Culture & Education | Sunday 27 May, 2018 5:58 am |

Education Above All (EAA) Foundation recently held a reception at the opening of its ‘Reaching 10 Million Out of School Children’ exhibition at the W Hotel Doha, in the presence of a number of ambassadors, to mark a major milestone in its work to empower 10 million marginalised and vulnerable children around the world.

After the moving exhibition’s initial success at Qatar Academy, EAA was delighted to relocate its showcase of the challenges millions of children around the world face and EAA’s work to overcome them, at the W Hotel on May 17th.  The exhibition is open to the public until May 30th, and with its hashtag #Togetherfor10million and #Itispossible, has been successful in creating awareness about the barriers to education that 63 million primary level children around the world face, such as poverty, conflict and natural disasters, and the power education gives them to change their lives for the better.

During the exhibition, the esteemed visitors were chaperoned through a visual representation of the relentless efforts EAA has taken over the years to overcome barriers to education around theworld. The exhibition demonstrated its work in the form of drawings and paintings, and through interactive zones: Conflict Zone, Zone of Peace, Tree Zone and School Zone. In the Conflict Zone, visitors were able to experience a war zone through visuals and sound effects. Afterwards, visitors moved to the dark room where a neon light installation of the word “education” in Arabic glowed, to emphasise how education is the light in the darkness. For EAA, ‘Knowledge is Light’, and last month EAA lit up major landmarks in Doha and New York to celebrate its achievement. The light installation was followed by a display of painting, dedicated to EAA’s achievement of reaching 10 million out of school children around the world. 

In the Tree Zone, visitors were introduced to some of the challenges refugees face, and were given the opportunity to present their own solutions to educating hard to reach children who face barriers to education. In the School Zone, EAA demonstrated the difference between a school in a well-developed country and a school in a poor country.

On this occasion, Mrs. Leena Al-Derham, Senior Education Specialist of Educate A Child (EAC) programme, stated:

“EAA has been reaching out to as many people as possible through various events, avenues and exhibitions not only in Qatar, but globally as well, with the aim to spread the awareness about the challenges 63 million primary level children around the world face, and how education can empower them to overcome those challenges and improve their lives.”

“We are thankful to the W Hotel Management to have joined hands with us for this special occasion. Our special thanks to the esteemed guests and members of the media who made it possible to attend the exhibition and support us in our global efforts. Together, we can change the lives of children who need it the most and work toward a more peaceful and prosperous future for all.”