Doha, Qatar 24 May 2011:  Seven Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q) volunteers have been recognized for their participation in the Reach Out To Asia Adult English Literacy program ROTA Adult English Literacy.   The students were trained to teach English to migrant workers with low English literacy abilities and subsequently ran a six week English literacy course for workers in their university. The ceremony also recognized the achievements of the workers who completed the English literacy course taught by the Carnegie Mellon students The certificates were handed to the volunteers and the workers by Mr. Mohammed Abdullah Al Saleh, ROTA Community Development Manager, and Dave Stanfield, Director of Student Activities and First Year Students at CMU-Q, at a ceremony held on May 17, 2011.

ROTA Adult English Literacy was set up by ROTA to enhance the quality of life of labor workers in Qatar, who find that not knowing English is a hindrance to living normally in the country.  ROTA has previously run its English language program in collaboration with Al Jaidah Group workers using CMU-Q volunteers, which led to this new program carried out in collaboration with Carnegie Mellon Qatar.

"The training program's goal is to get highly-trained volunteers to teach those lacking English language skills," said Mr. Mohammed Abdullah Al Saleh. "The students were highly motivated, and expressed a true readiness to help those in need."

Volunteers began attending training sessions in March 2011, where they were taught about global migration pattern, labor migration to Qatar, communications skills, adult learning abilities, and practical skills to help them teach the REAL language curriculum.

Upon completion of their training, CMU-Q students held classes twice a week for six weeks to fine-tune their teaching abilities. With the blessing of the Qatar Foundation Facilities Management department, 15 university workers were targeted by these trial classes, including custodians and office assistants. 

"We were extremely pleased with the results of this program," said CMU-Q's Dave Stanfield. "Both sets of participants, the Carnegie Mellon student volunteers and the English language students, agreed that  in addition to  learning a new language, the trial courses encouraged positive interaction between members of the same community that don't often have the opportunity to connect."

With the success of this year's REAL initiative, ROTA is planning to run the program again with the coming of the new academic year in September.

"But this time we are thinking bigger," added Mohammad Saleh. "We will look to partner with other Education City institutions... and beyond." 

For more information about the ROTA English Adult Literacy program, and other volunteer-based initiatives, please visit www.reachouttoasia.org.

-Ends- 

About ROTA
Reach Out To Asia is a non-profit organization launched in December 2005 in Doha, Qatar, by Her Excellency Sheikha Al Mayassa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani,. Operating under the auspices of the Qatar Foundation, ROTA is committed to providing high quality and relevant primary and secondary education, encouraging relationships among communities, creating safe learning environments and restoring education in crisis affected areas across Asia and around the world. ROTA envisions a world, where all young people have access to the education they need in order for them to realize their full potential and shape the development of their communities.

Further information on Reach Out To Asia can be found at: www.reachouttoasia.org.

About Qatar Foundation
Founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of Qatar, and chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser, Qatar Foundation is a private, non-profit organization committed to the principle that a nation's greatest natural resource is its people. The headquarters of Qatar Foundation are located within its flagship project, Education City. A fourteen million square-metre campus, Education City is home to numerous progressive learning institutions and centers of research, including branch campuses of six of the world's leading universities, plus a cutting-edge science and technology park. Qatar Foundation also works to enhance the quality of life in Qatar by investing in 'Education, Science and Technology and Community Health and Development'.

About Carnegie Mellon
For more than a century, Carnegie Mellon University has been inspiring innovations that change the world. Consistently top ranked, Carnegie Mellon has more than 11,000 students, 87,000 alumni and 5,000 faculty and staff globally.

In 2004, Qatar Foundation invited Carnegie Mellon to join Education City, a groundbreaking center for scholarship and research. Students from Qatar and over 40 different countries enroll at our world-class facilities in Education City.

Carnegie Mellon Qatar offers undergraduate programs in biological science, business administration, computational biology, computer science and information systems.

Learn more at www.qatar.cmu.edu

For further information please contact: 
Krikor Khatchikian
Senior Account Manager
Cohn&Wolfe Public Relations, Doha, Qatar
Telephone: +974 4428 3177
Email: krikor.khatchikian@cohnwolfeqatar.com  

© Press Release 2011