Dubai Cares, part of Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Global Initiatives (MBRGI), recently partnered with ALEC, a leading construction and related businesses company in the GCC and Africa, to revamp the classrooms and the playground areas at the National Charity School for Girls and Boys in Ajman. Students at the school will now have access to facilities that incorporate engaging teaching aids, including essential furniture such as desks and chairs, which will enhance the quality of their learning experience.
Completed by more than 150 volunteers, including ALECs employees, the refurbishment project was carried out as part of Dubai Cares’ Volunteer Emirates initiative, a local volunteering initiative that rallies the UAE community throughout the year to donate their time in support of children’s educational empowerment.
Commenting on their partnership with ALEC for this edition, Abdulla Ahmed Alshehhi, Chief Operating Officer at Dubai Cares, said, “The success of initiatives like Volunteer Emirates stems from the commitment of our partners in supporting our mission to empower young lives through access to quality education. We are grateful to ALEC for their collaboration towards this meaningful initiative, which will transform the learning environment for all the students of the National Charity School for Girls and Boys in Ajman. We would also like to extend our sincere thanks to our loyal community of volunteers who have made Volunteer Emirates an impactful and successful initiative year after year by donating their valuable time and efforts for this cause.”
To facilitate the refurbishment efforts, ALEC donated AED 200,000 to Dubai Cares. These funds were used to purchase equipment central to elevating learning experiences for students, such as desks and chairs, and educational tools for people of determination. The initiative also aimed to enhance student comfort and foster their creativity through educational murals and a football court. In addition to providing the equipment, ALEC’s team demonstrated its readiness to actively engage in community impact initiatives with more than 25 of the company’s employees volunteering their time to install the equipment and paint murals on walls in the school’s corridors and common areas, alongside the community volunteers who signed up to be part of this initiative.
“At ALEC, we take immense pride in our position as a key contributor to the development of the UAE. While this is best evidenced in our construction of some of the country’s most iconic developments, we also strive to explore other avenues for positive social impact in line with our core values of integrity, reliability, courage, innovation, and trust in our people,” said Barry Lewis, CEO at ALEC. “Education, youth upskilling and improving schooling infrastructure are core focus areas of our community impact strategy. I would like to thank Dubai Cares for affording us the opportunity to be partners in such a wonderful initiative. We hope that our contribution will have a marked impact on the learning experience and the lives of these young learners.”
Earlier this year, ALEC joined the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative that promotes responsible business practices and the advancement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Fourth among these goals is ensuring inclusive and quality education for all, an objective which ALEC is supporting through efforts like its partnership with Dubai Cares.