MADINAH: Prince Faisal bin Salman, governor of Madinah and chairman of the board of directors of the Takaful Welfare Society for Orphan Care in Madinah, on Monday inaugurated a SR100 million ($26.7 million) real-estate investment project to help the orphans of Madinah and support the society which takes care of 13,000 orphans and 4,200 of their widowed mothers.
The prince also launched an empowerment project to enhance the skills of orphans and their mothers to ensure their success, provide them with the appropriate job opportunities and support their projects through three phases.
The first phase starts by improving the skills of the orphan and their mothers through intensive professional, psychological and social programs. The second phase is coordinating job opportunities provided by the private sector with the acquired skills. The third phase will support their projects and dreams.
The prince also looked at the final phases to establish a Takaful social club, at a cost of SR13 million. This project includes academic training halls, indoor swimming pools, residential and commercial units, playgrounds and multi-purpose facilities to help build and develop the skills and personalities of the orphans and their mothers, and ensure their success.
The society’s secretary-general, Dr. Abdul Mohsin Al-Harbi, said that over 70 percent of the work to establish the club has been completed and is expected to be fully done and delivered in the few next months.
Dr. Al-Harbi pointed out that last year, more than 1400 orphans benefited from 1,550 training sessions including English courses, computer training, and other educational programs.
He said that Takaful, supported by Prince Faisal, worked on facilitating the orphans’ acceptance into governmental and non-governmental universities. This year, 200 students were accepted, along with 700 other students that were accepted during previous years in cooperation with governmental universities and technical institutions for boys and girls in Madinah, he added.