RIYADH: Eighty pilgrims from nine European countries will arrive in the holy cities to perform Haj on an invitation from the Riyadh-based World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), its secretary-general, Dr. Saleh bin Suleiman Al-Wohaibi, announced here on Thursday.
Al-Wohaibi said that the hosting of Haj pilgrims will be carried out for the second consecutive year.
The nine European countries include Germany, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Cyprus, Sweden, Norway, and Finland.
Al-Wohaibi said that this year WAMY has chosen nine different countries to give the opportunity for a wider section of the global Muslim community.
This is WAMY’s annual program to host pilgrims of preachers, officials of youth and charitable associations, university professors, researchers and others from different parts of the world.
The secretary-general expressed his thanks and appreciation to the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, which has approved this hosting to facilitate Haj for Muslims abroad, and communicate with Muslim minorities in the world to embody the spirit of brotherhood among pilgrims.
The program coordinator for WAMY, Mustaffa Al-Yusuf, told Arab News from the holy city of Makkah that the first batch of these pilgrims would arrive in Madinah in the early hours of Friday.
The highest number, 25 pilgrims, will be coming from the United Kingdom, followed by 15 from Sweden, 12 from France and five from Norway.
He said the participants were selected from various WAMY offices in other parts of the world. “They have selected only first timers for the Haj,” Yusuf said, pointing out that the passage, board and lodging will be looked after by the organization.
“We do this as a service for Muslims in non-Muslim countries,” he said.
WAMY, founded in Riyadh in 1972, is one of the Kingdom’s leading charity organizations and a member of the United Nation’s non-governmental organizations. It has both local and international presence through many branches and affiliate organizations.
It is especially active among young Muslims in various humanitarian works, including helping the poor, providing health care services to them, supporting students, building mosques and clinics, digging of wells, aiding in disasters, providing Islamic education, and vocational training.
WAMY hosts 80 Haj pilgrims from 9 European countries
WAMY hosts 80 Haj pilgrims from 9 European countries
Saudi surgeons train Indonesian doctors in maxillofacial, thyroid surgery
- Saudi team is embedded with a general hospital in eastern Indonesian city of Makassar
- During their stay in Indonesia, they performed free maxillofacial, thyroid surgery on 60 patients
JAKARTA: A 19-member surgical team from Saudi Arabia has trained Indonesian doctors in oral, maxillofacial and thyroid surgery under a King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center program to expand access to advanced medical procedures in eastern Indonesia.
The Saudi medics were embedded with their Indonesian colleagues at the Wahidin Sudirohusodo Central General Hospital in Makassar, South Sulawesi province.
“KSrelief’s medical team consisted of surgeons and consultants, so doctors from our hospital had the opportunity to directly observe surgical procedures done by the Saudi doctors that have never been performed here,” Aulia Yamin, spokesperson of the Makassar hospital, told Arab News on Tuesday.
“There were also in-depth discussions on diagnosis and plans for surgery for highly complex cases.”
The KSrelief team was in Indonesia in late December, during which Saudi doctors performed free maxillofacial and thyroid surgery on 60 patients, she added.
The transfer of knowledge by KSrelief also supported Indonesia’s health system transformation plan, which seeks to improve access and quality of services in all regional government hospitals, particularly in eastern Indonesia.
“Makassar is the primary transportation and health referral hub for eastern Indonesia, which means there’s a high number of cases requiring maxillofacial and thyroid surgeries,” Yamin said.
“We hope that this collaboration can continue in the future for other cases, so that more Indonesians can benefit from the program.”
The KSrelief program had also included guest lectures by the Saudi doctors, covering facial and jaw reconstruction as well as updated and new approaches to paranoid gland surgery.
“We’re really thankful to the very hard work that we saw here. The (Indonesian) team was with us day and night and throughout very long surgeries and very complex surgeries,” Prof. Basem T. Jamal, who led the KSrelief team in Makassar, said in a video statement.
“And not only was it supporting the medical effort, but there was always interest in expressing and exchanging knowledge and experiences, and it was really really, a very rich experience for all of us.”
KSrelief has conducted similar programs in other parts of Indonesia, including in Medan, North Sumatra in 2024 that focused on training Indonesian doctors in advanced cardiac procedures on adults and children.
