Organized annually by Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives (ALJCI), this year’s cultural recreational programme under Tanweer saw 20 young male student orphans, accompanied by two advisors from the Ministry of Social Affairs, as well as an educational advisor provided by ALJCI, travelling to Malaysia to visit educational, scientific and cultural attractions.

ALJCI facilitated the students’ travel from the cities of Riyadh, Jeddah, Mecca, Al Madina, Dammam, Abha, Ha’il, Qassim and Jizan to Jeddah, the departure city to the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur. After exploring the capital the group travelled on to Genting, Selangor and Penang all admired for their cultural, industrial, scientific and educational developments.

“Officials at the Ministry of Social Affairs select the journey participants according to their academic performance, thus the trip is a reward for excelling at their studies, and in addition offers them the opportunity to gain new knowledge and life skills, which will serve them in their future professional lives,” said Abdalla Taleb, Manager of Health and Social Programmes at ALJCI. “The students participating in the nine-day journey are between 14 and 18 years old,” he added.

Tanweer offers modern educational concepts, such as sports education in which both, muscles and senses, are being trained, cognitive programmes to develop mental processes through exploration, innovation and the development of thought, and the teaching of social skills to effectively communicate with others whilst forming one’s own personality. Another course teaches emotional skills, such as how to get motivated, accept failure, as well as self-expression, whilst another programme helps to gain skills in accuracy, perfection and trouble-shooting. All these programmes are taught using modern educational games linking education with entertainment.

Taleb pointed out that it was thanks to the fruitful cooperation between ALJCI and the Ministry of Social Affairs that these orphans could benefit from experiencing the programmes linked to cultural and scientific developments in Malaysia. “ALJCI and the Ministry of Social Affairs are actively contributing to the education of these youngsters enhancing their cultural and scientific perceptions, and are thus enabling them to fully engage in society,” he added.

The Tanweer programme has been running for seven years now, with past trips including visits to European countries, such as France, as well as Turkey and other Arab countries.

“As we look in to the future, our aim, together with the Ministry of Social Affairs, is to develop this programme further to serve more orphaned children,” Taleb said.