In a world driven by money, there are still those who go against the tide and embrace volunteerism to be of service to humanity.
Being the first Omani to obtain a volunteering passport from the Arab Union for Voluntary Work, Bakheet al Amari is proud to be able to contribute to the global humanitarian effort to make the world a little bit better.
Through the volunteering passport, Bakheet will be able to travel to perform hours of service for civic, charitable or humanitarian efforts — something that the world badly needed right now especially that many countries all over the world especially the developing ones are suffering from refugee and humanitarian crisis.
“Volunteer work in the Sultanate in its various forms and levels has gone through different stages. Today, through volunteer teams under government umbrellas supported by all parties and members of society, it is developing with lofty and planned goals according to specific and successful schedules’’, Bakheet shared.
Al Amari added, “My experience in volunteer work began in 2007 and I realized that it is a religious and patriotic duty to practice towards the country and to provide aid and assistance to everyone who needed help in this country”.
He said, “I received moral support from the community and those close to me which prompted me to continue in this field and it has become my daily duty. I have earned a lot of experience to expand work outside my wilayat. I participated with various volunteer teams in Dhofar Governorate, and various local and international volunteer teams and benefited greatly from their volunteer programmes.”
From his small initiatives, Bakheet is expanding his efforts by making sure that others also learn the values of volunteerism.
He shared, “I contributed to the establishment of some volunteer teams. I also worked with Tarabut Center to present annual international conferences in cooperation with the United Nations, in which nearly 300 participants from various governorates of the Sultanate and Arab countries participated.”
He narrated, “At Tarabut Center, we trained nearly 500 young men and women volunteers to promote the role of volunteer work and the ethics of volunteer work. We distributed a book entitled Psychological Happiness to families and educational and cultural bodies free of charge, and a new book entitled ‘Bullying’ that will be distributed free of charge, after completing the certification procedures for scientific benefit.”
Volunteer work is one of the most important noble values carried out by many individuals to serve the community. The Sultanate contains a large group of associations interested in the affairs of voluntary work. But for Bakheet, more is needed. While he strive to do his part, one of his objectives is make sure that the community is aware of what difference they make and encourage especially the young ones to follow the path of helping others.
“I received many awards, the latest of which was from the Ministry of Social Development. I was honoured among the most prominent volunteer figures in the Governorate of Dhofar’’, Bakheet shared. These accolades inspire him to work harder to make a big difference.
“I volunteered with the Executive Office of the Ministers of Labour Council and the Council of Ministers of Social Affairs in the GCC countries. I obtained the Volunteering passport from the Arab Federation for Voluntary Work to be the first Omani to obtain this passport. The work doesn’t really stop and the more people freely volunteer their time, experience and knowledge, the better it is for the world’’, he said.
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