Community service gains ground among Saudi youngsters

Voluntary community service among Saudi youth appears to be gaining ground across Saudi Arabia, according to Badr Fahad Al-Jeraisy, media head of the Social Committee in Ergah (SCE), northwest of Riyadh.
He noted that in the wake of the two-day 2nd Riyadh Social Forum, the Arab Red Crescent and Red Cross Organization (ARCO) had announced plans to ask the Ministry of Education to make community service mandatory for students at government schools. ARCO Secretary General Abdullah Al-Hazza announced the plan and said that his organization would submit a proposal to Minister of Education Prince Khalid Al-Faisal.
Al-Jeraisy highlighted that the SCE has been undertaking various community projects such as organizing an environmental campaign in Ergah neighborhood, providing donations to underprivileged people and offering tutorial lessons to teenagers.
“If ARCO’s plan materializes it would be a positive step in the right direction. We need the youth to be involved in community service, as it would mean more participants in the propagation of free service and goodwill in society,” said Badr Al-Khanbassi, member of the volunteer group Ghadan. He said that he and other Saudi volunteers from various groups had proposed earlier to the ministry making community service compulsory among students in public schools.
“We were told that the first step is to create a pilot project, which would be implemented at the community level. If the project succeeds then it could be presented to the ministry for nationwide implementation,” he said.
Al-Khanbassi has been involved in volunteer work for the last nine years, as far back as when he was a student at King Fahd University for Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM). Before joining Ghadan, he worked with Rekaaz, another volunteer group that aims to promote friendship and goodwill among the youth.
Adeeb Fahd Baksh, head of a non-profit organization (NGO) called Arweqah (Different Roots), added that he is pleased with the increased number of volunteer work initiatives witnessed in the Kingdom over the past few years.
“We at Arweqah are involved in community service to help others have a better and more meaningful life,” he said.