00:00Hundreds of volunteers sorted more than 80,000 books and packed them into over 600 boxes
00:14for distribution to less fortunate children in other countries as part of the Reading
00:19Nation campaign.
00:20Dubai Cares, the organization mandated to lead the Reading Nation campaign, said there
00:25were more than 400 multinational volunteers from across the UAE aged between 10 and 60
00:30years who work in morning and afternoon shifts at the Al-Bum Tourist Village in Dubai to
00:35complete the task in time for the Zayed Humanitarian Day last June 24.
00:40The books, which were sorted according to language, content and target age groups, were
00:44collected from more than 500 schools in UAE.
00:47We work on education for sustainable development as well as promoting the cause for education
00:52internationally with our organization.
00:55So this is why we wanted to do our bit to promote the cause of education and the cause
01:01that education is our birthright all around the world.
01:03It's really enjoyable to give back to the community, especially volunteering with Dubai
01:10Cares.
01:11I would actually encourage people to read books because reading really opens up new
01:15world.
01:16People can really travel to a different world with books.
01:21Be it fiction or non-fiction, we gain a lot of knowledge from this.
01:25It's a really good initiative to really promote the UAE around the world and help
01:29the people learn to read who are less fortunate than ourselves.
01:33I just know how important it is for children to read books, so it's something I wanted
01:37to get involved with.
01:38Students who donated books were also encouraged to write personalized messages to beneficiary
01:44children.
01:45The shipping and distribution of books will be conducted in cooperation with various government
01:49entities as directed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President
01:54and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
01:56The Reading Nation campaign is one of the UAE's humanitarian initiatives that was launched
02:01during Ramadan.
02:02Previous campaigns achieved their targets by providing shelter, food and water to millions
02:07of needy people across the globe.
02:09Irish Eden Belieza for Gulf News.
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