Doha, October 22 (QNA) - The activities of the second joint volunteer trip to Rabat, launched by the Years of Culture initiative as part of the Qatar-Morocco Year of Culture 2024, continue, with the participation of 20 participants on a trip from Oct. 18-26 to meet their counterparts in Morocco and exchange their cultural experiences and traditions.
The trip includes employees from Qatar Museums, artists and volunteers from different cultures and nationalities, who provide volunteering activities in addition to workshops in the field of photography and cultural exchange.
Commenting on the event, Hazem Idris, Head of Community Service at Qatar Museums, underlined the importance of strengthening these ties between peoples as a basic requirement of the Years of Culture program's efforts, noting that this experience provides an opportunity to learn through services and cultural exchange, which helps volunteers build meaningful connections with the community they serve.
For his part, Khalifa Al Obaidli, Director of Mathaf: Artists Residence, said: We presented various workshops related to photography and its history since its beginnings at the hands of the Arab scholar Al Hassan Ibn Al Haytham, then printing with sunlight through the use of some chemical materials on paper.
Youssef Al Shafawi, founder of the Amal Sale Association, praised the efforts of the volunteers from Qatar, noting that the volunteer efforts were carried out in coordination with local officials in the city of Sale and other partners, and included painting murals and rehabilitating a school in the rural world in "Al Sahoul" and a tree-planting operation in the urban forest in the city of Sale, and introductory workshops between Qatari youth and their Moroccan brothers at the association's headquarters.
This trip came from the benefit gained during the first volunteering trip ever, which saw 23 participants travel to Yogyakarta, Indonesia, as part of the Qatar-Indonesia 2023 Cultural Year.
The cultural years are an initiative that seeks to strengthen cultural relations between nations, enhancing mutual understanding and appreciation by encouraging relationships between individuals.
This initiative also aims, within a series of cultural exchange programs and cooperation projects, to highlight the rich cultural heritage of participating countries and strengthen lasting ties between diverse communities. (QNA)