The Rota volunteers during their visit to Cambodia.
DOHA: Twenty-three girl volunteers from four Doha Independent Doha Secondary Schools made a real difference to the lives of local families and students during an eight-day trip to Cambodia organised by Reach Out To Asia (Rota).
In collaboration with Rota’s Cambodian partner, the Monithapana Foundation, and under the sponsorship of Vodafone-Qatar, the volunteer group from Al Bayan Independent Secondary School for Girls, Al Sailiyah Independent Secondary School for Girls, the Qatar Independent School and the Amna Bint Wahab Independent Secondary School for Girls hosted workshops for around 200 students at the Rota-funded Monithapana Kandal General High School.
Before presenting workshops covering sports and healthy living, Arabic language, Qatari culture, art and social media, volunteers also visited the Phnom Penh Dubai Islamic School.
“Visiting Cambodia has given these Rota volunteers a wonderful opportunity to develop and enhance important life skills such as communication, empathy and interpersonal relationships. In addition they experienced a Rota project that delivers high quality, modern education in a safe learning environment,” said Mohammed Abdulla Al Saleh, Rota National Programmes Director.
The volunteers held peer-to-peer sessions, enjoyed lunch with the students and prepared interactive and participatory activity-based learning sessions for them. They also engaged in various community service visits.
They learned about Cambodian history, visited cultural sites, travelled to Mekong river and participated in leadership training sessions.
“All the students who travelled from Doha are a credit to their parents, their schools and to Qatar. From the moment they arrived in Cambodia they embraced the opportunity to interact with the pupils and engage in meaningful and memorable life-changing experiences,” said Noora Al Kubaisi, a teacher from the Al Bayan Educational Complex for Girls.
“Visiting Cambodia changed me,” says Amal Al Emadi, one of the volunteers from Amna Bint Wahab Independent School. “I came back to Doha knowing I need to do something. I must let people know about the important work Rota is doing to create a better future for thousands of Asian children, and how they can get involved in this work.”
“Visiting Cambodia was a rewarding experience and there I got to do many things I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do otherwise,” said Hissa Al Mansoori from the Qatar Independent School.
“What I learnt in Cambodia is that every child has the capacity to succeed in school and in life, if only they have access to a quality education, and this is what Rota is doing”
The Peninsula
