FAWCO launched FAWCO Youth Cultural Volunteers in support of the UN’s initiative to engage today’s youth and raise their awareness of social issues and cultural diversity.
The inaugural YCV Program in Dubai was hosted from July 16-23, 2013 by AWA Dubai families. Seven children of FAWCO club members between the ages of 15 and 17 traveled from The Netherlands, Ireland, England, Germany, and Switzerland to participate in the program’s launch. They represented the American Women of Surrey, American Women’s Club (AWC) of Bern, American International Women’s Club (AIWC) of Cologne, AWC Dublin, AWC The Hague, and AWA Dubai.
A diverse cultural program was developed for the FAWCO Youth Volunteers, including meeting and interacting with local Emirati youth from the Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding. The Centre "is a non-profit organization established to increase awareness and understanding between the various cultures that live in Dubai. Operating under the banner of Open Doors, Open Mind, the SMCCU strives to remove barriers between people of different nationalities and raise awareness of the local culture, customs and religion of the United Arab Emirates." In this way the participants' local hosts introduced the sights and sounds of Dubai and shared their customs and traditions of Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting, which include abstaining from food and water from sunrise to sunset.
An integral part of the FAWCO Youth Cultural Volunteers included working at local charities. Al Ihsan Charity Association, one of the charities where FAWCO Youth volunteered, assists families with limited income and encourages them to be active members of society. The Ramadan Rations Project provides families in need with food during the holy month of Ramadan, which was taking place during the 2013 program.
FAWCO Youth participants also volunteered at the Angel Appeal with The Mission to Seafarers. Angel Appeal supports seafarers who live and work on ships for long periods of time, far away from their families. The MV Flying Angel is a Seafarers Support Boat that travels to different ships and provides seafarers access to telephone and Internet to contact their families.
Another charity group that works with foreign workers is Labor of Love. The FAWCO Youth prepared and served an Iftar (break-fast) for working women who had been fasting for almost fifteen hours.
The Reflection part of the program required that each teen write an essay about his/her experiences. Together, the team created a video about the life lessons they learned as FAWCO Youth Cultural Volunteers.
This inaugural project helped FAWCO's Youth Program Team design future projects. We invite FAWCO Member Clubs to come forward to offer FAWCO youth both volunteer and cultural encounters for one week during the summer. These exchanges will allow FAWCO teens to have an in-depth volunteer and cultural experience, raising their awareness of social issues and cultural diversity, while staying with FAWCO families around the world.
Labor of Love