(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Students and staff from Qatar Foundation (QF) centres and partner universities are supporting community development efforts on an international scale, bringing much-needed assistance to under-served and underprivileged communities around the world.
A team of students from Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a QF member, recently visited refugee camps in Jordan, bringing humanitarian relief to those in need.
Similarly, engineering students from Texas A & M University at Qatar (Tamuq), a QF partner university, have spent a week volunteering in Thailand, where they assembled wheelchairs, built houses, and renovated schools.
Doaa Mohaisen, MA student at the Translation and Interpreting Institute, HBKU, who was part of the team that volunteered in Jordan, said: 'We visited different refugee camps and found that people from each camp had their own stories to tell, so I quickly realised I could do more on this trip than just helping out temporarily I'm a storyteller, and I can bring these people's tales to the world.
'I wanted to hear their stories directly from them, and not just from others who went on the trip. You never really know how hard life is for refugees unless you go and experience it yourself it's when you attach names and faces to these individual stories that they become more than just abstract ideas.
During the trip, the HBKU team visited several refugee camps, including Jerash, the poorest Palestine refugee camp in Jordan according to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.
The team also visited cancer treatment centres, clothing banks, and school developmental projects, and distributed more than 1,000 food baskets.
'We met a lot of young people during our trip, many of whom had to abandon their dreams of getting an education, said Mohaisen.
'Some of them asked us how they could pursue further studies, or get scholarships to study. What surprised was that they asked us more about education and healthcare than about basic things, such as food, as there was a shortage in many of the camps we visited.
Tamuq student Abdullah Shaat agrees it is important for students to gain 'first-hand experience of the wider world — through volunteering in different international communities.
He was part of a team that recently travelled to Thailand after raising more than QR25,000 through selling donuts and holding sports events in Education City, with all proceeds used to buy the tools and materials the students needed to build houses, paint walls, and refurbish schools.
'QF understands that encouraging students to take part in volunteering trips is a mutual investment, said Shaat.
'QF wants its students to get out of their comfort zones and become exposed to the conditions of people in different communities, while bringing hope and development to some of the most underprivileged areas of the world.
'I believe QF's efforts perfectly align with the human development aspect of Qatar's vision, which includes preparing its young people to take on the challenges facing the world and become tomorrow's leaders.
As part of the Aggie Service-Learning Experience a Tamuq programme that gives students the opportunity to volunteer, and grow as individuals, through offering them real-life experiences Shaat and 17 other engineering students spent eight hours volunteering every day, and later took part in reflection sessions.
A group of 12 students from Georgetown University in Qatar, a QF partner university, travelled to Greece to volunteer and improve their understanding of the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis; two students from Northwestern University in Qatar, a QF partner university, spent three weeks in Malaysia to interview two groups of Rohingya refugees; and Qatar National Library donated a collection of books to a project based at a refugee camp in Greece.
Additionally, the World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE), an initiative of QF, each year recognises and promotes successful projects from across the world through its WISE Awards programme, which addresses global educational challenges in disadvantaged communities, refugee crises, and cultural exchange.
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