(MENAFN - Arab News) Orphans from Albir Society Jeddah have an additional reason to celebrate the ongoing month of Ramadan after it was revealed that 200 of them will be given technical training courtesy of electronics giant Samsung.
They will be given training in information technology, communication skills and personality development as part of a yearlong program announced by Samsung at a ceremony at the societys premises on Sunday.
Orphans from the society were present in large numbers and were visibly thrilled when Mazen Batterjee, Albir president and vice chairman of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), and Samsungs General Manager for Saudi Arabia Gye Choon Cho gave details of the training program.
I feel extraordinarily elated that I will be learning IT and develop my technical skills, and can be usefully employed, said Abdullah Al-Ghain, an orphan.
Albir, which has been in existence for over 25 years, has 300 orphans residing in three hostels at its premises. It additionally supports 3,000 orphans fostered by different families, who are paid a monthly allowance of SR500, Ahmed Mohammed Basoudi, marketing and commercial manager for Albir Society, told Arab News.
Batterjee described Samsungs corporate social responsibility move as a novel scheme to train the underprivileged. He said large corporations should increasingly include such training plans in their CSR programs and offer employment opportunities.
The program, which is commencing in a couple of weeks, will train 100 orphans, including 50 girls, in the 14-19 age group at the New Horizons Institute for the first six months. Then a new batch of 100 orphans will be enrolled for training, Cho said, adding that Albir will select the candidates.
Describing this as part of Samsungs CSR program, Cho said the Korean company had chosen New Horizons, an independent IT training institution, to train, develop and modernize the IT skills of the orphans and enable them to pursue a secure, lifelong career path.
Samsungs initiative includes sponsoring bright individuals from Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam for one year, where they will receive training from certified instructors with the latest curriculum on the education of the utmost cutting edge technology, he said.
The trainees will also share expertise from an exclusive volunteer program. Each month, Samsungs one department head with other employees will visit the institute as volunteers and present the students with an insightful lecture on the area of his expertise.
Whats more, we are also looking forward to make top ranking students of the training program future employees of Samsung and its partners across the Kingdom.
By K.S. Ramkumar
