Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives, has completed another successful edition of its Summer Literacy Camp initiative. For 5 days a week from 7 July to 7 August 2019, the summer camp which took place at Uptown School in Mirdif brightened the life of 200 children from low-income families in the UAE. With the active support of 200 volunteers from the UAE community, the children were given an opportunity to enjoy recreational activities, enhance their learning skills and have fun with their peers.

The Summer Literacy Camp’s program in partnership with Rawafed Development and Learning Centre, followed the Learning through Play methodology, focusing on improving English and Arabic literacy skills, and teaching Math through interactivity and engagement. The program also included reading, arts and crafts classes, as well as an activity called “Help Me Read” with specific individual attention to children who struggle the most.

According to the Summer Literacy Camp’s 4-week report, at the start of the camp, 80% of the students didn’t know letters, sounds of the letters and numbers. There were 20% who had basic knowledge of sounds, letters and numeric but needed a lot of support. After 4 weeks, the initiative witnessed a huge success rate as 98% of the students showed improvement. The report states that the remainder students have learning difficulties and would need one on one specialised lessons in the future to achieve the targets. There are 60% students who are quick learners and have a basic command of all three subjects (Arabic, English and Maths) as well as 38% of the students can read and are able of doing calculations. Overall the students’ performance has shown tremendous improvement throughout the summer camp.

Commenting on the success of this extended volunteering initiative, Abdulla Ahmed Alshehhi, Chief Operating Officer at Dubai Cares, said: “We are very proud of the success of our first extended Summer Literacy Camp. Many low-income families in the UAE cannot afford to keep their children engaged in summer. Such initiative allows children to become independent and self-confident, while socializing and making new friends, and even learning new skills. We are extremely pleased that we could make a difference for 200 children for an entire 5-week period. This would have not been possible without the unconditional dedication of our 200 volunteers and the generous contribution of UAE organizations. We have given these children the attention and support so they are empowered with lifelong skills, and we are confident they will do very well. As for us, we are setting ourselves greater ambitions for next year, so we can help even more children and low-income families across the UAE.”

The initiative was also generously supported by 8 UAE organizations who provided various services for the benefit of the 200 children throughout the summer camp period. Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences (MBRU) provided the auditorium for the volunteers’ induction; Dubai Dental Hospital provided dental check-up and dental kits, Taaleem provided 10 classrooms for the entire period of Summer Camp; the School Transport Service (STS) provided transportation from and to the Summer Camp in Dubai; Skechers provided 200 school kits to students; and Abela & Com, AlMaraai and Waldorf Astoria Hotel provided food and beverages for the children.

Full details on future community engagement initiatives can be found on the Dubai Cares website and social media platforms. To stay informed about future community engagement initiatives, please visit the ‘Get Involved’ page on www.dubaicares.ae or follow/like Dubai Cares on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.