Students raise Dh86,000 through community service

Abu Dhabi: University students engaged in a one month ‘service learning’ project have raised around Dh86,000.

Service learning is a method of teaching that requires students to use what they have learnt in the classroom to help the community.

The project, which helped in changing over 1,000 people’s lives, ranged from buying winter clothes and providing food for labourers, to handing out food staples such as, oil, rice, and flour to poor families in the region.

Ameera Ahmad, one of the Zayed University (ZU) students who has been engaged in the project, said: “I learned how to communicate with different segments of society and find people in need. This project gave us the chance to learn something new in our own way.”

Ameera was surprised to find an Emirati mother with four children living in poverty. With the support of the service learning project, about Dh 7000 has been raised to assist her.

Robyn Albers, a business communication instructor at ZU, supervised this project and asked students to use gained skills taught within the classroom to do something good and useful for their community.

“In the service learning project, students had to use emails, write progress reports, and give a presentation on how they had a positive impact on the lives of people within the UAE,” Albers said.

Hadya Bawazeer, another student who has been involved in this project, raised over Dh15000 for a family of 16 members, which is about to be evicted and could soon be homeless.

“This project was a life changing experience, one that opened my eyes and showed me how blessed we are. It taught me that I can change someone’s life, if I have pure will and determination,” Bawazeer told Gulf News.

Department of media has also collaborated with business students in this project.

Ahmed Al Dhalei volunteered to make a documentary to raise awareness and help a family that has lived in the capital for forty years.

Albers also pointed out that the real asset of any advanced nation is its people, especially the educated ones, and the prosperity and success of the people are measured by the standard of their education.

“There is no doubt in my mind that these students are going to be successful. I have seen their ambition and determination,” Albers added.

The project also aimed to help workers in need, after recognising the difficulties that labourers might face while doing their jobs.

“Seeing the smile on the worker’s face was worth the time and the effort. Never hesitate to draw a smile on someone’s face, it is such an amazing feeling,” said Alyazia Al Shamsi, another student participated in the project.

“These are people who left their families and countries searching for a livelihood. Simple assistance can make them happy. You may think that such donations are simple useless things; however, they may change somebody’s life dramatically,” Sameya Obaid Rashed, another ZU student involved in the service learning project, explained.