Qatar Foundation’s (QF) humanitarian response to Afghan evacuees through a student-led volunteering initiative has helped shape a volunteering spirit and culture in Qatar.
The volunteering spirit that has been seen is not event-led and is civic which is not typically seen in Qatar. The fact that more than 1,000 had signed up for the initiative shows the enthusiasm which revolutionized the community’s attitude towards volunteering. Among them 300 volunteers, including QF students and staff were deployed.
QF has galvanized the community to take a significant role in showing Afghan evacuees that they are not alone, and that humanity stands with them.
The aim of this initiative is to bring a sense of normalcy to their lives and show them that, amid everything they have experienced and suffered, the world is aware of their plight, cares about them, and wants to help them.
Led by QF community, their actions have empowered other local community members to sign up and respond to such civic duties. The actions of the young people from QF who have given their time to help the Afghan evacuees, reflect the global citizenship and sense of service that QF looks to instill in their students and across the local community.
“When a humanitarian crisis like the one we are seeing in Afghanistan emerges, we feel it’s our duty and our responsibility to do whatever we can to help those who find themselves in less fortunate circumstances than ourselves. We often talk about the importance of young people being global citizens. Hopefully, through our small actions to support these refugees, we are putting that into practice and reflecting why it’s important to look beyond ourselves and do something that helps our fellow citizens of the world,” said Simon Jones, who is heading the QF volunteers.
In the face of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the QF community has felt a civic duty to do whatever it can to help those who are experiencing trauma, upheaval, and uncertainty and for whom Qatar is now their temporary home.
“We have been offering a variety of outdoor activities for the evacuees, football, cricket, volleyball, badminton and even just some simple throw and catch! We have also been running some indoor activities for the younger kids with some arts and crafts.
“A lot of the evacuees have been through a traumatic time and the activities we have been providing help take their thoughts away from that. I hope it has helped bring a sense of normalcy to their lives,” Jones told The Peninsula.
Individuals across the QF ecosystem have quickly come together and mobilized to contribute to a country-level effort to support these refugees: offering ideas, activities, and expertise, seeking to provide what they most need, and showing care and compassion towards fellow citizens of the world who have been displaced from their home country.
Hamad S Al Shaiba, Sports Programming Specialist, Community Engagement and Activation at QF
“The situation in Afghanistan has left people uncertain, traumatized, and fearful for the future, including children and young people. We’re proud that Qatar has come to their aid and is providing them with care, safety and support at such a difficult time,” said Hamad S Al Shaiba, Sports Programming Specialist, Community Engagement and Activation at QF.
“That’s why, as students of Qatar and of Qatar Foundation, we wanted to play our part in helping these evacuees realize that they are not alone, that the world recognizes the huge difficulties they are facing, and that humanity stands with them. Giving just a little of our time to talk with the refugees, play games with them, and hopefully help bring even a slight sense of normality to their lives is the least we can do, because we feel that it’s in times of crisis that the best of humanity shows itself.
“And what we hope is that when these families and children leave Qatar to start a new life in another country, they will take with them the knowledge that, for all the anguish they must have suffered recently, this is a world that does care about them and wants to help them,” said Al Shaiba. Over 1,000 sign ups and over 300 volunteers were deployed including QF students and staff.
Hasena Yehya, an Afghan-origin British student at Northwestern University- Qatar who volunteered said, “I decided to join because as an Afghan I felt there was a need to help my fellow countrymen especially in these dire situations. I also felt quite helpless seeing what was happening in my country, so helping out makes me feel like I'm contributing to a larger cause.”
“My experience was very enjoyable, it was always fun to see the kids get really interested after they found out I speak the same language as them. The children were very lively and hopeful which made the experience much more optimistic,” she added.
Hasena was involved in playing ball games with some of the girls in the compound and she said it was something that can distract them from what's happening in their country.
“I also was able to have casual conversations with some of the kids as well in their mother tongue. Also there were times when the kids and the adults couldn't understand each other so I had to do some impromptu translations to make sure nothing gets lost in translation,” she added.
“Human beings are members of a whole, in creation of one essence and soul. If one member is afflicted with pain, other members uneasy will remain. If you have no sympathy for human pain, the name of human you cannot retain.”
Mahboobeh Razavi, Student volunteer
These verses from Persian poet Hafez-e Shirazi that speak to the inevitability of a common fate of humanity, that unites us into an intimately shared space was quoted by Mahboobeh Razavi, a student volunteer.
“The poem explains well why we as a member of the whole should care for each other, she said.
Razavi involved in the activities including playing football and translations with her fluency in Farsi language.
Speaking about her experience with the evacuees Razavi said: “It was unbelievable for me, when I entered the compound and started talking in Farsi with kids, when they saw someone who speaks in their own language, they started smiling and surprised. And it is unforgettable memory for me forever.”
