وَرَقٌ مِنْ أَوْرَاقِ النَّخِيلِ

فِي عُمَانَ أَشْجَارُ نَخِيلٍ كَثِيرَةٌ. وَالنَّخْلَةُ شَجَرَةٌ مُهِمَّةٌ هُنَاكَ، لِأَنَّهَا تُعْطِي التَّمْرَ. وَتُعْطِي النَّخِيلُ أَيْضًا كَمِّيَّاتٍ كَبِيرَةً مِنَ الْأَوْرَاقِ الْيَابِسَةِ. وَفِي الْعَادَةِ، يَحْرِقُ النَّاسُ هَذِهِ الْأَوْرَاقَ. لَكِنَّ الْحَرْقَ يُسَبِّبُ مَشَاكِلَ لِلْبِيئَةِ، لِأَنَّ الدُّخَانَ يُلَوِّثُ الْهَوَاءَ. كَانَ مُصْطَفَى الْبَرَامِيُّ طَالِبًا فِي جَامِعَةِ السُّلْطَانِ قَابُوسَ. وَدَرَسَ هُنَاكَ الْكِيمْيَاءَ. وَكَانَتْ عِنْدَهُ فِكْرَةٌ: أَنْ يَصْنَعَ مِنْ أَوْرَاقِ النَّخِيلِ وَرَقًا. وَعَادَةً، يَصْنَعُ النَّاسُ الْوَرَقَ مِنْ خَشَبِ الْأَشْجَارِ. لَكِنَّ مُصْطَفَى وَجَدَ طَرِيقَةً لِصُنْعِ أَلْيَافٍ مِنْ أَوْرَاقِ النَّخِيلِ. وَالْأَلْيَافُ هِيَ الْمَادَّةُ الْأَسَاسِيَّةُ لِصُنْعِ الْوَرَقِ. فَمِنْ أَوْرَاقٍ يَابِسَةٍ صَنَعَ أَلْيَافًا، وَمِنَ الْأَلْيَافِ صَنَعَ وَرَقًا. وَمِنْ هَذَا الْوَرَقِ يُمْكِنُ أَنْ نَصْنَعَ دَفَاتِرَ وَأَكْيَاسًا. وَفِي سَنَةِ ٢٠١١، فَازَ مَشْرُوعُهُ بِالْمَرْكَزِ الثَّانِي فِي مَعْرِضٍ لِلِابْتِكَارِ فِي عُمَانَ. وَبَعْدَ ذَلِكَ، أَرَادَ أَنْ يَصْنَعَ الْوَرَقَ بِكَمِّيَّاتٍ كَبِيرَةٍ. وَكَانَ مُصْطَفَى يُفَكِّرُ فِي بِنَاءِ مَصْنَعٍ كَبِيرٍ لِلْوَرَقِ فِي عُمَانَ. لَكِنَّ الْمَصْنَعَ كَانَ فِكْرَةً فَقَطْ، وَلَمْ يَكُنْ مَوْجُودًا بَعْدُ. وَهَذَا الْمَصْنَعُ يُمْكِنُ أَنْ يَحُلَّ مُشْكِلَتَيْنِ. فَهُوَ يَجْعَلُ لِلْأَوْرَاقِ الْيَابِسَةِ قِيمَةً. وَيُقَلِّلُ الْمَشَاكِلَ الَّتِي يُسَبِّبُهَا الْحَرْقُ لِلْبِيئَةِ. فَبَدَلًا مِنَ النَّارِ، تُعْطِي النَّخْلَةُ وَرَقًا.

In Oman there are many palm trees. The palm is an important tree there, because it gives dates. Palms also give large amounts of dry leaves. People usually burn these leaves. But burning causes problems for the environment, because the smoke pollutes the air. Mustafa Al Barami was a student at Sultan Qaboos University. He studied chemistry there. And he had an idea: to make paper from palm leaves. Usually, people make paper from the wood of trees. But Mustafa found a way to make fibres from palm leaves. Fibres are the basic material for making paper. So from dry leaves he made fibres, and from the fibres he made paper. And from this paper we can make notebooks and bags. In 2011, his project won second place at an innovation fair in Oman. After that, he wanted to make paper in large quantities. Mustafa was thinking of building a big paper factory in Oman. But the factory was only an idea, and did not exist yet. This factory could solve two problems. It would give the dry leaves valu