

Visitors to the United States Pavilion were given the opportunity to discover their personal family history and to build and print their own family tree to take home as a keepsake.įamilySearch hopes that its sponsored events like the Dubai World Expo capture the imagination of guests and help foster a shared love of connecting the human family through family history. Singer, second counselor in the Middle East/Africa North Area Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke about strengthening families in need through the generous humanitarian relief provided in the Middle East by Latter-day Saint Charities. This will allow us to better understand our shared humanity, our common foundation, our common heritage. Our goal is to try to put together the entire family tree of humanity."īuilding on the World Expo's theme of "Connection," Elder Jeffrey H. “We have great hope for the future as we continue to work together to document and preserve the human story. “As we connect to each other in a common purpose to preserve our family and share our heritage, we believe the next generation will be positively impacted,” Elder Hamilton said.

Hamilton, chairman of the board for FamilySearch, shared some ideas for preserving families, heritage and culture and how modern technology can help people preserve the past. People around the world have discovered that it is an uplifting social and technological endeavor to work together to preserve cultural heritage through individual records and stories.Įlder Kevin S. Rockwood also said that he is inspired by the people of the region for their innate belief in the importance of families and the significance they feel for preserving their heritage and family stories.įamilySearch demonstrated how it is developing technologies that expedite the preservation of and access to genealogical records that will make cultural and heritage preservation easier while also helping individuals make more inspiring family discoveries and connections. “All we want to do is to provide inspiring experiences that bring joy to all of you as you discover, gather, connect to your families, past, present and future.” “Our purpose is to help people to gather the stories of our ancestors, by preserving them, gathering them and connecting them to multiple generations to come,” he said. Steve Rockwood, CEO of FamilySearch International, talked about the importance of preserving the stories of our ancestors. It has collaborated with over 10,000 archives in over 100 countries. FamilySearch helps preserve the world’s genealogical records to help individuals make and share meaningful family connections and to become stewards of their family legacies. “Thanks to the work of FamilySearch, we are able to learn more about our ancestors.”įamilySearch is a 125-year-old global nonprofit organization sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I find great inspiration from learning about and remembering our ancestors and what they stood for and walked towards,” Sheikh Al-Qasimi said. He said the family is central to the culture and way of life in the United Arab Emirates. Guest speaker His Highness Sheikh Salem bin Sultan bin Saqr Al-Qasimi, from the ruling family of Sharjah and Ras Al-Khaimah, shared how our family stories connect us and the importance of connecting to our families in order to preserve our heritage - past, present and in the future. Luncheon guests came from across the Middle East and North Africa, including government ministers, record custodians, and religious and cultural affairs leaders. In keeping with the World Expo theme of “Connection,” FamilySearch sponsored two events-a special luncheon at the United States Pavilion under the theme of "Connecting Families, Preserving Heritage” and a RootsTech event at the Opportunity Forum. O ver 192 countries are participating, providing immersive cultural experiences for guests from around the world. The World Expo in Dubai is a six-month event running from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022, and has brought the world together under the theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.” It is the first World Expo to take place in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region. The annual RootsTech conference is a virtual event which attracted millions of attendees from around the world. Guests were invited from across the Middle East to discover the latest technologies to globally connect families and preserve heritage for future generations. FamilySearch International, a global nonprofit and the world’s largest family history organization, launched RootsTech 2022 at the World Expo in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on March 3-5, 2022.
