English 
العربية 
The Centre for Foundation Studies (CFS) organized its first community outreach initiative, entitled ‘Together we Read’, for the academic year 2017-2018 on 13th December 2017. A group of 50 General Foundation Programme (GFP) students accompanied by some CFS faculty visited Al Kathwer Elementary School in Al-Seeb. The main objective of the initiative is to share knowledge and to build a culture of reading among MEC students as well as members of the local community.
Our GFP students conducted reading sessions and competitions for grade 4 students at the school. The presence of our students has touched the hearts of those kids who enjoyed the interactive sessions. All the participating students enthusiastically took part in the event.
The students said that it was a unique and unforgettable experience. According to Jawaher Ahmed Al Bulushi, “In my opinion, the trip was very nice. I learned a lot of things such as communication and patience with children”. Noor Khalfan Al Maqbali added “The visit was wonderful. The kids were happy when they saw the gifts”. Hamed Hamood Al Kharousi stated that the event was excellent and it was a positive step towards building a culture of reading among the children. He also liked their good cooperation and interaction.
The Centre for Foundation Studies is planning to organize more community outreach events to encourage schoolchildren to read more and more. It is worth mentioning that ‘Together we Read’ is one of the themes of the ‘Together we Communicate’ community outreach programme of MEC.
