In three months of shared fun and hard work, and shared discussions around campfires, a handful of adventurous young people from very different countries and cultures find their prejudices challenged and their minds changed.

Some say Bahrain no longer needs men who can build dhows by eye, weave red-bordered abayas by hand, or hand-forge a long-beaked coffee-pot. Yet such skills link the present to the past and keep treasured traditions alive.

In the forge of a country at war, the artists of Lebanon create works that transcend the chaos of their homeland and preserve the spirit of a land they refuse to believe is lost. Their colorful works are acts of faith.

The 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature was won by Egyptian novelist and short-story writer Naguib Mahfouz, chronicler of enduring human values from pharaonic Thebes to modern Cairo. In this special section are Larry Luxner's interview with Mahfouz, Edward Fox's appreciation of his work, and Ismail I. Nawwab's new translation of his short story "A Visit."

There were few medals but much pride among the Middle Eastern athletes who competed at the Seoul Olympic Games last fall. Inspired, they plan to hone their competitiveness and their skills, looking toward Barcelona in 1992.