NGO recruits volunteers at forum

“Ghadan,” a nongovernmental organization, recruited volunteers from the guests and visitors to the 2nd Riyadh Social Forum, which ended Wednesday night for the training called “Aymen” or “Right Hand” focused on action learning strategy.
There were 10 trainers for some 200 young boys and girls that Ghadan recruited to become ambassadors of good will, according to Badr Al-Khanbassi, the group spokesman.
The group was one of 15 NGOs that sought support for its plans and course of actions from both the public and private sector representatives who attended the forum.
The plans ranged from community entertainment to organizing the youth to undertake a project for the neighborhood calling attention to the sad plight of orphans.
Al-Khanbassi said that these trainees were equipped with the necessary tools to become volunteers who would visit their own schools to convince other students to join them. “The idea is to develop their own plans to reach out to the community. Then they would come back to us to report the result of the implementation of their plan,” he said.
If they say in their report that they have succeeded, a celebration would be held by Ghadan. Asked why they have enlisted the help of young boys and girls in their project, he said that it is a way of increasing the number of members.
“We are a new group and we have only 15 members in the Saudi capital so far,” said Al-Khanbassi, who graduated from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) in Dhahran and works at a local IT company.