DOHA: Qatar Charity (QC) has launched food, health and education projects for the Syrian refugees in Turkey.
The projects were launched by a QC delegation headed by CEO Yusuf bin Ahmed Al Kuwari, in the presence of Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Jassim Al Thani, members of the ‘Competitors 2’ team and a number of prominent social figures.
The delegation visited ‘Rihaniyya’ on the Turkish-Syrian border where they inaugurated a modern mobile oven to provide bread for the displaced and distributed food baskets to the refugees. They also inspected the ‘Hope Hospital’ which QC contributes to its operation, opened an eye surgery clinic, provided financial aid to patients and visited a QC operated bakery.
The ‘Competitors’ contest attempts to engage Qatari society in charitable work through competition, spreading the culture and values of charity through media and marketing. The Competitors team recently raised QR12m which will go towards projects that serve displaced Syrians and Syrian refugees.
Dr Hamdi Osman, General Manager of Hope Hospital, thanked QC and the ‘Competitors’ team for their efforts in equipping the eye surgery clinic and running the hospital during the past three months, pointing out that during the past year the hospital has treated more than 60,000 patients in the areas of bones and nerves; performing over 2,500 surgeries.
QR1m has been spent on equipping the eye surgery, while the cost of running the hospital in the last three months amounted to around QR1.5m, with funding from the ‘Competitors 2’ team.
Al Kuwari stressed QC will continue to support Syrian refugees. He stressed the importance of the visit by the Competitors Team, not only for its donations but in creating a positive image of Qatari philanthropists, who have helped the affected Syrians.
“The Competitors contest has achieved considerable success in attracting the young Qatari youths who are distinguished in media, sports, advocacy and scientific fields to join volunteer work, involving them in various humanitarian projects in Qatar and abroad and contributing to the marketing and finance of many charitable programs and projects within the framework of competition in doing good and supporting needy groups,” Al Kuwari said.
Member of Turkish parliament, Jamal Demir Yilmaz, said that he was delighted by the visit of the QC delegation to Syrian refugees in the country, and for their support for the Syrian people in general. He highlighted the fact that QC has been present in Syria, longer than any other charity.
The automated mobile oven, the first of its kind in the region, is expected to provide 3000 to 4,500 loaves of bread per hour and no less than 40,000 loaves a day, benefitting around 120,000 households per month in rural Aleppo and Idlib.
The Competitors team funded the mobile oven along with the cost of running it for one month at a cost of around QR1.65m.
The delegation distributed food baskets to 200 families and visited another bakery, that the ‘Competitors’ team funded for three months, including the cost of providing flour, fuel and operating expenses, at a cost of more than QR1.2m. The Peninsula
