Meet some of the volunteers behind Madrasa

Amal Nasser Al Mulla, Emirati, 22 (youngest volunteer).

“I heard about this initiative when I first graduated from Zayed University. It was perfect timing because I was looking for jobs and had a lot of free time, so I wanted to fill it with doing something good and give something back to the community. When I participated in the translation challenge I didn’t know I was going to work with volunteers from all the Arab region. I was surprised and very proud to be part of the crew.

I was part of the voice over team for the videos for a whole year. I worked on doing the voice over for videos on math, science chemistry and biology. I worked with a script most of the time. For me, I worked from 10am2pm twice a week and completed almost 20 scripts a day.

I do a lot of volunteering and it gives me a lot of happiness and fulfilment because you can see the impact you have on people’s lives.”

Hassan Mohammad, Jordanian, Advance Science Programme coordinator with Ministry of Education.

“I wanted to volunteer in the translation competition because I knew the long-term benefits it would have on students across the region. I heard about the volunteering opportunity on Instagram and I was excited to take part in it because it is similar to my area of experience and the work I do.

For this portal, I translated some 30 math videos in total, but it was not only about translating, we had to make sure the topics are explained well so that the student can understand the content. I worked on weekends most of the time and this continued for a whole year.

Apart from this, I have been doing voluntary work for the last ten years. I have worked with humanitarian organisations to improve the living conditions of poor societies whether in Jordan, Palestine or Syria.”

Alanoud Al Braiky, Emirati Senior student at Khalifa University

“When I was in high school, most of the subjects were in Arabic and when I went home to find educational videos on the internet in Arabic, I couldn’t find any. I faced difficulties with finding the information I need explained in Arabic, especially in biology and math. I wanted to volunteer in this because I really liked the idea of this project and wanted to help the youth in the Middle East.

I did the voice over for most of the subjects. I used to come from Abu Dhabi to Dubai to do the voice over for a whole year. I feel so delighted that I contributed to this portal. All the hard work we did will now reach millions of students. It will also reduce the pressure on parents in getting private tutors for their children as well because their children can now learn online for free.”