DOHA: Qatar Charity (QC) has opened a school and a mosque in the Republic of Mali as part of a range of developmental and cultural projects implemented in the country.
The two projects were opened by Jassim Abdullah Jassim, Adviser and Representative of the QC CEO, during a recent field trip.
Jassim was briefed on the activities of the QC field office and he oversaw the opening of a number of projects designed to improve the standard of living of the people of Mali, including schools, mosques, artesian wells and income-generating projects.
The school named Hamad Adel Ali bin Ali Al Muslimani was funded by the Ali Bin Ali Group, in Sokaina village in Nagba Cor Dora, a suburb of the Malian capital of Bamako.
The school includes 18 classrooms and an administration room, 17 bathrooms and two boreholes and comes as part of QC’s interest in charitable support for education in Mali, particularly in the poorest areas.
The opening of the school was attended by a number of ministers and officials from the government of Mali, including the Minister for Women and Children, the Minister of Education and the Minister of Sports, as well as international football player and QC Ambassador, Omar Kanoute. The school will benefit a number of orphans and other local children.
Jassim said that the project comes in the context of seeking to support education in the Republic of Mali, especially in areas inhabited by the poorest people.
A mosque in the village of Sokaina was also opened. The mosque is built on an area of 200 square meters, and includes toilets and full furnishing and equipment. Omar Kanoute also attended this opening.
Kanoute, Chairman of the Kanoute Foundation, has overseen a number of projects in Mali, including the project of Sokaina Children Village, which was their first project for the welfare of children and takes care of orphaned children in Bamako and the surrounding areas, aged 3 - 18 years, accommodating the village’s 99 orphaned children, in addition to a number of volunteers and supervisors.
The village consists of a school and training centre, a health centre, a mosque, sports and recreational facilities and family homes, each of which can accommodate around 11 children with a nursemaid.
There is also a farm which supplies the village with its products, carries out agricultural training, in addition to an accommodation for visiting volunteers.
The Ali Bin Ali Group provided the funding for the construction and operation of the village and this collaboration came after a meeting between Kanoute and Adel Ali bin Ali, President and Chairman of the Board at Ali Bin Ali, in the presence of QC Ambassador Mohammed Saadoun Al Kuwari. The collaboration aims to support charitable work in the framework of the Qatar Charity Star initiative which was set up this year.
The school will provide free education for the children of the Village of Sokaina and its neighbouring villages and includes classes for kindergarten and the first classes of primary school at the first stage of the project.
The Qatar Charity’s Stars initiative also funded the Sokaina village’s mosque for orphaned children, raising the funds (QR175,000) within 24 hours of announcing its appeal in the local newspapers. The mosque is of great importance within the Orphan’s Village and is also expected to benefit five surrounding villages.
The Peninsula
