JEDDAH, 25 April 2003 — Calls to establish more community centers in the Kingdom’s cities are gaining momentum.
This was reflected in a seminar held here on Wednesday as part of a weeklong workshop organized by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and the General Administration of Women’s Social Affairs. The workshop addresses a variety of current social issues concerning children, women and the family, all within the context of the role played by various government and private social services regarding these issues.
The importance of the community center has come about as a way of bringing people together and involve them in solving their problems. With the changes that have occurred to the Saudi lifestyle and social structure, there was also a change in our social fabric and how we communicate and relate to each other. Long working hours, sprawling cities, single house units, the diminished role of the extended family and many other factors contributed to our sense of isolation and weak family ties.
Taking examples from developed countries such as the US and Canada and developing countries such as Egypt and India on how they approached this modern social malaise, the seminar shed light on the necessary building blocks and concepts for implementing a system of effective, socially integrated and appropriate community centers in Saudi Arabia.
The title of the seminar — “Community Centers: Between Reality and Expectation” — gives an indication of the focal point of the lectures. Dr. Fatinah Shaker outlined the reasons for needing a community center in each neighborhood, among them the lack of good after-school and after-work facilities to provide extracurricular activities, sports and volunteer work. “Islam has given us all the principles for a connected, supportive, morally strong and environmentally-conscious community. What we need is the mechanism for applying them,” said Dr. Shaker. She also outlined some basic concepts to be adopted by those in charge of establishing community centers. One of the most important is realizing that the center is from the people and for them — that is it should be established according to the people’s needs and expectations, which requires knowing what the people want from a community center and encouraging them to participate and volunteer in the center’s activities.
At the end of her lecture, Dr. Shaker asked if city planners were incorporating our demographic changes into their conceptions of what our society needed now and in the future. There were other questions raised, including a definition of a community in Saudi Arabia, increasing community awareness among its members, the role of the mosque, the school and public parks in the community.
There are some good examples of successful community centers in Saudi Arabia — the efforts made by the Umm Al-Qura Charity Organization.
Civil Engineer Yahya Saleh spoke of the experience of the Prince Abdul Majeed Cultural Center in Madinah. The idea of having a community center in Madinah was first suggested eight years ago and was welcomed by Prince Abdul Majeed who was governor of Madinah at that time. After a few mistakes from which lessons were learned, the center finally took off and has become a great success.
It is a large, comprehensive and well-organized center providing sports facilities, halls for meetings and many social and cultural committees which address the various issues of the community. Most of its members are volunteers and Saleh’s advice to new centers is to have clear goals, involving all members of the community and have a representative speaking for the community at all meetings.
