Qatar Museums Volunteers Return From Marrakech After Ten Days Supporting Women's Economic Empowerment

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) The Peninsula

Doha, Qatar: A delegation of 26 volunteers from Qatar Museums (QM) and the Community College of Qatar has returned to Doha after a ten-day community programme in Marrakech, Morocco.

From October 22 to 31, 2026, the volunteers worked alongside the Amal Centre for Women's Empowerment in Targa to strengthen the creative and professional skills of local women and young entrepreneurs.

The programme was led by Qatar Museums' Community Service team as an extension of the Years of Culture initiative's work in Morocco.

Speaking for the delegation, Head of Community Service at Qatar Museums Hazem Idriss said:“We are proud to be here for the second time to strengthen our partnership with our brothers and sisters in Morocco, bring Qatari and Moroccan cultures together, and explore the many links and commonalities we share.”

The Amal Centre hosted the programme at its facilities in Targa. The workshops combined cultural exchange with practical skills sharing. Photography sessions explored ways to present products and small businesses more effectively, particularly in food and catering. Cooking workshops provided an opportunity to share recipes and learn about the food traditions and hospitality customs of both countries.

Qatari and Moroccan participants also co-created a mural that draws on Qatari heritage and on Moroccan architectural and artistic traditions. The mural will stay at the Centre as a lasting mark of the partnership.

Members of the Qatari delegation said the warmth, generosity, and openness to learning they found in Marrakech defined their experience. A staff member at the Amal Centre said the exchange gave the Centre ideas and expertise it can use in its economic and social empowerment programmes for the women it serves.

The Marrakech programme continues a series of annual international volunteer trips organised under Years of Culture. The first mission, in 2023, took QM staff, artists, university students, and Qatar Youth Hostels volunteers to a vocational arts school in Indonesia. Qatar's Reach Out to Asia helped build that school after the 2006 earthquake. In 2024, volunteers in Rabat and Salé painted murals, helped rehabilitate a rural school, and planted trees in Salé's urban forest. Mathaf's artist residency team also led workshops there on the history of photography and on sun printing. In 2025, the volunteer programme travelled to Buenos Aires in Argentina and Matanzas in Chile, where volunteers restored heritage objects, ran cultural and culinary workshops, painted murals, and helped with nature conservation alongside local communities.

The return to Morocco this year reflects a core Years of Culture principle. Partnerships should continue well after the official year ends, and should move from celebration to practical work with local communities.

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