Dubai Cares

Program Overview

As part of the 2008 volunteer campaign, Dubai Cares launched Volunteer Emirates as a pilot program implemented on four consecutive Saturdays, during the month of November 2008. Approximately 489 volunteers participated in this program.

The Volunteer Emirates mission was to create memorable experiences intended to enrich the lives of volunteers through their contribution to the community.  The program aimed to promote civic solidarity and social cohesion amongst the community.  Not only did this program offer many the first window of opportunity for UAE residents to volunteer in schools throughout the Emirates, it also helped precipitate a nationwide volunteer movement.

Multiple interventions were initiated as schools were refurbished in a variety of ways: from painted classrooms, murals, and the construction of new playgrounds, to the installation of new equipment and landscaping of previously uninviting environments.

Implementation

Numerous field visits were organized to several non-profit private schools and facts were compiled on the pressing needs of these schools that make them eligible to be beneficiaries of this program.  Schools were selected on the basis of the following criteria, namely:

• Greatest number of children to be impacted by the program
• Greatest need of support in terms of infrastructure and educational resources.

Volunteer Emirates was implemented in the following schools:

Volunteer Activities

Over 489 volunteers took part in this program and participated in the following activities, namely:

• Rehabilitation of 66 classrooms (works included: sanding , plastering and painting walls)
• Construction of three playgrounds
• Creation of eight murals
• Clearing the play area from rubbish and material that is potentially hazardous to children
• Painting school furniture for six classrooms
• Landscaping three playgrounds
• Painting a school’s exterior walls, flagpole and an exterior administration building’s back wall