Students do their bit for people in war zone

Abu Dhabi: Students and staff of the Abu Dhabi Women's College (ADWC) have been actively involved in a fund-raising drive as part of a campaign titled ‘Stand up and take action' to build a new mosque in war-torn Somalia.

ADWC students and staff have so far raised Dh37,000 for the Red Crescent Society towards this project. A further Dh9,100 raised by ADWC will be used by the Red Crescent for other good causes.

"We have been working for a long time to reach our fund-raising goal and we are proud of the outcome," Mai Al Daheri, the student council president, said. "We felt that helping poor people made it worthwhile."

The students organised bazaars, bake sales and a range of other activities to raise funds for their cause.

"It gave us a feeling of achievement to know that we could do something for others even if they are far away in another country. We should do more than just share their feelings," student Sawsan Al Alawi said.

"We hope to have made a small improvement in people's lives," Fatima Al Nuaimi, a Health Information Management student, said.

Blood donation camp

The project has not been the only positive outcome of ADWC's call to ‘Stand up and take action'. In addition to raising funds for the new mosque, ADWC took forward their community service enthusiasm by organising a week-long blood donation campaign with the help of the Abu Dhabi Blood Bank (ADBB).

The students worked hard to create a highly successful poster campaign on bulletin boards across the university. The 160 volunteers attracted by the students' campaign overwhelmed the expectations of the blood bank staff who agreed to return at a later date.

Nonetheless the blood bank was able to collect around 50 litres of blood (each donor was able to give 500ml).

According to the Abu Dhabi Blood Bank, there is a need for donated blood every three seconds. It takes no more than ten minutes to collect 500ml of blood which could easily save up to three lives. Eligible donors can safely donate blood three to four times a year.

Health awareness campaign

In line with the health-related theme of the campaign, members of the ADWC's ‘Heart Mates' club, who meet regularly to make recommendations for the improvement of dietary and health aspects of college life, organised a health awareness campaign, which included a free health screening as well as a ‘healthy eating drive'.

The free health screening was offered by Shaikh Khalifa Medical City in a campaign targeting those older than 22 and aiming at educating them about heart disease risk factors, such as high levels of cholesterol, blood sugar and stress.

The healthy eating drive was supported by the Ministry of Health which arranged for a lecture by Dr Zeinab Taha to be included in the event. Publishers of Health and Nutrition magazine, who sponsored the event, provided a free copy of the magazine to each student.

A ‘cooking healthy' competition was also held. "Preparing a healthy meal in 15 minutes was educational and fun at the same time and had a great turnout," Amani Al Hashemi, the student counsellor, said.