Culture & Education | Thursday 16 June, 2016 4:00 pm |

Schools in the UAE today concluded an Open Week dedicated to helping shore up donations for the Reading Nation Ramadan campaign. The humanitarian campaign was launched by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on the first day of the Holy Month of Ramadan to provide five million books to underprivileged children in refugee camps and schools around the world, in addition to establishing 2,000 libraries in schools globally. 

 

The Open Week was collaboratively organized by Dubai Cares, the Ministry of Education, Abu Dhabi Education Council and Dubai Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). Thousands of students from different nationalities across the country took part in activities organized in public and private schools that encouraged them to donate used books to support refugee children and less-privileged children globally in knowledge empowerment. 

 

Students and parents participating in the activities of the Open Week expressed their support for the Reading Nation Ramadan campaign and applauded the noble gesture by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum. School teachers and administrators commended the great response from students and their families to the campaign that aimed to help underprivileged children nourish their minds and improve their future. 

 

His Excellency Tariq Al-Gurg, Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Cares, thanked the campaign’s partners in the education sector, schools, students and their families for their participation and efforts in making the Reading Nation Ramadan campaign a resounding success. 

 

He said: “The great enthusiasm we saw across all the schools has been gratifying. It exemplified the true importance of sharing and caring - values we live by every day in the UAE. The overwhelming support of the school community has garnered several thousand books. Aramex will now collect the books and deliver them to the Dubai Cares headquarters in the International Humanitarian City where we shall sort them and decide where to send them.” 

 

He added: “It is very encouraging that by the second week of the Reading Nation Ramadan campaign, we have reached three million books. We are optimistic that with all the support we are receiving from all stakeholders that we shall reach and perhaps surpass our target of five million books by the end of the campaign – that coincides with the 19th day of Ramadan or Zayed Humanitarian Day.”

 

David Baldwin - Headteacher at Dubai-based Horizon English School, said: “This is a fantastic and ambitious project by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum that we are glad to be part of. We asked the children to donate books from their own collection to children who are less fortunate and write messages to them. We are happy to contribute to children who are in need and to help in enriching their lives. 

 

“The campaign helps us all understand and experience the spirit of Ramadan. The response has been overwhelming and at the end of this Open Week we had thousands of books to donate. Of all the ways in which we can choose to support children, there is no better way than to give them access to so much information and knowledge. For many children it could mean the difference between existing and living - being surrounded by great books they can learn from.”

 

Rose Gesquiere, head librarian at Horizon School, said: “We asked all children to choose books that they would donate to make another child happy and the response was overwhelming. It showed how much children care and how much they want to be involved. This has been a great opportunity for everyone to join in the Raman spirit - whether they were Muslims or non-Muslims.”

 

Margarita, a 10-year-old, grade five student of Horizon School, said: “This campaign is a chance to give what other don’t have. I am glad they could experience what I really enjoy. I wrote a dedication on the book to the child who will receive it that said ‘I hope you enjoy the book as much I did’. I am glad someone else can now use the book and gain something.”

 

Diya, also a fifth grade student, donated 15 books to the initiative at her school. She said books are the best gifts one could give because they inspired children to think and enter new worlds and gain knowledge. 

 

Given the fact that more than 10,000 schools in the Arab world do not have school libraries and millions of refugee children do not have access to adequate education or books, the Reading Nation campaign aims to provide five million books to children in refugee camps and under-privileged schools across the world. 

 

The campaign will distribute two million books to children and students in refugee camps, in addition to creating 2,000 libraries in the schools in need around the world through providing two million book. The rest will be available to support educational programs of the UAE’s humanitarian organizations working abroad.