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Three young professinals are offering lessons about Bahrain to expat children whose families have settled on the island.
Onside Bahrain, a volunteer support group created by Bahrain-born friends Rashid Riaz, Abbas Khalil and Mohammed Waqqas, hope to enlighten youngsters about the island's rich culture and heritage.
Their families moved from Asia and they have faced the challenges of 'second generation' expats who feel a loyalty to their parents' homeland but have established roots on the island they call home. The programme is also open to young Bahrainis who want to learn more about their own country.
Operations manager Mohammed, 25, said: "While in England to pursue an engineering course I faced several situations where, when people asked me and other students from Bahrain about the island, we had nothing to talk about. The best answer we could come up with was about its location - it is close to Saudi Arabia!
"Nobody highlighted its history, culture or heritage. That is when the thought crept into my mind to do something about it."
On his return from university Mohammed, an aeronautic engineer, discussed his thoughts with his childhood pals who strongly supported the idea of creating a group aimed at supporting and promoting youth engagement, leadership and developing skills.
The group was create in June and today boasts around 385 volunteers. Since then, it has chalked out a list of activities for its members.
The Youth Tours consists of a three-month educational tour with the core objective of providing on-site educational experiences.
Events manager Rashid, 26, said: "Through our activities we hope to provide educational and productive experiences for the youngsters."
As part of a summer mentorship programme, the volunteers created a series of educational tours to various landmarks, development projects, parks and industrial zones.
Onside Bahrain is also looking at the challenges faced by graduates seeking their first job. A 'Youth Pool' has been set up to link young people with prospective employers.
IT manager Abbas, 25, a student of Business Information Studies, said: "After my graduation I faced many rejections, it seemed that no-one wanted to hire a 'fresher'. That experience encouraged us to start the Youth Pool. We are partnering with large organisations and we are referring fresh graduates to them."
Rashid, an electrical engineer, said: "Our long-term strategy is to partner with stake holders sharing common goals to provide initiatives to young people by engaging them in campaigns and forums and tackling every day issues."
The volunteer group is also planning to look into entrepreneurship, female empowerment, education and healthcare as well as environmental and social welfare issues.
Recently they formed a new events management and marketing company, Impact, which will support Onside Bahrain activities. Mohammed said: "We plan to engage the Bahrain community with an aim to tackle health issues such as smoking, a sedentary lifestyle, preventable diseases, as well as food and water borne illnesses."
