Tribune News Network
Doha
The Hamilton International School, part of International Schools Partnership (ISP), hosted more than 280 members from Street Child United, where they participated in a series of lessons and ended the day with a ‘late show’ that showcased the respective team cultures and traditions.
The event took place on the side-lines of the Street Child World Cup, which is being held in Doha, Qatar, from October 8-15, 2022, and features football teams from around the world representing some of the world’s most vulnerable children.
Terry Senior, The Hamilton International School Principal, said: "We are thrilled to welcome children from the Street Child United team, as well as their team leaders, to The Hamilton International School. It was wonderful to see our community coming together and all the children participating in a series of lessons. The show that took place in our amazing theatre was also a chance for these children from around the world to showcase their cultures. We want to thank our parent community who supported us with the food and beverage arrangements as our guests experienced a range of cuisines from our international community.”
"As an ISP School, we strongly believe in promoting the wellbeing of underprivileged children and that every child should be given opportunities to ignite their passion, purpose, and potential. This is our ethos at The Hamilton International School,” Terry further added.
As their charity partner, Street Child United is vital to ISP’s charitable objective of ensuring a world where every child can access their rights irrespective of their background.
"Our partnership with SCU gives ISP students the opportunity to hear from, connect with, and support some of the most vulnerable young people in the world. By interacting with some of these children, our students have the opportunity to not only understand the lives of some of these disadvantaged children, but it also empowers and enables our students to make positive changes in society now and in the future,” said Mick Gernon, Regional Managing Director, ISP ME.
John Wroe, co-founder and CEO, Street Child United said: "It’s not just about this one event, our partnership with ISP it is an on-going collaboration to promote the importance of education; we believe access to education should be a universal right for every child. We are so grateful for the ISP team who share the voices of our young children with the children in their schools in order to foster understanding and instil compassion for those not fortunate enough to have the same opportunities. They are the next generation; they are the ones who will drive the change and this is what makes our partnership with ISP is so special.”
Children from the Street Child United team arrived early in the morning, and after a large assembly participated in the many activities planned by the school. They took part in sports activities comprising tennis, basketball and frisbee and attended academic and art lessons along with students from The Hamilton International School and Park House English School. The evening show gave teams the opportunity to show the culture of the countries they are representing. With teams from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Egypt, England, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Mauritius, Mexico, Nepal, Palestine, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Sudan, Syrian Forum, Tanzania, Uganda, USA, and Zimbabwe, the performances were vibrant and engaging for all.
The Street Child World Cup 2022 will focus on building a platform for all participants to highlight the issues and challenges that they are most likely facing. This will, in turn, shift the onus on governments, businesses and communities to come out in support by contributing to key sustainable development goals, namely, quality education, gender diversity, reduced inequality, peace, justice and strong institutions and partnerships to achieve goals.
The role of education institutions gets highlighted with Qatar’s clear focus on and investment in education which is part of their National Vision 2030 principles. The Street Child World Cup 2022 will highlight access to education as a key demand of young people and this is a path which ISP is traversing with increasing frequency and success.
The ISP’s vision is to be the leading international schools group in quality and scale, with their schools being the choice for families across diverse communities. In pursuit of these goals, they foster learning, ambition, and growth. The Hamilton International School and the Park House English School in Doha, one of the oldest schools in Qatar, are a part of International Schools Partnership.