As the new school year in the UAE kicks off and our children go back to classes, many of them wonder about the fate of the Lebanese students and schools that were hit by the latest fighting. Would these kids have schools and desks or bags, books, pencils, pens and crayons like our kids in the UAE?
Accordingly with the initiative of HH Sheikh Khaleefa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE, to rebuild schools destroyed during the recent war in Lebanon, the UAE Ministry of Education and Watani programme, in collaboration with the UAE Red Crescent are organizing the "Fingerprint for Charity" campaign from September 10 to 14 in the various schools across the nation.
The campaign was announced today during a press conference held in Dubai and attended by the Minister of Education, Dr. Haneef Hassan, and Mr. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, Coordinator- General of WATANI Program and the Head of the Volunteers Unit in the UAE Red Crescent Association. The conference was also attended by a number of school students.
The campaign aims to encourage students to donate one dirham each along with school bags to be sent to their brothers and sisters in Lebanon. Its main objective is to share the back to school joys with their Lebanese students despite the horror of wars.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Haneef Hassan said that the initiative comes to emphasize the integration between the leadership and community members indicating common aims, feelings and values. While the UAE government is rebuilding destroyed schools in Lebanon, UAE children are contributing to build their morals with a small humane gesture.
Mr. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, Coordinator- General of WATANI Program asserted that “the participation of Watani in the "Fingerprint for Charity" campaign is geared to cultivate principles of responsibility that unite the UAE people with its rulers. We hope that our children will always see to the interest of their country in whatever they do. A great part of developing our children’s devotion to our country and commitment to its leadership is by teaching them to share with their brothers and sisters and support them in times of need”.
As of next Sunday, the campaign will start running in all schools around the UAE allowing students to contribute 1 DHS of their pocket money to help the children of Lebanon. In addition to that, the Minister of Education will inaugurate the school bag donation campaign on Monday in Marina Mall, in Abu Dhabi. UAE Students will write a personalized letter and insert it into the bags that they are sending to the kids in Lebanon. The key target of the campaign is to create and maintain the bonds between the kids in the UAE and Lebanon.
The campaign will continue on Tuesday at Dubai City Center, and Wednesday in Al Lulu Center in Fujairah to give children around the UAE the chance to participate in this campaign.
