“Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life. It’s important to the person who serves as well as the recipient. It’s the way in which we ourselves grow and develop.” This was once said by Dorothy Height, a revolutionary leader during the US civil rights movement.
Community service involves two kinds of people — those who provide the service and those that are taken care of by it. The purpose becomes more important when it comes to look after fellow compatriots in a foreign country in the hour of need.
There are many people from different parts of the world living in Qatar. Bangladeshis are one of the major expatriate communities living here. They are said to be over 400, 000 working in different fields. There is a strong sense of community welfare among the Bangladeshi expatriates.
Following the spirit of community service, Bangladesh Community Qatar (BCQ), a large community organisation, held an event to bid farewell to two of its prominent members, who are leaving Qatar for good after serving the community for a long time.
Mohammed Abdus Sattar and Mohammed Salauddin were duly recognised for their altruistic and selfless spirit for the community service. Abdus Sattar has been in Qatar since 1978 and Salaudin since 2008.
The reception was presided over by Engineer Anwar Hossein Akon, BCQ president. Mohammad Mahbur Rahman, First Secretary (Political) and Head of the Chancery at the Bangladesh Embassy, was the chief guest on the occasion. Abdullah al-Shammari, Warrant officer of drugs prevention department; Faisal al-Hudawi, Community Reach Out office co-ordinator at Ministry of Interior; A K M Muniruzzaman Choudhury and Mohammad Shah Alam, officials of the Bangladesh Embassy; were among the special guests present in the programme.
The two veterans of the community have been advisory members and presidium members of different community organisations and forums. Mohammad Abdus Sattar landed in Doha in 1978 and remained vastly involved in the community welfare throughout his stay in Qatar for over four decades. Qatar has been a home away from home for him. Likewise, Mohammed Salauddin come to Qatar in 2008 and had worked for Qatar Petroleum as a chemical engineer. Both of them remained involved with various social and welfare associations in Qatar.
A large number of prominent Bangladeshi community members were present at the farewell reception. All the speakers recalled the sweet memories of working with both departing expatriates.
Talking to Community, Anwar Hossein, BCQ president, said: “It was a great honour to say good bye to the two stalwarts of our expatriate community. They both will be remembered for a long time for their selfless commitment towards the community service. Their contributions deserve due recognition and appreciation. They have been the role model for many young Bangladeshi expatriate workers.”
As Anwar was all praise for both of the representatives, he specifically underlined the personality and services of Abdus Sattar.
“I have been in contact with Abdus Sattar since 1993. I have always found him a humble and selfless person. He has been devoted to community service as a young man. Lately, he has been a sane adviser to different groups of the community at various occasions. He has headed different community groups and has earned nothing else but respect and love due to his devotion and dedication. He has been a fatherly figure for most of the Bangladeshi expatriates.
“We became very close five years ago when I founded BCQ. I have learnt a lot from his experiences. One of the best qualities that he has is that he has always been a very attentive listener and receiver. He has been very good at resolving disputes between individuals. Over the period of time, he developed very good relations with the Bangladeshi government’s high officials and had used them for the welfare of the community in Qatar. We are definitely going to miss him.”
On the sidelines of the event, Abdullah al-Shammari and Faisal al-Hudawi from the Ministry of Interior, presented an awareness programme on drugs prevention and urged the community leaders to cascade the information among their compatriots. A memento was presented by BCQ to each of the guests as a mark of remembrance.
GROUP: Guests, officials and organisers seen during the event.
