A noble out of syllabus lesson

Students of Modern Knowledge School embrace charity as a passion

 Manama

For students of Modern Knowledge School (MKS) charity is not just a humane act. But it’s an awareness to motivate others to follow the suit.

They have started a charity drive to help the people affected by the devastating earthquake in Nepal. They have put up moneyboxes in cold stores with a poster reading: “Please donate 100 fils for Nepal Earthquake Victims.”

A seemingly out-of-the-box idea, these group of students motivate others to offer their contributions to a noble cause. Hassan Mahmood Hassan, an 8th Grade student of MKS, has contributed a moneybox to a nearby cold store in Tubli.

“First of all, I would like to thank my parents, teacher and all the staff in our school, without whom, out charity act wouldn’t be possible.  We don’t stick on to one method in collecting money. Keeping moneybox in cold stores in one option. We can also approach our neighbours and friends to take part in this initiative,” says Hassan.

Through a simple grade level competition and selling of bracelets, MKS middle school students have raised 2,383.891 BD in three weeks. They plan to donate the amount to UNICEF. The competition, which was planned for raising money for charity, ended on Thursday, but the students have not stopped their efforts.   

Other students have taken to creating an Instagram account #nepal_needs, to raise awareness and support to the efforts, with the hashtags #shakeforthequake (as in shake out your fils to donate), and #mksfilitup.  The account is online and the students have almost 1,000 posts. 

Tricia Badroghy, a teacher of Modern Knowledge School, says: “Back in October, some coworkers and I took a trip to Nepal for vacation.  We fell in love with the country and made many friends while we were there.  In the aftermath of the earthquake, some of those friends reached out to me for help.”

“Bahrain has a high population of Nepali workers. Even our school employs quite a few Nepalese. Some of them also lost everything back home in Nepal.  This wasn't just on the other side of the world. It was here in our very school.  In class we often talk about current events and so when I showed them pictures of the earthquake and told about my friends there who had lost their homes, our students asked "what can we do to help them?," she explains.

However, charity is not a strange lesson for Modern Knowledge School. They have already worked with Standard Chartered Bank to donate aid Uganda by organising “Run for a Reason” event. 

“In last October, for the second year in a row, we took part in the Think Pink Bahrain campaign raising over 300 BD to donate.  These students have already proven that when it comes to charity, they will rise o the occasion. So when they asked, "What can we do to help Nepal?", I knew they would want to get involved again,” Tricia Badroghy adds proudly.