A-level anxiety as UAE pupils receive exam results today
▶ From giving directions to reuniting families, vast teams of volunteers have their work cut out for them, writes Balquees Basalom in Makkah
A long summer of waiting is finally over for thousands of pupils across the Emirates gearing up for A-level results day.
Trepidation will be replaced by beaming smiles and tears of joy for many after years of hard work.
They will look forward gleefully to university life, either in the UAE or farther afield.
For those who do not secure the grades they hoped for, however, it will be a time for reflection and contemplation as they consider their next move.
Scores of students will discover their fate huddled together with fellow learners at schools all over the country, while some will choose to open web browsers rather than envelopes to access results online at home.
There will be much to ponder in the A-level aftermath, with experts calling for students to take up degrees with a digital focus to meet the needs of an ever-developing workplace.
For those who do not end up with the university place they desire, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service will offer many an alternative route to continue their academic pursuits. Others may decide to take a gap year or take an early leap into employment.
However they decide to embrace their relative success or failure, it need not be a defining moment.
Whether results day offers up a bump in the road or paves the way for a clear academic path, the support of parents and teachers will be invaluable.
It is said there is no greater feeling than completing Hajj, but the volunteers who guide the pilgrims on their gruelling journey say helping them to achieve their Islamic duty comes pretty close.
More than two million people began leaving the holy city of Makkah on Tuesday, setting off one of the world’s biggest clean-ups.
The pilgrims had come from around the world and were welcomed by helpers stationed in Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah.
Volunteers from the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia, aged between 12 and 60, converged on the holy sites to help Muslims complete their pilgrimage.
“I see Hajj volunteering as an act to get close to God and it is an honour to serve the pilgrims,” said Sayed Al Qahtani, from Asir.
The leader of the Saudi Arabian Boy Scouts Association has been volunteering at Hajj for the past 18 years.
Scouts fly in from across the kingdom to volunteer. They can be found at heath centres and information points, 300 metres apart, at the holy sites. They help pilgrims navigate
the journey and assist anyone who may become lost, using six dedicated lost-and-found centres at Arafat.
“Nothing beats seeing a woman reunited with her husband, or a mother with her child,” said Mr Al Qahtani, 52, who has helped reunite hundreds of families during his time as a volunteer.
Other volunteer groups included about 150 personnel from civil defence stations, half of whom were women. They are known as Salam.
“Our main role is to ensure the safety of the public. Our second role, which usually is more needed on Arafat Day, is providing first aid,” said Ayman Alkhalawi, 38, who has been volunteering with the Salam team for five years.
He said the Hajji’s duaa – or prayers – keep him coming back each year.
“When we help them and they pray for us, saying ‘may God smile upon you’, it makes us feel happy,” he said.
Mr Alkhalawi said hearing those words from pilgrims dispels any doubt he may have about volunteering again, particularly after working nonstop for 15 hours.
“Worse than the shift is the traffic,” he said. “When we are heading to the provided residence away from the holy sites, sometimes it takes between four or five hours to get there, leaving very little time to sleep or rest.”
Despite the hot weather and long hours, many Saudis see Hajj as their calling.
“Volunteering in Hajj is my passion. If I stayed at home and missed it, I would cry,” said Roqya Kamal, a medical resident.
“There is a lot of action and many challenges when working at Hajj but it makes me know myself better. It makes me stronger,” she said.
Dr Kamal, 25, volunteered this year with the Saudi Academy for Medical Volunteering. It was her third Hajj.
Participants with Smav are obliged to complete 42 hours of medical volunteer training, organised by the Ministry of Health, before they are allowed to join.
The team are based in Makkah and commute daily in parallel with the pilgrims’ route; from Mina, then to Arafat, Muzdalifah and then back to Mina.
This year, more than half of the 400 volunteers, who are all medical students, were women. Part of their job is to collect medical data that will be used to inform health strategies for next year’s Hajj.
Other volunteers signed up to Kon Awnan, a government project that encourages Saudi Arabian citizens to help out during Hajj.
This year, more than 3,000 people registered for the initiative and were trained for a week before being stationed across the holy sites in Makkah and Madinah and in the Hajj Terminal in Jeddah.
Samaher Hejazi, 24, one of the Kon Awnan volunteers, said the most exciting part was the people she got to meet.
“I met so many people from different backgrounds. It was truly a learning experience. It might be my first time in Hajj but it sure will not be the last.”