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HBKU Takreem Awards recognize student efforts

Sabiha Khan, Savindu Bothejo, Priyamvada Pillai, Sharan Yadav and Abivarma Chandrakumaran with their trophy.
Sabiha Khan, Savindu Bothejo, Priyamvada Pillai, Sharan Yadav and Abivarma Chandrakumaran with their trophy.

WCM-Q is proud to have had the activities of its students celebrated with two prizes at the 4th Annual Takreem Awards, organized by Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU).

WCM-Q’s Coffee House won the Student Event of the Year award, while the Service Project or Organization award went to WCM-Q for its participation in the Reach Out To Asia (ROTA) Adult Literacy Program, which provides English language classes and social opportunities for the college’s support staff.

The Takreem Awards were created to recognize outstanding contributions by organizations and individuals to the cultural life of Education City. The awards were presented at an official ceremony held at the HBKU Student Center.

The annual Coffee House event, which is held on the front steps of the WCM-Q building and features live music and dance performances, has become one of the standout occasions in the Education City calendar. The event is open to all members of the Education City community and is organized by the WCM-Q Medical Student Executive Committee (MSEC).

MSEC members Sahar Mahadik of Med 2 (MSEC president), Priyamvada Pillai of Premed 2, and Ahmed Al Meer of Med 3 accepted the Student Event of the Year award on behalf of MSEC.

The ROTA Adult Literacy Program has been running for five years now and provides English language and computer literacy lessons for the college’s cleaners and other support staff. The program also organizes activities like football and cricket matches between the staff and students, as well as excursions and get-togethers, such as celebrating Thanksgiving. WCM-Q representatives Dr. Rodney Sharkey, associate professor of English, and Priyamvada Pillai accepted the Service Project or Organization award on behalf of MSEC.

Priyamvada said:

“The cleaners and support staff have shown great enthusiasm for the program and have made good progress - from knowing little or no English, many are now at intermediate or advanced level. Before the program there wasn’t much interaction between students and the cleaners and support staff, but now there is a lot of communication going on and more of a sense of community between us, which is really positive.

The learning goes both ways, too. As students we have had the chance to learn about different cultures and also to speak some phrases in different languages like Nepalese and Swahili, for example. We are very grateful to ROTA and to Dr. Rodney Sharkey, who is a fantastic mentor for us on this project.”