Does your university as a body collaborate with NGOs and/or businesses to tackle the SDGs through: student volunteering programs, research programs or development of educational resources?

Canadian University of Dubai Students Sleep Rough for Charity

Students at the Canadian University Dubai raise money for charity by sleeping rough on campus.

For the first time female students are taking part in Five Days For the Homeless, a Canadian initiative which aims to create awareness of people living rough on the streets and raise money for good causes.

Eight male students have been sleeping on campus under the stars, from March 9th to March 13th. The eight female students have not been sleeping outside, but have been helping to collect money from generous fellow students in a bid to raise over AED15,000 for the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children.

“Donations have ranged from one dirham coins to 200 dirham notes,” said 19-year-old public relations student, Judy Shebib. “We are thankful to everyone who has donated and we are hopeful that we will hit our target because it is for a very good cause.

“I saw the students doing this last year and I was keen to get involved then, so when the opportunity came up to do it this year, I was really excited,” she added. “It is great that we can get involved as female students because it is going to a women’s charity and we have a strong empathy with that.”

Some of the students are taking part for a second and third year. E-business student, Tiwaloluwa Omope, has been involved in Five Days for the Homeless for the past three years admits that it is a topic close to his heart.

“When I lived in Ghana I saw poverty and homelessness every day,” he said. “It is a terrible thing to see and for people to go through and when I heard about the scheme when I first came to the university I knew I had to be involved.”

The students are joined by Aziz Mulay-Shah Canadian Ambassador from the Department of Foreign Affairs Trade and Development who is on sabbatical at the university – who supported the students by sleeping rough for one night.

“It’s a wonderful initiative and it is great to see these students showing a sense of social responsibility and community,” he said. “It’s important therefore that we show some solidarity with them and do what we can to support them.”

The Five Days For The Homeless initiative was launched at the University of Alberta School of Business in 2005. The sixteen students from Dubai will be joined by students from over 24 universities in Canada, with the Canadian University in Dubai being the only place outside Canada to take part.

Charity Bazaar

CUD is taking part in a Charity Bazaar and we need donations of items that can be sold at the Bazaar taking place on November 8th. Items should be lightly used and all proceeds will be going to a charity. Please drop any items off to Mary-Alison in B1-14 previous to November 3rd, 2010.

Students Living ‘homeless’ on Campus at Canadian University of Dubai

Seven students take on tough challenge to raise money for people in need with charity drive

Dubai, March 7, 2013: Seven Dubai students are sleeping rough for five days to raise money for a homeless charity. The compassionate young men from Canadian University Dubai are living ‘homeless’ on campus, relying only on food hand-outs from fellow students.

Kareem Fahmy, Issam Kassabieh, Tiwa Ompe, Javan Wada, Shabbir Furniturewala, Andrew Ernest and Ahmed Qarjouli are taking part in Five Days For The Homeless – an initiative which creates awareness and raises money for people living rough on the streets. The money raised by the students will be donated to the Dubai Foundation for Women and Children.

The plucky group spent their first night sleeping under the stars on Sunday, March 10, and will keep going until the morning of Friday, March 15.

Issam Kassabieh, 21, who is studying finance and accounting believes the experience is something that will beneficial to him as a person, as well as the charity.

“I like supporting good causes and I think it will change the person that I am,” he said. “It’s something to talk to people about in the future. If something comes up in conversation about homeless people, you can share it because you’ve had a solid experience – it’s not just based on statistics or something you read on the internet.”

“I am looking forward to it and everyone is going to be looking up to us. I am looking forward to meeting the other guys and sharing this amazing experience. It will be very tough, but that’s ok because we know that there is an end to it and that’s where our experience is different from actual homeless people who don’t have any hope at all other than through charities like this one.”

Five Days For The Homeless not only raises money for a good cause, but aims to create empathy for the homeless by giving students an insight into what it would be like to be without a home. On top of sleeping outside with only a sleeping bag, the experience will test the students by placing them in uncomfortable moral situations.

“All the money we raise and all the food we eat will be got by asking people for it and that will be a real test for me personally,” said 19-year-old Javan Wada who is from Nigeria and is studying architecture. “It’s like you are degrading yourself and it will be difficult because of that. But the truth is that nobody wants to beg and it gives us an insight into what it’s like to be homeless.”

Jordanian Ahmed Qarjouli, thinks it will be difficult for other reasons: “We are very spoiled here, so I think some people will break down” he said.

“We’re used to eating well, drinking water whenever we want and we don’t really know what it’s like to live on the streets and live under bridges eating whatever we can. We live very privileged lives and it’s important not to forget that.”

The Five Days For The Homeless initiative was launched at the University of Alberta School of Business in 2005. Co-founder Frank Callele now lives in the UAE and is under no illusions just how difficult a task the students face. He also knows firsthand how much good it will do them and the homeless people they have never met.

“It’s amazing how difficult it is by day three or four because your body gets worn down,” he said. “If you don’t eat or sleep properly you get fatigued physically and mentally.

“They will start to doubt themselves because they will hear ‘no’ so many times, but then someone may give them some money or some food and say ‘good job’, and they will realise why they’re doing it.

“One of the best things from my point of view is watching the students grow on a personal level. You will be able to see it when they document it because they will be writing a blog and that’s a great way to see the progression.”

The seven students from Dubai will be joined by students from over 24 universities in Canada, with the Canadian University in Dubai being the only place outside Canada to take part.

Students Join Unhcr Campaign to Raise Awareness of Regional Refugee Crisis

Students from Canadian University Dubai (CUD) have taken part in a regional conference organized by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHRC) under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah. Samuel Ajayi and Omar Zain were among a delegation of students who attended the first regional gathering dedicated to the protection of refugee children and adolescents. The conference brought together leaders, policy makers, donors and high-profile individuals to raise awareness of the ongoing crisis and consider how different stakeholder groups can help.

CUD Students volunteer for Harvard Alumni event

A group of twenty CUD students acted as volunteers for the 7th Annual Crossroads Conference organized by the Harvard Business School (HBS) Club of the GCC, in the presence of His Excellency Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance for the UAE.

The students were responsible for registering attendees and VIP guests and acting as the first point of contact for the event, and were honored to meet with His Excellency during the event.

The event was initiated by CUD alumnus, Abdulla Mansoor, who is presently interning with HBS GCC. He facilitated a meeting between Ms. Naoise Lane, Career Services and Internship Coordinator and the organizers of the event, which led to the University’s participation.

Harvard Business School Club is a non-profit organization based in Dubai. They were formed by HBS Alumni from various industry sectors, representing over 1,000 Harvard Business School Alumni in the GCC.

The event brought together industry-leading CEOs from the region to discuss business strategies and the significance of embracing tolerance within business settings and operations.

Media Research Volunteer Fred Hollows Organization

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About the role

The Media Research Volunteer will be part of the Brand & Communications department, working on different stages of the research cycle.

The volunteer will lead media data collection, analysis and present information and perspectives on media landscape & monitoring in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The findings will be used to improve communications approaches to enhance The Fred Hollows Foundation’s medical identity & to better communicate and advocate about eye health among targeted audiences.

Key responsibilities & outcomes

Media Landscape Research:

Carry out & conduct comprehensive media landscape research in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh using desktop techniques: reading national and international news, academic studies, NGO and government reports, and local press sources in order to draw out relevant conclusions for the analysts.
Contribute to theinformation management, drafting documents, and ensuring that all data is up to date.
Suggest new sources and approaches for the research.
Prepare a presentation/report about key findings and recommendations at the end of assignment.

2. Media Monitoring, Analysis & Reporting:

Carry out daily pressmonitoring andanalysis to support Advocacy, Branding and Communications strategic planning & initiatives.
Produce short press briefings, charts and graphs on specific eye health-related issues: gender equity, cataract, trachoma & refractive error.
Assisting with key media figures identification across national, health, childhood & women news reporting.
Analyse data and draw out trends from studies conducted into avoidable blindness dynamics.

About You

Currently studying towards Bachelor’sdegree in Communications, Media Studies, Marketing or Business Administration.
Fluency in Arabic & English.
Good research, datacollection & analytical skills using different sources.
Creative, innovative, and initiative.
Ability to use MS desktop applications (excel sheet, word & PowerPoint).
Attention to details.
Ability to work with minimum supervision.
Own a laptop/ desktop machine.

Employer: Fred Hollows Organization (Refer to the attached file)

Send your updated CV to careerservices@cud.ac.ae with the title of the position in the subject line

File

Media Research_Fred Hollows.pdf

Student Volunteers Join Cancer Awareness Campaign

A team of students from Canadian University Dubai (CUD) recently joined forces with local charity, Friends of Cancer Patients (FoCP), to help launch a new initiative to raise awareness of male cancers.

The ‘Shanab’ (‘moustache’ in Arabic) Campaign is part of FoCP’s early detection program, which aims to promote a culture of open dialogue around male-specific cancers, and to build awareness about its early signs and symptoms.

The team of CUD students took part in a public engagement event at this year’s DP World European Golf Tournament at Jumeirah Golf Estate, meeting members of the public attending the event and encouraging them to find out more about the campaign.

Student volunteer Dino Skikic said, “Our mission on the day was to engage as many people as possible in the crowd, making sure they received and read the leaflets, and encouraging them to routinely examine themselves.

“Thanks to all the materials I read from FoCP, I was able to get really well acquainted with the symptoms and provide more information to the public about early detection.”

Fellow volunteer, Ache Hamid Moussa, stressed the importance of targeting women as well as men in the campaign. She said, “Male cancer was something I knew little about before volunteering to help out with this initiative. I learnt a great deal myself and so I made sure that I spoke to a lot of women during the event as well as men.”

The collaboration with FoCP was facilitated by CUD’s Student Services team, which organizes a range of employment, internship and volunteering opportunities for students across the University.

Speaking about the opportunity, Dino continued, “The experience I gained goes much deeper than just work experience, it has helped me to understand a disease that could potentially influence my life, and now I know what to look for. I also saw that people really took notice, wanted to know more and took away our message.”

Ache concluded, “I feel that as responsible citizens it’s important that we give something back. I enjoy meeting new people and this experience allowed me to do this, while learning a lot in the process.”