The Summer Cool Campaign is organized by regular people, just like you and me. Firose Tharayil, a 38-year-old Indian expat, started an amazing initiative that helps out workers and laborers that work to make a living under the hot Doha sun.

Tharayil works full-time as an electrical designer for MZ Partners, but on the side he's a secret superhero who gives back to the community.

According to Tharayil, the Summer Cool Campaign is geared towards raising awareness on workers working in these extreme conditions and getting contributions from people to show how we, as a community, care about our hard, working class citizens.

It started on a group on Facebook, organized by Tharayil, called “Nanama Kootayma,” which in English means “Goodness Group”, and amassed support from various members of the Doha community.

“The inspiration for this campaign is simple. It’s called humanity. Look at their eyes after giving them a bottle of water or juice during the summer, then you will realize their happiness,” Tharayil said. “We collect water, juice, biscuits, and fruits from our Facebook friends, pack them in a thermo cool box with ice, drive to the work site with the packed items and distribute to the workers.”

The Summer Cool Campaign garnered a lot of support this weekend. 20 people were involved in the packing of the care packages, 22 people were involved in the distribution, and 40 people donated items for about 3500 workers. Most of the support came from groups on Facebook, as well as Tharayil’s friends. Overall it was a successful campaign, as many of the volunteers want to take part in it more frequently until summer ends.

“Mainly we focused on the Lusail work site. The reason we chose this area is because it is very hard to find shops near the work site for the workers to get to,” Tharayil said.

Tharayil also shared that they were very well received when they arrived at the Lusail work site.

“We have no words to express the reaction from the workers. They were very happy. Some of them hugged us, a few cried, and they feel that there are people around Qatar who respect them,” Tharayil said.

The Summer Cool Campaign has been going on for three years, thrice at different times of the year.

“We used to distribute the same items to more than 10,000 workers every year. We also used to arrange Iftar in the Saliya Labour Camps at least twice during Ramadan. We are planning another Cool Campaign soon too,” Tharayil said.

On the subject of inspiring others around Doha to contribute more, Tharayil shared that he and his group love to take care of and help workers around Qatar.

“We believe these workers are the back bone of every country, who are paid less salary compared to others. We respect them, we should respect them,” Tharayil said. “Always keep water in your car and give them if you see them on the way to your destination, and then look at their eyes! You can see their smile, which you may not get even if you win QR1000000.”

How has this story inspired you today? What kind of activities are you involved in that gives back to the community? Comment below!

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AngelPolacco

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