Abdullah Rashid Al Kaabi, head of Al Kaabaan Youth Centre, said that since the beginning of the Coronavirus spread, the Centre’s management has devised a way to present the Centre’s programmes through remote communication technologies and social media platforms in order to contribute to the social distancing procedure. On “Ramadan and People”, a show which airs on Qatar TV, Al Kaabi explained that, thank Allah and with effort exerted and quick action taken by the Centre’s Youth, they managed to work on strategies and plans to work remotely, despite the limited time they had as they had prepared programmes that required the presence of some Centre’s members as participants in the programmes. Al Kaabi added that among the most popular programmes that they presented through remote social media was the Holy Qur’an contest and Hadith contest, in addition to the best praying place, best idea for a commercial project and other various programmes. Al Kaabi pointed out that these programmes aim with their diversity to attract all citizens and residents of beloved State of Qatar.
Al Kaabi noted that Al Kaaban Centre is located in the North region, therefore, it previously focused specifically on residents of the northern regions, but with the launch of the Centre’s programmes through remote communication technologies and in light of the existing Coronavirus crisis, the Centre is working to expand its scope of work and programmes to serve all regions across the State of Qatar. He pointed out that recent programmes were very popular with the public since their launch, especially Quran and Hadith programmes, he attributed this to the fact that the majority of people are sitting home, they do not go out except for extreme necessity and that most of the mosques and educational Centres are closed as well. Al-Kaabi revealed that 130 people participated in Al Kaaban’s Quran contests, as the contest attracted many participants. He explained that the Centre’s focus on competitions as they are a means to attract a large number of participants, given current Coronavirus related situation. He noted that awareness workshops and lectures are widely spread in various places across the State of Qatar through various means of social media, such as WhatsApp, Instagram and others.
Al-Kaabi said that the Centre targets school students aged 8 to 18, indicating that this age group is more attracted to competitions programs, which increasingly contributes to their interaction through the Centre’s social media platforms.
Al-Kaabi also said that the Centre offers cash prizes of 20 thousand riyals for the winners in various competitions, and it stresses that everyone can participate, including Qataris and residents from all different regions of Qatar. He added that given the current situation, the Centre does not offer memberships for the purpose of participating in activities and events at the Centre, mainly, best praying place, best skill competition and best business project competition.
He continued that those wishing to participate, must photograph their project included in the contest themes, post it on Instagram and tag Al Kaaban Youth Centre on the photo. A judging panel will evaluate the posts, compare between them and then first, second and third place prizes will be given to winners. With regard to the best saving and investment method in the time of Corona contest, Al-Kaabi explained that this competition is set to urge young people to save and invest their money at present times, which are marked with the staying home action, contributing to recent expenses reduction. He pointed out that some projects are having hard time at the time of the Coronavirus spread. He explained that the aim of these competitions and programs is to educate young people who are less than 18 years old and help them learn from existing experiences in order to overcome them in the future, as he noted that an 18 year old or less will be able to overcome crisis in the future, Allah forbidding, when they learn how to save and invest money the proper way. He said that many young people are participating in this contest. One of the most notable ideas is of an online auction on Instagram.
This idea drew the attention of the Centre as it is waiting for more ideas and participants in order to assess all ideas appropriately without excluding anyone. Then winning ideas will be demonstrated. Al Kaabi added that the Centre has recently worked to communicate with participants until Eid Holidays, through social media, making sure to social distance while participating in the contest. He added that after Eid Holidays there will be a remotely closing ceremony for all contestants, where they will be rewarded for participation.