DHAHRAN, 11 March 2005 — Volunteer projects, just like any project, require consideration, planning, development and collaboration in order that they might go from helping the needy to transforming society and raising the overall quality of life in a nation, according to Dr. Abdullah H. Al-Kadi, professor of Urban and Regional Planning at King Faisal University and a volunteer with the Eastern Province Al-Bir Society.
Dr. Al-Kadi spoke before a crowd of hundreds at Al-Qafilah Magazine’s third cultural gathering held at the Saudi Aramco Exhibit. In his presentation, Dr. Al-Kadi discussed volunteerism, its roots in Islamic culture and the current need for volunteer societies in the Kingdom to evolve and fill more roles in the local community.
In a later interview with Arab News, Dr. Al-Kadi reiterated some of the core elements of that evening’s discussion. He pointed out that there are 309 charity organizations doing their best to serve the local community.
“The recent controversy concerning charitable activities has nothing to do with these organizations,” Dr. Al-Kadi explained. “These local groups are all affiliated with the Ministry of Social Affairs. Official local charities were started about 50 years ago in Saudi Arabia and their activities have been controlled and monitored for at least the last 30 years or more. All the organizations affiliated with the Ministry of Social Affairs have always had accounting procedures and have only been allowed to function in their defined activities within their specified geographical borders. For example a charity registered to do volunteer work with families in the Eastern Province would be unable to provide services to families in Riyadh. It is those organizations working outside the Kingdom that were the most affected by the new regulations. As those groups had been given some authorization for their activities from the Kingdom and were receiving much of their funding from within the Kingdom, a strengthening of the oversight of their operations was the right thing to do.”
Dr. Al-Kadi praised Saudi Aramco for is efforts in encouraging volunteerism. He stated that Saudi Aramco has been a strong role model for ideal corporate citizenship and has extended its activities to help people in many different areas of need. Now Dr. Al-Kadi hopes that more businesses will follow Saudi Aramco’s example. This is important because Dr. Al-Kadi believes that volunteer organizations will be playing a much stronger role in Saudi society in coming years.
To jump-start that goal, the professor is part of an effort to open a Volunteer Work Development Center. The launch of this center’s activities is imminent. The center plans to organize and manage volunteers Kingdomwide. Through the center donors of time and the beneficiaries of that time will be offered courses to help both parties understand their roles and responsibilities. The center will also launch a website to link volunteer organizations with individuals who would like to volunteer. While the center is located in the Eastern Province, Dr. Al-Kadi emphasized that it is to be a resource for the entire Kingdom.
“We have a lot of areas where we need intensive manpower. At the same time we have people with high qualifications and compassion. They would be more than happy to donate their time and experiences yet they don’t have the contacts to make this a reality,” Dr. Al-Kadi said. “We hope the center and its website will facilitate those links.”
Dr. Al-Kadi admitted that involving the entire community in volunteer activities is a challenge in Saudi Arabia. This is in part due to the issue of women’s transportation.
“Since I’m a city planner it is easy to see that the lack of transportation plays a significant role in the reason why more women are not involved in charity work,” the professor commented. “I am not denying that there are other factors, but the limitation on female movement is significant. In our modern, hectic lives many men simply have too many commitments to transport their female relatives to participate in charitable activities, no matter how much they would like to support their endeavors. Organizations hoping to attract female volunteers must have measures in place to cover transportation.”
Just as charitable organizations must consider the realities of modern life in attracting volunteers, they must also look at modern realities in the services they offer. Dr. Al-Kadi wishes that more charities would work to try and solve the underlying problems in society, not simply continue putting plasters over gaping wounds.
“Many people need counseling and advice,” he said. “Many families have been destroyed due to the lack of social intervention. Most of the issues we are suffering from cannot be cured unless we go down and find the root cause of the disease itself. Most of our current social welfare efforts are just like giving painkillers without attempting to find the reason for the pain. A family will come, the woman and children are abandoned and the charity will try to find a home for them. Yes, we should do this but it would have been even better if we had come earlier and provided counseling and intervention. That way we might have solved the underlying problems and helped the family stay together. It would helped the cohesiveness of the whole community.”
