HCT-Dubai Alumnae Association holds leadership camp

The Alumnae Association of Higher Colleges of Technology- Dubai, Women’s College (HCT-Dubai) organized recently a leadership camp, the first cultural, awareness and recreational such university event in the UAE, targeting 25 students in foundations’ level with the aim of helping them discover their personalities and leadership skills, in addition to learning about how a leader can contribute to humanitarian and environmental issues around.

Each Saturday in May was designated to focus on a certain theme related to leadership and its general concept. The first Saturday of the camp featured a workshop titled "Personality Dimensions "managed and supervised by Sangeetha Thomas, the Career Counselor at HCT-Dubai, Women’s Campus. The workshop drew admiration of the students who took simple tests to learn about the colour closely related to their personal profiles among certain four colours.

The next Saturday gave students a unique opportunity to learn about different leadership styles by using Lego Series Play Method at a workshop led by the accredited trainer Tarifa al-Zaabi, a leading graduate and an ex-member at the HCT Alumnae Association. She is also a founder of the Bricks Academy Cubes Academy Project, which aims at reviving the concept of learning through the bricks, which were used in discovering leadership styles of the targeted students in the camp.

Believing in the leader's humanitarian role in the social settings, the Alumnae Association co-organized with Laila al-Hadad, the head of the Social Services Section at the Dubai Hospital, a trip for students on the third Saturday of May to visit cancer and kidney children at the hospital where they amused them with various entertainment activities.

The students also listened to a presentation from Dr Abdul Rahman Al-Jasmi, a pediatrics consultant and the head of the Blood Diseases and Children's Tumours Department at the hospital, on cancer, the lifestyle of child patients and how to deal with them.

Frenzy Events , owned by Hana Al-Sarkal who is a DWC graduate, decorated the recreational hall with colourful balloons for free.

The camp concluded by launching a day for the environment on which students planted five saplings on the camp to increase its green area and watched two documentaries on the environment.

In an address on the camp, Feddah Mohammed Lootah, the president of the Alumnae Association, highlighted cooperation among the members. "This camp would not have become a possibility without the efforts of all members. My presence among this group emphasizes the idea of cooperation, which is able to make dreams come true and extend them to the future at the hands of the participants. This is what everyone should do for the dear UAE society," she commented.

Eman Eid Al-Merri, a prominent student participant in the camp, expressed her happiness for joining the event, which she said has added a lot to her personality. She said she had prepared for visiting cancer and kidney patients at the Dubai Hospital by conducting a small research on the patients' lifestyle. Eman Iman added she was impressed by the organization of the camp and thanked the Alumnae Association, which it said is voluntarily working to promote students' interests.

Commenting on the two successful workshops of the camp, Ayesha Shukrallah, who heads the Association's Events and Initiatives Committee and the project leader said: "The idea of the camp was a dream I cherished for years. This dream would not have come true without me joining the Alumnae Board and cooperation of all members and without the great support from the HCT-Dubai, notably from its Dr. Howard Reed, Director of HCT-Dubai."