Students form Fujairah volunteer group that boasts 145 members

FUJAIRAH // Three students who wanted to help their community started a volunteering initiative that now has 145 members.

Zulfa Rasheed, Amaar Abualhayjaa and Mohammed Eliwa founded Mubadarat Al Fujairah last year, after taking part in an iftar project during Ramadan.

Ms Rasheed, a project general coordinator from Ajman University in Fujairah, said: “We heard about the campaign at the university, and decided to join other students from different universities and colleges in distributing dates and water in Ramadan last year, and that’s when we decided to continue and establish our own initiative.”

The 24-year-old from Sudan, along with the two others, said the initiative has taken part in many events and even staged some of its own.

“At first, we were only four [members], but now we have 145 members from different nationalities and age groups,” Ms Rasheed said.

Mr Abualhayjaa, a 20-year-old Syrian pharmacy student at Ajman University, is the initiative’s communication assistant.

“We address all the community members and especially the younger generations, to use their energy in helping the community and benefiting themselves,” he said.

“I have gained many skills since I joined the initiative. My self-confidence and self-esteem have both increased along with my communication skills, through dealing with government institutions and people of different nationalities and backgrounds.”

The initiative’s members have organised workshops and social events, such as the first kick-boxing championship in Fujairah, and a job fair.

“We have also organised events of our own, such as sand-sculpting, where we invite all the members to go to the beach and start creating shapes with sand, to draw the public’s attention to the environment and its beauty,” Ms Rasheed said.

Mubadarat Al Fujairah is run in conjunction with Fujairah College, which provides the initiative with a space to host events, as well as credentials that help when dealing with authorities.

Mr Eliwa, executive assistant and a student at Ajman University, said: “We are so grateful to Fujairah College for their support. Without them we wouldn’t have accomplished any of our goals.”

The 20-year-old Egyptian said the team had more ideas but was hampered by a lack of funds. “We want to do more for the community, but we always face issues with money. We can’t cover members’ transport expenses and uniform.”

“We were thinking of repainting the old houses in Al Mahatta and to do some maintenance of the underground pedestrian tunnel at Hamad bin Abdullah Street. Many other ideas are still on paper and we wish to go ahead with them.”

For more information visit the initiative’s Facebook page, or send an email to mubadara@fc.ac.ae.

rhaza@thenational.ae