The Social Development Center (Nama), one of Qatar Foundation for Social Work (QFSW) affiliated bodies, celebrated yesterday the graduation of the third generation of the social entrepreneurs development programme “Sama Nama”, in the presence of HE the Minister of Culture and Sports Salah bin Ghanem bin Naser al-Ali, at Qatar National Convention Centre.
Some 20 graduates were selected from among more than 600 applicants for the programme, in recognition of their efforts and continuous work and training, after they passed all the phases required to complete the programme.
The programme aims to develop the abilities of young people and invest their energies through a variety of activities that have been carefully chosen to suit their needs and motivate them to compete positively to promote creative and ingenious initiatives that serve the community. Through the third generation of the programme, the centre seeks to expand the choices of young people, enhance their participation in community service and build a broad base of social entrepreneurs and future leaders, in order to meet the needs of the community to achieve further development and progress.
The graduates praised the positive activities provided by the programme, noting that it included internal and external training, the most important of which was in Turkey where they learned many things that would help them in their practical lives.
Addressing the graduation ceremony, HE Salah bin Ghanem bin Nasser al-Ali called for drawing inspiration by the slogan of the National Day this year “Al Ma’ali Kaydah”, stressing that the path of excellence is difficult.
The minister underlined the importance of education, the value of work and the significance of time in human life, calling for educating the young generation the importance of time.
“We must be optimistic that our present is better than our past, and that today’s generation is distinctive and has built on what our fathers built in the past,” the minister added.
The minister also called on the youth to work together to achieve the initiatives launched by the country.
For her part, Director of Community Services at Nama Maryam bint Abdullatif al-Mannai said that the experience of the programme for the third year in a row came to confirm that this pilot project in the region is progressing rapidly towards achieving its goals of encouraging young people and possessing the necessary skills and knowledge to integrate into the service of the society.
Al-Mannai added that the centre today celebrates diligence, persistence and perseverance, and the fruit of five months of continuous work included 110 hours of  theoretical and practical training, as well as hard efforts and fieldwork for teams at every phase of the project. The phases included research, information gathering and study to investigate the community needs, and then monitor the problems and phenomena that need solutions and identify priorities and choose what suits the participants’ aspirations and passion of projects to work on their implementation.
She highlighted the centre’s strategic plans, including the launch of TAM network for volunteering, an integrated system of volunteer work that contributes to the establishment of a database of volunteers and links volunteers to volunteering institutions in the country. The centre also provided technical support and contributed to building the capacity of young people, meeting their needs and developing their skills.
Chief Consumer Officer at Ooredoo Fatima Sultan al-Kuwari noted that Ooredoo’s support and sponsorship of the programme would pave the way for refining the skills and interests of young people in public work and directing them to the benefit of the society, in addition to achieving the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030.
The ceremony concluded with the minister honouring the graduates, who received certificates and commemorative shields.

Related Story