Carnegie Mellon students encourage creativity at Qatar Academy afterschool program

Lana Sami is younger than most published authors. 

But 10-year-old Lana attended the launch of her first book, “Agent Peacock’s Mission,” at a Wednesday event at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar.  She was joined by seven other Qatar Academy students – each proudly clutching their own hardbound book. 

For eight weeks, the group has been participating in a community outreach program organized by Carnegie Mellon students Sara Al-Mannai and Najla Al-Madhadi. An initiative of the university’s Office of Personal Development, the Doha Community Engagement Program (DCEP) invites students to submit a proposal outlining a community service project that will make a difference in Qatar. Each semester, one proposal is chosen, and the students get a small budget in return for a lot of time and effort. 

In this semester’s project, Sara and Najla, both business administration students, initiated a weekly afterschool writing program for 8 to 12 year-olds. Named Oktob, the Arabic word for write, the project aimed to encourage kids to become passionate about writing. 

The inspiration came from Sara’s own enjoyment of reading, she said. 

“Through each and every book, you can take a journey. I wanted to help others see what I see in books,” she said. 

To kindle the students’ interest, Sara and Najla asked them to imagine they were detectives who had discovered an unopened letter and a mysterious key. From there, the students created their own adventures, which they wrote in English or Arabic, and illustrated with their own drawings. 

In the weekly sessions, Sara and Najla gave the children feedback, listened to their ideas and read aloud to them. They learned how much this support meant to their mentees. 

“We learned from our young friends that children don’t give up on what they are interested in if someone is standing there beside them,” Najla said. 

At Wednesday’s closing event, the Qatar Academy students received bound copies of their books and shared some of their experiences. For 8-year old Ghalia Dawood, the best part was seeing her ideas captured in a book. 

“Lots of people in school have imaginations, but they don’t always have a pencil and paper,” she said. 

For Lana Sami, this was the first step in becoming a professional writer. 

“The best thing about my experience was learning new things and making my dream come true,” Lana said. 

Copies of the students’ books will be placed in the Qatar Academy and Carnegie Mellon Qatar libraries. The women said they hope to offer the program to another group of children.