi men and women who organized the event, said this was a good opportunity for them to represent Saudi Arabia’s people and culture.

Osama Feda, a 26-year-old post-graduate specializing in e-commerce at Indiana University and the vice president of the Saudi Students Club, said that the Saudi Student Club was invited to participate in the fair.

“Indiana University has a big percentage of international students from all over the world, so the university always tries to accommodate this diversity on campus,” said Feda. “We have an active student organization for Saudi Arabia and we are always keen to participate in every event on or off campus in order to make people more aware of our culture and to change misconceptions about Saudi culture and people.”

Loay Al-Alfi, a 25-year-old postgraduate in information science and the president of the Saudi Students Club, said the Saudi committee was established to plan for all events. The group appointed Hebah Al-Khateeb, a 28-year-old studying English and planning a master’s degree in nutrition, the vice present for the group’s women activities.

“Thirteen Saudi women have proved their capability in preparing, organizing and participating in the IU World Fair 2008,” Al-Alfi said.

Al-Khateeb said that the Saudi women in the group presented different abaya designs and traditional dresses, not only to the American community but also to different international communities.

“Abaya and other traditional dresses distinguish Saudi women from other women around the world,” said Al-Khateeb. “We are the ones who prepared the exhibition booth and gave out bookmarks showing different parts of Saudi Arabia, as well as pins and names printed in Arabic calligraphy. Those were aimed at informing whoever passed by the booth of our country and its culture and diversity.”

Al-Khateeb, also said as a Saudi woman living abroad she has not faced any difficulties or misconceptions regarding her nationality and religion.

“The Bloomington campus (of IU) is a very diverse campus and people are very understanding and friendly,” she added. “America in general is a multicultural and multiethnic society and by the mere fact of its makeup it endorses diversity.”

One of the misconceptions the group has noticed there is the belief that women wear scarves and abayas even inside the home. Al-Khateeb expressed her joy at being able to clarify this misconception by pointing out that the hijab and abaya (and for some women, the face veil) is not usually worn inside the Saudi home.

“People are talking about what women wear in Saudi Arabia,” said Al-Khateeb. “They thought that we wear the abaya even at home. But after we showed them the dolls that wear thobes and other traditional clothes, and explained what we wear when we are outside and what we wear at home, they developed a better understanding.”

And these cultural lessons weren’t just about clothes.

“People were (also) talking about the food that they tasted at the event and they wanted recipes,” she said.