KUWAIT: Latifa Al-Jumaa has made volunteering a central aspect of her life.

Twenty five years ago, notices calling for volunteers were often distributed at local schools or posted on notice wall boards at the end of every school year.

Volunteering is an integrated part of Kuwait's culture, where giving and charity are ingrained from childhood.

There are hundreds of non-profit organizations in Kuwait and those who wish to volunteer can find activities from helping out at an animal shelter to organizing clothing drives for Syrian refugees. One woman, Latifa Al-Jumaa, has made volunteering a central aspect of her life.

"There was a large mirror in the living room of our house and my father used to cover it with volunteering notices that he would collect from different sources," Al-Jumaa told the Kuwait Times recently. "He hated to catch us doing nothing during the summer time, sitting aimlessly at home and would always tried to push us to do something good, volunteer and be useful to others."

Al-Jumaa's father, who studied astronomy at the University of Birmingham and served as a manager of the astronomy sector at the Kuwait Science Club, engendered in his children a love and dedication to volunteering.

Budding volunteer

So it wasn't a surprise when Al-Jumaa followed in her father's footsteps. From 2005 to 2007, she volunteered at the KSC, training young would-be astronomers.

After that, Al-Jumaa moved to the UK to pursue a masters in English and Science Education for Young Learners at Oxford University. But she took her volunteering spirit with her.

In Britain, there's a place to serve the community in every niche. Thousands of classes offered by the city council, absolutely free of charge in all areas and for all ages, even the elderly. "I volunteered to teach Arabic to new converts to Islam. During Ramadan, I would invite them home to break our fast together to encourage them to learn my native tongue," she explained.

During those years, Al-Jumaa also become a mother and added another full-time role to her busy life. Even with the added work and family obligations, however, she continued volunteering. But how did she balance all the demands on her time?

"When you keep a positive spirit all the way, time will reconcile between motherhood, studying and voluntary work. Good intentions will attract positive vibes and good people who will be willing to help you in all directions, " explained Al-Jumaa.

After moving back to Kuwait, Al-Jumaa added another role to her professional portfolio, that of budding entrepreneur. She founded an English learning center in Al-Faiha for a summer course to help children with their English.

Volunteering for life

But the desire to volunteer never left her. "In March 2016, I took my son to register at the Scientific Club but I was disappointed after I realized that both girls and young scientists sector was closed due to "maintenance". I submitted a proposal to volunteer to manage the maintenance work myself and created a training program as a test performance as a director. My suggestion was encouraged by Dr. Khalid Al-Fadhil, the General Activity Director and the Secretary-General Adam Al-Mulla. The program was approved and here I am, added Al-Jumaa.

And so before she knew it, she'd gone from sometime volunteer to formally joining the family of the Scientific Club management.

Now as the director of young scientists and girls sector at the club, she sets up and oversees summer programs for kids, establishes scientific training courses including agriculture, mad science, dialogue skills, life applications and astronomy programs for kids ages of 5 to 12 years. The programs are for Arabic and English speaking children.

She has also revamped the entire kids program and is focusing on building into the program an initiative aimed at encouraging future volunteers.

"I've designed training sessions to enhance communication and teaching skills in volunteers. Our youngest trainer is a 10th grader! My vision is to attract more talent from the schools of Kuwait, helping to teach children to embrace our scientific programs and encourage their creativity."

By Athoob Al-Shuaibi