U.S. Embassy suppports Alumnus program
When Iraqis who go to the United States on official educational or professional exchange programs come back to Iraq, The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has committed to continuing to partner with them in their efforts to impact the Iraqi society in positive ways. One of the ways the Embassy supports alumni to do that is the Alumni Small Grants Program.
When alumni in the community have an idea for trainings, workshops, and community service projects, they can write a grant application and apply to the Small Grants program for funding to implement their project. In 2011, the first year of the program, the Embassy invested over $385,000 in Alumni projects all over the country.
One of those projects was headed by Mohammad Ali Saad, an alumnus of the Iraqi Youth Leadership Exchange Program in 2010. When Saad returned from his program in the United States, he was energized to turn the experience he gained in leadership in the United States into an action plan that could impact the community.
Saad enrolled in a training course in grant writing offered by the Embassy through its Alumni University Program. This program offers training to U.S. alumni around Iraq in leadership, civic engagement, grant writing, and employment skills at three different cities across the country: Baghdad, Erbil, and Basrah. Equipped with the skills Saad got in that training, he was ready to write a professional grant proposal and present his idea to the U.S. Embassy for funding, along with 3 other alumni and 3 other friends—all of them dental students.
The idea for their community project was to teach children in disadvantaged areas of Babylon how to properly maintain their oral health. Through their dental studies, the six project leaders, who are between 19 and 23 years old, know what poor dental care during childhood can lead to. "Most people in Iraq don’t visit dental clinics until they have pain in their teeth, but then it is often already too late and extracting teeth is the cheapest solution they get." explains Taha Burair, a team member and dentistry student from Babylon. "Many lose most of their teeth in their 40’s since there is little that can be done for eldery patients." Their experience tells them that things like these are hardly ever emphasized in schools, nor by their parents at home.
The project served 100 children, dividing them into groups of twenty five to thirty for three day sessions. During these sessions, the team presented the project to the children, presenting short films and songs about teeth, strengthening their drawing skills, taking them to dental clinics, and providing them with tooth brushes, dental floss and tooth paste.
The children found participation in the project to be not only helpful but also interesting and fun. Mohammed Amer, a 15-year old-boy, said, "This is a very good program, it has made me aware of the importance of my teeth.” And Safa Raad, a primary school student, agreed, saying “I liked the program and I found it very useful for me. Now I know that I must visit the dentist regularly."
22-year-old Taha Burair hopes that their project can also be a role model to others: “Be the change you want to see in the world, meaning that we can change our community by encouraging NGOs to start community projects like this one. We are making some difference in our community and we are hoping for more."
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad has been proud to sponsor activities like this one and looks forward to broadening their partnerships with alumni in the future through increased funding through small grants that impact Iraqi society in positive ways.
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