JEDDAH, 17 July 2005 — “We are really happy we came second,” enthused nine-year-old Malek Muhammad with a smile on his face. “Second place is not that bad; we were ahead of the other teams.”

Malek was one of the 63 orphans who were fortunate enough to share in “Let’s Succeed,” a summer camp set up by Modern Products Company (MPC) in cooperation with Al-Bir Society last week.

The camp, which lasted three days, was set up to entertain orphaned children in a friendly, family atmosphere. The children, who were divided in 10 groups, were assigned a “big brother” to share the whole day with them. “Big brothers” however, were MPC employees who volunteered their time to run the camp.

The camp had also a big daddy, Luay Bafaqeeh, who supported all the teams. The groups adopted names for the day including Saudi Arabia, Tigers, Hope and Future.

“The children were encouraged to choose names for their groups to make them feel at ease and be involved,” Turki ibn Muammar, public affairs manager at MPC, explained.

To make it more interesting, teams competed with each other for a prize announced by the organizers. Children gathered enthusiastically around their “big brothers” — everyone wanted to finish first and be the best.

In order to present role models to the children they were introduced to firefighters and airplane pilots.

“I want to be a firefighter when I grow up. I met them here at the camp; they told us about their jobs and how they help people. That’s exactly what I want to do when I grow up,” said one of the orphans.

Many volunteers were delighted with the way the children responded to the activities, clearly enjoying themselves enormously. Luay Bafaqeeh, the “big daddy,” said: “As the camp ended we feel sad to leave these kids as we got so attached to them.”

The camp ended with a graduation ceremony that celebrated the children’s achievements. Each group sat with their “big brother” waiting impatiently for the results.

Khaled Temarek, one of the “big brothers”, promised the children that this would not be the last time they were going to see each other.

“This camp gave me the chance to meet young children; I can make a difference in their lives by being there for them not only for three days but for the whole year.”

“They treated us as if we were their kids,” one young boy said. “We enjoyed everything here; there wasn’t anything that we didn’t like. I only wish it had lasted for three weeks or perhaps three months,” Fahd Ahmad, a 10-year-old orphan, bubbled.

Part of the entertainment program was screening of the cartoon movie, “Finding Nemo.” As the film ended — and Nemo the fish found his father — they clearly identified with Nemo.

Over the three days of the camp, surrounded by the loving care and attention of their temporary family, these orphans experienced an encounter with a life that the rest of us only too readily take for granted.