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29-07-2015


National Beverage Company Coca-Coal/Cappy and INJAZ Palestine announce the winners of "Ripples of Happiness"




Ramallah- Alhayat Economic - Ibrahim Abu Kamesh-The National Beverage Company Coca-Cola/Cappy and INJAZ Palestine foundation announced the Palestinian university students who won Ripples of Happiness contest at the level of the Arab universities that took part in the contest.  Khadoori University came in the first place followed by the Arab American University in the second place. The competition is organized by INJAZ Al-Arab and Coca-Cola foundation every year at the level of Arab countries.
 
The announcement was made as part of the honoring ceremony held yesterday by the National Beverage Company Coca-Cola/Cappy (NBC) and INJAZ Palestine foundation at the former's headquarters at Beitunia, on the occasion of finalizing the 7th phase of the "Ripples of Happiness" program and awarding the "NATAWASAL B ESHARA- Communicate with Sign " project, presented by the students of Palestinian Technical University- Khadoori, and  ‘First Aid-First Step’ project presented by the Arab American University, the first and second places respectively for being the best projects at the level of universities participating from the Arab countries at this phase.
 
During the ceremony, the students presented the winning projects which took part in the "Ripples of Happiness" competition. Further, the winning students and volunteering trainers were honored in the presence of Zahi Khouri, Chairman of NBC, Randa Salameh, General Manager of INJAZ Palestine, and Mr. Imad al-Hindi, General Manager of NBC. The ceremony was also attended by the participating students, representatives of the participating Palestinian universities, and representatives of local media outlets.
 
The “NATAWASAL B ESHARA-Communicate with Sign" project aims at raising the awareness of Tulkarm community of the existence of the Deaf & Dumb categories who are marginalized by the community as they amount to nearly 3000 persons and they do not have communication services or mechanisms that can make their day to day life easier. Students of Khadoori University performed diverse activities in and out of the university, including training some students on the sign language and proving a special coursework on this topic, in addition to designing the electronic dictionary application which indicates the basic signs performed by the deaf and dumb.
 
At the same time, the 'First Aid-First Step' project aims at providing training on first aid skills and provision of simple, immediate, and temporary medical care in emergency cases, in addition to communicating this knowledge to the community, including students and housewives to provide them with knowledge on the simple techniques that save the lives of the injured.
 
In addition to the award winning projects, the  participating projects included 'I can' which was presented by Hebron University students, who incorporated the persons with special needs in the community and improved their creative ideas which can generate financial profits from their personal efforts. Such initiative targeted 7 female students from "Mohamed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum school" affiliated to Alihsan Charity Association, who range between 12-16 years of age. These students were educated to produce hand-made products for their future.
 
Students from An-Najah National University Friends Association took part through their project '3EESH TFOOLTK-Live Your Childhood' which aims at raising the awareness of children and warning them from the risks of smoking at an early age and its risk especially as they age, in addition to disseminating the culture of sports for all.
 
Speakers confirmed that 119 male and female students from different universities and colleges in Palestine took part in the seventh phase of the "Ripples of Happiness", through four community projects carried out by the students under the supervision and training of a selection of persons with expertise and competence from the Palestinian private sector. The students presented a package of meaningful projects to contribute to setting the proper solutions and means of developing small communities.
 
Khouri expressed pride of our students' achievements at the Arab universalities' level. He said: "Our Palestinian universalities winning the first places in the competition is a new achievement and an indicator of the integrity of our company's direction toward investment in students' potentials who seek to create a better life and find solutions for the social problems which constitute an obstacle to the upgrading and development of the Palestinian community".
 
Khouri added that: "our desire and determination increase day by day to support them and to provide the capabilities needed to continue this path, because we believe they are the pillar of the Palestinian state, and for their sake, we continue investing in the human asset and in the resources to build our nation notwithstanding the difficulties".
On her part, Salameh expressed pride that Palestine came in the first and second places at the level of the Arab universalities participating in the seventh phase of the program, which affirms the spirit of creativity and persistence of the youth, their loyalty to their communities and keenness to serve and promote them.
 
Salameh affirmed the important community partnership of the Palestinian institutions and companies, valuing the role of Coca-Cola Foundation for sponsoring the youth competencies, instilling the spirit of entrepreneurship, preparing them to join the labor market, and creating opportunities of education, grants, and exchange of experiences.
 
She commended the role of the NBC and its commitment to provide the support required for the success of INJAZ programs in general and the Ripples of Happiness program in particular.
 
Mr. al-Hindi valued the efforts of the winning students. "Today, we are proud of these students, who prove their excellence, enthusiasm, insistence on taking on the challenges, galvanization to improve life conditions, helping the marginalized groups in the community, and building a better future for generations to come", said al- Hindi.
 
Mr. al-Hindi asserted that Coca-Cola Foundation is committed to continue sponsoring the Ripples of Happiness program and its partnership with INJAZ Palestine foundation, in line with the corporate social responsibility it promised to assume since its inception and to date, toward the members of the community, especially the youth, children, and marginalized groups.
 
Mr. al-Hindi pointed out that the Ripples of Happiness educational program launched by the Coca-Cola Foundation and INJAZ Al-Arab aims at training university students on planning, organizing, and funding of CSR projects in the communities in order to trigger a positive impact. It also aims at training them on learning the social networking arts, teamwork, and acquiring skills of information technology, marketing, and public relations.