The Qatar chapter of the Marthoma College (Tiruvalla) Alumni Association is hosting a leadership workshop for elders, teachers, parents and members of the Indian community on February 12 at Horizon Manor Hotel.
The workshop is held in association with Kerala’s Neeraj Foundation, established in memory of Neeraj Jose, a former Doha-based student who died in December 2011.
It will be led by Mathew Kannamala, who has been engaged in parents’ capacity building for more than two decades.
Kannamala is the director of the Institute for Person Centred Approaches in India, a non-governmental organisation.  
At a press conference yesterday, the alumni and foundation officials said they were also hosting a counselling session for students at a separate venue. Entry for this event will be restricted through invitation.
The main idea behind the workshop for elders is to prepare members of the Indian community to meet the growing challenges in today’s world, the organisers said.
Neeraj Foundation chairman Jose Philip said the foundation seeks to help individuals overcome their shortcomings to meet the challenges in a competitive world.
He spoke of some of the initiatives made by the foundation involving prominent members of the society in educational institutions in Kerala. Among the participants in the foundation’s programmes were former Supreme Court judge K T Thomas, film director Blessy and former director of the School of Learning of Mahatma Gandhi University Dr Thomas C Abraham, he said.
Acting president of the Marthoma Alumni (Qatar chapter) Baby Kurian said some of the initiatives the forum launched in the past like career guidance for children and parents’ capacity building were well received. He hoped the leadership workshop on February 12 would also have good participation.
Alumni patrons Mathew Varghese, Marthoma Alumni-Neeraj Foundation co-ordinator  Varghese Varghese and  alumni secretary Lijo Raju also spoke.