Interview with Nimah Nawwab, founder of the Musanadah volunteer groupDAMMAM – In the second part of the article on efforts by Dammam's residents to help Jeddah's flood victims, the founder of the Musanadah campaign speaks about her volunteer work in the city. Nimah Nawwab, a well-known writer, photographer, poet and lecturer, visited Jeddah last week to see for herself what was needed in terms of aid. When she returned, she went to the center in Dammam where the campaign's volunteers were collecting aid for Jeddah's community. Upon arrival, she proceeded to report what she had seen and heard in the flood-hit city. A little while later, she spoke to Saudi Gazette about the campaign and outlined what had motivated her to start the whole initiative. “The idea of the Musanadah campaign began as a way to deal with the whole tragedy. Such devastation is shocking and one often feels helpless in its aftermath. We still don't know the full scope of the tragedy. Most likely we will never get a full account of the loss of lives,” she said. “Many families are still reeling from the crisis. Our brothers and sisters of all nationalities who have been affected by the floods, urgently require support with food, essential basics of life, products for personal hygiene, school supplies, housing and every imaginable [item that will contribute to their] survival. They also need psychological and emotional support.” Although Nawwab felt helpless in the face of the tragedy, she knew she had to do something. She said she could not sleep at night knowing that people were going hungry, had no shelter and had lost loved ones. She said she started linking up with youth volunteer groups in the Eastern Province and decided to align their efforts. She said the response was “heartening”. They started asking for donations and tried to get more people involved. She said that the Internet was a powerful tool in helping to get the campaign off the ground. “Email and Facebook announcements have been the most effective. On our Facebook page for example, we have over 2,500 members. And this doesn't include all the volunteers from over 12 societies, schools and universities who have joined the efforts here on the ground.” Her campaign works with other like-minded groups. Links and contacts have been made with charities and other aid groups in Jeddah and other cities. “The whole idea of starting up Musanadah was to bring together various societies and to link them with existing relief societies in Jeddah and in other areas. Musanadah has received calls from other regions wanting to learn from our experience in terms of planning, working with volunteers and how to get a list of priorities from Jeddah.” She said that they have been careful to make sure their aid gets to the right people in Jeddah. “When our shipments arrive in Jeddah, for example, we immediately get a text message from the societies who received the goods. They have to be officially designated as recipients,” she said. Nawwab said that there are plans to help out in other areas of the Kingdom, for example in the strife-torn region of Jizan, where people have been displaced from their homes and live in tent camps. “Yes it is part of our long range plans, relief is one of our main goals,” she said. “In addition, we also plan to provide awareness [programs] on environmental concerns, crisis management and relief work. We have many concerned youth who are more than willing to do relief work and have already proven themselves to be great team players, initiators and leaders with a strong sense of giving and empathy for the [less fortunate] in society.” “Seeing people getting together to relieve human [suffering] is always heartwarming. It restores our faith in the good that exists in the world.” Another member of the campaign said that being involved was a real eye-opener. Reem Al-Arfaj, a member of the campaign's management team and President of Al-Etihad, a youth volunteers group, said organizing everything had been a challenge. However, her faith in the goodness of people was “restored.” “The donations we received and the volunteers who got involved were remarkable,” she said. Al-Arfaj also emphasized how the Internet was used to spread the message, including YouTube, Facebook and email. “We actually managed to get most of our donations and volunteers through our Facebook group. After that, word of mouth played a major role.” She also praised the work of other organizations in helping with the relief effort. “The Joud Charity Society in Dammam was a major supporter of our campaign. In Jeddah, we arranged to work with the People of Jeddah Committee and with groups such as Al-Bir Society, Al-Nadwa and the International Islamic Relief Organization.”
