In the run up to Give & Gain Day that is taking place in Dubai on May 19 (globally May 20), a team of us from the Dubai Chamber visited the National Charity School in Garhoud to be part of Action Care’s reading programme. Action Care is a social enterprise based in Dubai, working towards filling the educational gaps in the community.

The National Charity School in Dubai (that I had never heard of before) provides education to about 5000 children from grade 1-12, who are from low-income families that cannot afford to send them to private schools.

We spent the morning there reading books and playing games with about 100 children from various Middle Eastern countries. It was heartwarming to see their excitement to have visitors to interact with, and was a reminder that we should never underestimate how small acts can make a big difference.

The trip also helped shed light on a side of Dubai we do not see or hear about often; a side where a Dubai-based organization has taken the huge responsibility to educate so many children – who probably wouldn’t be in school if it wasn’t for them – but is functioning with extremely limited resources and relying on donations. The school offers morning classes at a subsidized rate, and afternoon classes for free. Many of the children come from Ajman and Sharjah, and many teachers work double shifts to cope; the limited resources and space leave many of the children on waiting lists. We were told that the children studying at the school are amongst those with the highest grades in Dubai.

What we can do to help the situation is volunteer with social enterprises like Action Care to help them deliver their programmes to children and communities in these situations.

They are always looking for people to help, and from our experience today, they are a great team, passionate about what they do. So if you are looking to get involved with a social enterprise in some way, Action Care would be a good place to start.

-A

#startwithsomething