The Saudi non-governmental organization, Rekaaz, aims to instil values among youth aged 15 to 25 through its campaign on forgiveness, scheduled for next year.

“We are drawing up a plan for activities for 2014 and we are working on courses in Arabic on forgiveness in various schools, colleges and universities in the Saudi capital,” Project Manager Mohammad Al-Hudaib told Arab News.

Forgiveness will be the theme of all Rekaaz projects next year. It will invite famous speakers and teachers for the courses.

“Rekaaz will not be paid since it is an NGO but will receive a plaque of recognition for believing in our vision and for sharing their valuable time and effort with us,” said Al-Hudaib, who is an engineer at a local firm.

He added that forgiveness will help carry out the main goal of Rekaaz, which is to imbue good values among young Saudis and other Arab-speaking youth so that they will grow up to be responsible citizens.

For the past five years, the themes of Rekaaz’s projects have included emphasizing respect for mothers, developing self-esteem, fostering the desire to succeed in life and instilling a sense of responsibility toward society.

“If all these values, including forgiveness, are inculcated in the young minds of the youth, they become good members of society, Rekaaz’s efforts won’t have been in vain,” he said.

Earlier this year, the group held three events aimed at bringing Saudi youth together and educating them on how to be caring and responsible.

The events showcased presentations at Al-Azizia Mall, Hayat Mall and Panorama Mall, which were attended by the youth and their parents.

Well-known guests were invited on the three occasions. They included Ibrahim Al-Darwish from Qassim, Mohammad Al-Areify from Riyadh and Mohammad Al-Awabi from Kuwait.

“They spoke all inspiringly about selflessness, love and camaraderie to get across the message of friendship as a powerful tool binding mankind,” he said.

He added that the virtues that Rekaaz propagated are necessary and timely because the Kingdom’s growing population is becoming increasingly alienated.

“This is caused by materialism brought about by prosperity,” Al-Hudaib said.

To engender friendship, Rekaaz invited Faisal Abu Thain, a member of the Al-Hilal soccer club, as a speaker to one of its presentations.

The group also visited 13 schools for girls in Riyadh in connection with its projects. The group gave away books to help youngsters develop their personalities and to learn how to deal with different types of people.

Rekaaz has members in key cities of the Kingdom. It has 400 members in Riyadh alone. It also has members in Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Yemen, Lebanon, Algeria and the United States, among other countries.