Students at Qatar Foundation have distributed around 2,000 iftar meals to QF contracted workers in Education City during the last two weeks of Ramadan, through an initiative called Ajar.
The fifth-grade students at Qatar Academy Doha (QAD) — part of Qatar Foundation’s (QF) Pre-University Education — with the help of a number of teachers and students, worked to prepare food rations that were distributed at a rate of 150-200 meals per day. The initiative was supervised by QF’s Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) directorate and workers welfare team, who as well ensured food safety.
Shagufta Rashid, a teacher at QAD, said the students were enthusiastic about participating in Ajar, which reflected the principles of giving and generosity in Ramadan, as they estimated the amount of food required and worked alongside QF’s food service department to prepare healthy meals, which were provided to the workers for Iftar.
“In two weeks, the students distributed nearly 2,000 meals, and they made sure to provide these to the workers themselves, expressing their appreciation for what these workers were doing for them,” she said, explaining that many teachers and students from other QAD classes contributed to the initiative.
“It was touching to see how the students felt about this, and their belief that doing good is an integral part of fasting.”
Aisha Ghani, Environment Specialist at HS&E of QF, said: “We support QAD’s efforts in all its initiatives and activities aimed at inculcating spiritual values among students during Ramadan, as well as promoting sustainability, through awareness-raising.
“This initiative has promoted the importance of preserving resources and their consumption by employees within Education City, as well as raising awareness of the need not to waste food.”
Rondell Baulos, HS&E Workers Welfare Specialist, says the initiative aimed to enhance the spirit of participation and the value of giving by students, especially during the holy month of Ramadan.
“We have played our part in evaluating all prepared foods and ensuring food safety before distributing them. Our duty is to look after the wellbeing and the welfare of the workers including their health , and to determine the requirements and the parameters that guarantee this,” he said, explaining that the initiative took place in cooperation with eleven companies who work as QF contractors.
“Our workers are part of the QF community, and therefore it is important for us to express our appreciation, in any way we can, for their contribution to QF. We have been invited and given an opportunity by QAD to bring QF contracted workers together and share with them the joy of the students’ charitable work in an atmosphere of solidarity and empathy,” he said.
QAD students said that doing good gives fasting a more beautiful and spiritual meaning.
Abdullah AlMawlawi, a QAD student, ho said: “Giving is one of the most important basics of our Islamic religion, and the month of Ramadan is an ideal opportunity to do good deeds, which makes us earn more good deeds and reward.”
Student Khalifa Nasser Al Kuwari explained that preparing food and packing it in special bags, with the aim of presenting it to the workers, made him and his fellow students feel “happy”, and that Ramadan is not only a month of fasting, but a month of goodness and giving.
“The workers expressed their gratitude to us for what we have done towards them, and this motivated us to take greater initiative and do things that make others happy in the future,” Al Kuwari added.
Rakan AlAbdulla, also a student at QAD, said he felt proud to be part of the school and its initiatives aimed at spreading the values of love and solidarity among society, adding that his participation in this experience left an impact on his personality.
“This initiative motivated me to think more deeply about the suffering of others and our role in helping them and providing them with better conditions, and I plan to make giving as part of my future plans to contribute to my role as a Muslim to help others,” he said.
And fellow student Mubarak AlKhalifa, who contributed to preparing meals and distributing them to the workers, emphasised the importance of giving in making the world a better place to live.
“Our commitment as Muslims to the values of giving and helping others can reduce the hunger suffered by a large number of people around the world,” he said.
“Giving is a value that is strengthened and consolidated during Ramadan, but it is also a value that continues throughout the year.”
