54 | January 2012 | woman this month Campaign Community service will soon be made mandatory for all higher secondary students across Bahrain. Given that students are already running out of ideas concerning how to spend their community hours, the Kingdom needs to devise ways in which its youth can make a meaningful contribution to society. Hala Ali Al Khalifa, the executive director of Wish Child Welfare charity, has come up with a winning idea. Hala is unveiling a pilot programme that involves mentorship of orphans and single-parent children by high school and university volunteers in Bahrain. The programme targets children aged between six and 12, who will be provided academic and community support in form of weekly mentoring sessions and community outings. Wish You Service Programme (WYSP) is Bahrain’s first mentorship programme and, arguably, also the first in the region — with the exception of Mentor Arabia Lebanon, which primarily works for drug prevention among youths. “Students taking part in the Wish You Service Programme (WYSP) will have the opportunity to help shape a child’s future for the better, by empowering them to achieve their true potential,” says Hala, founder and programme coordinator for this initiative. She recalls the perplexity of several friends and cousins who wanted to do something worthwhile during their community hours, but couldn’t accomplish much, primarily due to a lack of options in Bahrain. One friend would walk the dogs at a pet care centre, while another littered the beach just so that he could “clean” it later to clock up his community hours. Having lost her own father at the age of 18, Hala is only too aware of the turmoil faced by orphans and children of single parents. “In our society, children commonly face financial constraints once the father is gone. Moreover, if the mother takes up a job to support her family, she spends less time at home, which means that these children get more lonely and emotionally vulnerable,” she observes. The project is in collaboration with the Royal Charity Organisation (RCO), which will coordinate the children of single parents and orphans with the Ministry of Education. The RCO is currently involved in the lives of around 5000 orphans across Bahrain, a large percentage of which are children. Making a Real Difference A soon-to-be launched youth service programme for children seeks to redefine the way community service is known and practised in the Kingdom.
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