TRIBUNE NEWS NETWORK

DOHA SENIOR executives and project managers from Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) and Vodafone Qatar attended their annual review meeting to assess the progress of their education and community projects and establish future plans to take their partnership forward.

The groundbreaking ROTA-Vodafone Qatar partnership began with Vodafone’s sponsorship of ROTA’s gala dinner in 2009.

In December 2010, Vodafone confirmed the strength of the partnership with a QR9 million ($2.5 million) donation to support education and community initiatives implemented by ROTA.

In attendance at the annual review meeting were ROTA Director Essa al Mannai, Vodafone Qatar CEO Richard Daly, Vodafone Qatar Director of Human Resources Jan Mottram and several ROTA project managers.

Progress reports presented during the meeting confirmed that the partnership remains on track to achieve its community development goals.

Working together, ROTA and Vodafone Qatar have created innovative and exciting educational initiatives, bringing hope of a better future to individuals and communities across Asia.

“Our partnership with Vodafone has been strong and successful for more than two years, delivering benefits of lasting value to communities in Qatar and throughout Asia,” said Mannai. “With Vodafone’s help, ROTA has established an international reputation for innovative and exciting education projects in countries that need them most. In Qatar, youth leaders have benefited from the establishment of 10 ROTA Youth Service Clubs that are changing the shape of community service in Qatar.” In Indonesia Bayat school teachers, along with the Indonesian Ministry of Education officials, are learning modern teaching skills through the teacher quality improvement initiative, improving teacher’s soft skills and equipping them with social, personal and pedagogical skills to better manage the classroom. Qatar-Titian Scholarship Fund, sponsored by Vodafone Qatar, provides access to higher education for 200 disadvantaged students in the village of Bayat, devastated by an earthquake in 2006.

Teachers in Nepal are also reaping the benefit of learning modern training techniques.

In a country where many towns and villages are prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and flooding, ROTA and Vodafone are helping to build the capacities of the communities on disaster risk reduction, as well as promote safe school standards through disaster prevention initiatives.

In total, almost 300,000 community members have benefited directly and indirectly from ROTA-Vodafone initiatives in both countries. A further 67 Qatar-based students and teachers have participated in ROTA-Vodafonesponsored volunteer trips to projects in Asia.

In Qatar, 10 ROTA Youth Service Clubs designed to unlock the potential of the country’s youth have been established. To date, 70 Youth Service Club members have taken part in Youth Service Leadership training to develop skills needed to tackle community projects.

“Our partnership with ROTA has resulted in lifechanging programmes and initiatives for tens of thousands of adults and children living in troubled communities across Asia. We are proud of our relationship with Reach Out To Asia, and we look forward to collaborating on new projects in the year ahead,” said Vodafone Qatar CEO Richard Daly.