Sunday, Apr 19, 2009

Dubai: The Dubai Women's College held a two-day charitable concert (Saturday and on Friday) by Lebanese singer, composer and oud player Marcel Khalife, in an effort to serve the Palestinian cause.

Thanks to the concert, 20 Palestinian children will receive treatment and prosthetic limbs.

Khalife created the Al Mayadeen Ensemble and is famous for songs such as Ummi (My Mother), Rita w'al-Bundaqiya (Rita and the Rifle) and Jawaz Al Safr (Passport), based on the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

The concert was organised in association with the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority. Funds from the event have been earmarked for Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), through Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment.

Gulf News spoke to Dr Howard Reed, Senior Director of Higher Colleges of Technology, and Director of Dubai Women's College, to highlight the institutions' corporate social responsibilities as one of the eldest public institutions in Dubai.

Gulf News: Whose idea was it to host the concert at Dubai Women's College?

DR HOWARD REED: I would like to say it was our initiative, but I think someone from PCRF knew about our massive auditorium, which can accommodate more than 1,000 individuals. They came out to see it and thought it was a wonderful place to host a concert. They came to see me to sponsor the concert, to let them have the concert free of charge and offer security and cleaning services. It was such an important event to do.

Khalife is a famous singer and does his music for a worthy cause. We are trying to help the children of Palestine.

We have done fundraising for different little groups& we have a book sale every year, which is coming up in a month or so, where we bring in old books or anything we might have. The proceedings of the sale are provided to a particular organisation in Palestine.

It's not a general fund and we have been told we shouldn't do that because there is so much corruption going on in Palestine. You never know whether what you send will get in the hands of the right people. However, this time we are quite confident this group [PCRF] is legitimate.

The initial donations were done through one of our Palestinian contacts.

What opportunities does the concert provide to students other than the case its highlighting? Do students in the UAE get enough cultural, artistic, and vocational exposure in comparison to western countries?

No. I don't think we do andwe need more things for students. But, on the other hand, how many more things we have today than 10 years ago?! Dubai is evolving and becoming more of a students' kind of town.

How long has Dubai Women's College been involved in the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and how does it teach its students so as to become part of its culture and mentality?

To give you an example, when I used to be a university professor in the US I used to teach corporate social responsibility. That was long time ago and nothing was new about it. Half of us that are here have a sense of social responsibility and involvement with the community and we define educational institutions as a resource to the community. Now we are working harder to get students more involved.

As for the culture and mentality of CSR, it is coming. The thing about our students is that they really haven't been exposed to many things in life.

So they don't know what is interesting and exciting and the schools haven't done much to encourage their curiosity. So they could easily go on with life without many interests and matters to excite them.

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