Riyadh - Arabstoday
In cooperation with Al Faisal University, Riyadh was the first stop of the pan GCC universities tour to alert students on the depleting sources of precious water and to encourage them to take an active role in safe guarding this natural resource that we tend to take for granted. BMG Foundation, who is leading the ‘Our Water, Our Life’ initiative is engaging students by calling on them to devise the most creative and innovative awareness campaign for water conversation. The venue was King Faisal Foundation main auditorium. The second stop was in Alkhobar at Dammam University. The tour will reach out to Dubai/Sharjah on Feb. 19 at the American University of Sharjah, Abu Dhabi on Feb. 20 at Abu Dhabi University, Kuwait on Feb. 23 at the Gulf University for Science and Technology, Jeddah on Feb. 25 at Dar Al Hekma College, Manama on March 3 at Bahrain University, Muscat on March 12 at the German University of Technology and Doha on March 22 in cooperation with Qatar Foundation during the International Water Day. Basil Al Ghalayini, chairman of BMG Foundation, welcomed the audience at both universities and highlighted the 15 years history of his foundation’s accomplishments in East-West cultural bridging aiming at supporting credible charities and noble causes such as water conservation. A documentary with alarming global figures on water highlighted the severity of this issue followed by an explanation of the competition rationale and online submission procedures via www.bmgfoundation.com , voting and judging criteria, etc. In Riyadh, a group of children recited “save our water” poem in 10 different languages thus engaging an even younger segment who may be faced with the brunt of this water issue if each and everyone of us did not take action now. Both universities officials were presented with a memento for their generosity in hosting the event. Other supporters of this initiative who believe in the importance of raising much needed awareness on water usage were Veolia Waters Saudi Arabia, Nestle Waters, Tamer Group, CPC, Shaker Group, LG, Saatchi & Saatchi, Marina Printers, Samia Photography, Al Turki Group, Crystal Arc and Saudi Research and Marketing Group, for which they were lauded for their generosity and support. According to Loulwah Al Sudairy, coordinator at BMG Foundation, “We are looking forward to unearth new talents in this crucial cause such as water conservation in which the final result, we hope, will have a positive effect on the future generations’ well being.” BMG Foundation expects to have more than 10,000 students competing for the top three places. Al Ghalayini further stressed: “The key success factor in this initiative is the ability to implement the winning project effectively and successfully via different media channels including the social networks. At the end, we aim to create a lasting and sustainable impact on the mind sets of people at large to preserve water for our future generations.”