Reaching out

A TEAM of volunteers has set up an action group and hope to inspire and transform the lives of tearaway Bahraini youngsters intent on harming themselves as well as running amok in their villages, writes Anasuya Kesavan.

Founder Sadiq Hassan Al Baharnah, a 25-year-old award-winning social activist from Jidhafs, is part of a group of multi-national professionals and students who have come together to set out a series of programmes to reach out to the troubled teens.

Calling themselves 'Rebirth', the group, which is in the process of registering itself formally, includes Zahra Mansoor, 21, Reem Hassan Al Baharnah, 23, Haitham M Al Issa, 27, Mahran Mahdi, 39 and Siddiq Al Busmait, 41. They hope to gain the trust of youngsters and lead them to a more positive path using age-old tools of friendship and mentorship.

Operating from a classroom in Riffa, provided by the Bukuwara Charity Fund, the group is working towards helping students achieve better grades and learn career-oriented skills.

Rebirth founder Sadiq Hassan Al Baharnah, a final year under-graduate student at the American University of Sharjah, began working with high school and junior high school students five years ago.

Last year his efforts were rewarded by Bahrain's Be Free Centre with an 'International Award for the Best Practise in the Prevention of Child Abuse' in the individual category for his social reform initiatives among young people.

Sadiq said: "I have been working with young people who want to improve and change. They are mostly boys from 12 to 20 who have faced a number of problems at a very young age.

"Some of them are like brothers to me and are very good kids but they have been involved in bullying, fighting, gang problems or have suffered child abuse. I was witnessing the problems that they go through and I felt that I had to do something about it.

"Rebirth wants to encourage young people and to give them options so that they do not see themselves as failures.

"We want to inject positive thinking in them and help them get rid of their bad habits. We want to give them a sense of achievement. We cannot give up on them."

The members also hope to reach teenagers who need special attention and guide them to seek expert help.

Sadiq's quest has now attracted volunteers of various nationalities who are endeavouring to keep the group free from religious, gender or political bias. Together, they are chalking out planned programmes to tackle different teen troubles. They have a mission statement, a vision and a focus.

Shocking results from a seven-page survey carried out on a small group of young people, conducted by Sadiq on a personal level last year, revealed that some children as young as 11 were regular smokers. Among the 40 11-18 year-olds surveyed, 90 per cent smoked, 30 per cent drank alcohol, four had experimented with soft drugs like cannabis, 20 per cent had attempted suicide and 80 per cent claimed they were sexually active.

Although critics might suggest that the youngsters were simply 'showing off' in front of their peers with their responses only days ago our sister newspaper Gulf Daily News reported how police had pulled down makeshift huts in Sanabis and Karbabad after residents complained they were being used by youngsters as dens for drinking, drug taking and 'immoral acts'.

Sadiq said: "The survey covered questions on family, education, religion, smoking, drinking alcohol and child abuse. While the survey was not conducted at a professional level and is not comprehensive, the figures I believe were revealing and disturbing.

"People are in denial about what is happening in Bahrain and feel that we are a Muslim country and we cannot have these kinds of problems. When I revealed these numbers in May last year many people were outraged. Generally, we are afraid to accept these issues and if we are afraid to accept them no one can do anything about it.

"While these problems are not unique to Bahrain they need to be tackled. I think the most powerful factor here is peer pressure and it is scary how powerful it is. There are so many factors to each of these problems. You can't fix it by dealing with just one. We have to address all of them and deal with them as a whole."

Rebirth is initiating workshops and programmes directed to tackle problems like smoking, violence, alcohol and drugs abuse and to instil a sense of self-esteem, activity, ambition and responsibility among youngsters who feel they are the being marginalised.

The first series of mentoring workshops will include English language classes, computer skills, auto mechanic skills and communication skills. Sadiq added: "We want to make it small scale and have continuous influence. We also don't want to stick to the educational workshops. We want to do more. So we have started talking to the Be Free Centre to deal with any child abuse issues.

"We are planning transportation to help youngsters come to the workshops. We are also planning an anti-smoking programme. We will tell them what is bad about smoking and talk to them about how to quit and then support them step-by-step."

All this work comes with its own set of challenges that includes balancing his studies and work, resistance from the young, pressure from parents and lack of sympathy from some community leaders. However frustrating the work may seem to be, Sadiq is clear about his future. He said: "I am coming back to Bahrain to work with Rebirth. This is my life's calling. These are things that I cannot put on pause. These are lives and the longer you wait the worse it gets.

"My friends and family are very supportive. I could never do this alone. Some students have already found part-time work and some call me up and speak to me about giving up bad habits and ask me how to do it. So there is a lot of initiative on their part and it is not me who should take the credit as it is their time, their resolve and their decision. I can only support them.

"When people start blaming the government, family, parents, schools, friends or whatever else they are not taking any responsibility ... they are just passing it on.

"It is not as simple as it seems in the movies. You cannot fix everything in a month or a semester. It is hard. We cannot have a perfect society but we can strive for it."

For more information email sadeq.albaharna@gmail.com