Young people in Jeddah are proving that age is no barrier to giving back to society, by putting smiles on children’s faces.

As part of “Smile Operation,” a local volunteering group held an event at a local hospital here that attracted young volunteers in the age range of 15-26.

The Basmat Amal group organized the it as part of its move to reach out to more than 200 patients, including children suffering from cancer, AIDS and leukemia at the King Abdul Aziz University Hospital in Jeddah.

Along with the volunteers, several orphans were invited to be a part of the event, assisting in spreading smiles among the patients. The event included a theatrical performance, face painting, art competitions, and other creative activities, with some volunteers wearing colorful dresses with cartoon characters to make the children feel comfortable. Some small gifts were distributed to them as a part of their community service gesture.

Ribhy Yahiya Arafat, a member of the Basmat Amal group, said “We organized this event in response to demand from the students who were finding limited opportunities to volunteer because of their age. However, with such a project, we hope to gain Allah’s reward and to draw the attention of other youngsters toward such projects.”

He added that the group doesn’t look for sponsors instead depend on the self- finance mechanism, where the members themselves finance different activities. “Moreover, being a volunteering group, we prefer to work without limitations and spread happiness by overcoming any challenges and obstacles,” Arafat said.

Commenting on inviting orphans to be part of the event, he said “We called around thirty orphans to be a part of this event in an attempt to bring happiness in other’s life, as they are generally the ones on the receiving end of such gestures. But with this initiative, they could also share what they had among themselves, with one another, which was a great experience for them in having those roles reversed.”

Noha, a 16 year-old student who volunteered for the first time, said “It’s hard to volunteer with any organization officially as they put an age restriction at 15 or 16 year-olds as a minimum. As we were desperate to do any kind of volunteering action and to be a part of some sort of community service, Basmat Amal allowed us to gain that volunteer experience, which has proven to be incredibly rewarding for us.”