Participants of the trip to Morocco during an activity.
Doha, Qatar: Years of Culture, the Education Above All (EAA) Foundation, and Silatech concluded a volunteer service-learning trip to Morocco on October 23. The trip, which included students from the University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) and alumni from Qatar Foundation, helped foster entrepreneurship among local Moroccan youth beneficiaries from Silatech’s enterprise development projects in Morocco, while providing an immersive cross-cultural learning experience.
Chairperson of Reach Out to Asia, Qatar Museums and Years of Culture, H E Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani visited the participating youth on the final day, reviewed their entrepreneurial projects, and encouraged them to proceed with determination.
The closing day of the volunteer trip was also attended by Ambassador of Qatar to Morocco H E Sheikh Abdullah bin Thamer Al Thani, along with several local officials from the city of Marrakesh.
The trip highlighted sustainable and creative industries, helping students and youth beneficiaries gain an in-depth understanding of each other’s cultural backgrounds and entrepreneurial experiences, while encouraging them to contribute to their countries’ economic growth. Volunteers along with the Moroccan beneficiaries also engaged in workshops and discussions that support innovation and practical problem-solving, enriching their international service-learning experience.
The judging panel announced and honoured the winning projects, and several participants shared their journeys, including the challenges they faced and how they overcame obstacles and difficulties.
George Tavola from EAA Foundation said, “The partnership with the Moroccan side represented by Al Amana Foundation aims to facilitate youth access to the world of employment, with a focus on experiential learning, knowledge and expertise exchange, and building cultural connections.”
Fahad Abdullah Malik, Head of External Relations and Engagement at Silatech, said: “This trip, which is part of the Qatar-Morocco 2024 Year of Culture, involves 24 youth volunteers who were integrated with 14 young men and women from Morocco. The trip consists of two parts: the first is three days of training, where Qatari youth integrate with Moroccan youth and form groups to identify problems facing youth in the Moroccan labour market, and they try to create innovative solutions and develop projects to address these problems.”
Mayar Mukhtar, one of the volunteers from UDST, said: “We participated in Marrakesh with our counterparts in Morocco and exchanged knowledge and ideas for entrepreneurship for three days, and presented our ideas to the judging panel to develop the Moroccan market for entrepreneurship.” Marwan Hajiri, a graduate of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, said: “Our team presented a platform that brings together local artisans in North Africa and startup owners. The advantage of this project is facilitating electronic access for all artisans in an easy and simple way, and it also provides job seekers from designers and marketers to benefit from artisans’ work. Startup owners in the Arab world can work with them.”
