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Students share old books, uniforms for schoolmates to use next year

Dubai - It has been described as the biggest 'reusing campaign' in the UAE.

What happens to textbooks and uniforms at the end of the academic year? In one Dubai school, students have collected a total of 3,000 books and 650 uniform items that can be reused by students when the next academic year begins in September.
It has been described as the biggest 'reusing campaign' in the UAE.
Called Winshares, the drive was launched two years ago by a student at The Winchester School, Mishal Faraz, with the support and guidance of the school's principal and CEO, Meenakshi Dahiya.

Supplied photo
Besides promoting a culture of sharing among students, the initiative aims to contribute to environmental sustainability by prolonging the lifespan of resources, thus reducing the school's carbon footprint. "We feel fortunate that we were given this opportunity to make a difference and be useful to our community and the planet at large. We look forward to making this campaign even bigger and we sincerely hope our school inspires many other sharing initiatives in a multitude of institutions and organisations," said 12-year-old Faraz, the founder of the initiative.
The Winshares team, comprising 45 students aged six to 18, maintains a proper log of donations and calculates the number of books and uniforms that have been collected. They also identify which areas would need more attention in the next round of the campaign.
"The entire exercise helped students strengthen their skills in data analysis, strategy development, communication, and collaboration," Faraz said.
In the last academic year, Winshares collected around 2,600 gently used textbooks and 600 uniform items. 'Give what you can, take what you need' is the motto of the campaign.
Impressed by the response the campaign received, school principal Meenakshi Dahiya said: "We are super impressed by this exceptional and inspirational initiative by our students.. The initiative is actively supported and encouraged by our very active set of parent representatives, Senior leadership team, teachers and staff hence its a perfect collaborative endevour. This exemplary initiative has helped us promote a culture of sharing and further embedded the commitment to environmental sustainability and nurturing and encouraging reading."

Furthermore, Dahiya said that she was happy to see the life skills students have imbibed through the initiative, which include identifying a problem, finding solutions, implementing a plan, evaluating and evolving to make it successful in the wider community including all community members.
saman@khaleejtimes.com