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Personal Information:
Name:Mona Saqer Al Matroushi
Place of Residence: Ajman
Academic Qualifications
Educational Habilitation Diploma - (UAEU - Al Ain).
B.A. In Education (Class Teacher).
B.A. In Business Administration and Marketing 1998 - (Arab University for Science and Technology - Alexandria)
Career
Resources Officer at Waset Model School - Emirate of Sharjah
Classroom teacher for 18 years in the educational field
Current General Manager of Ajman Society of Social & Cultural Development
Accolades
- Sharjah Award for Excellence in Education 2006 for the Distinguished Teacher category. The award was presented by H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Muhammad Al-Qasimi, Member of the Federal Supreme Council of United Arab Emirates, ruler of the Emirate of Sharjah.
- Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktom Award for Distinguished Academic Performance for the Distinguished Teacher category 2009 at the Arab Nation level.
- Sharjah Award for Excellence in Education 2013 for the Resources Specialists category at the Arab Nation level.
- Extraordinary score at the annual evaluation for the State's ministries for 2013 and 2014. She was honored by H.H. Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, and ruler of the Emirate of Dubai.
- Classified as one of UAE's creative women under the Award of Sheikha Shamsa bint Suheil, wife of Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE President, for the Cultural Cafe Project 2014.
Memberships and Committees
- Member of MOE's Institutional Excellence Committee for Sharjah Region (2010-2015).
- Chairperson of the Educational Excellence Committee at Sharjah Model Schools (2012-2014)
- Jury member for MOE's Reading Awards for school years (2013-2015).
- Member of the Ceremony Organization Committees for Sharjah Awards for Educational Excellence and the Generous Giving Symbols (Romoz Al Ata'a) for the Sharjah Educational Zone (2011-2015).
- Chairperson of the Excellence and Talent Committee during her work as an Education Resources Specialist (2011-2015).
Honors
- Honored by Sheikh Ammar bin Humaid Al Nuaimi 2018 for allowing people of determination to be employed at the Society for a month.
- Honored by Lt. Sheik Sultan bin Abdullah Al Noeimi, General Commander of Ajman Police, for hosting the Future Cop Program (girls) 2018.
- Honored by the Arab Voluntary Union at Arab League's Headquarters in Cairo for the participation in the Tolerance and Peaceful Coexistence Campaign 2018.
- Honored by Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Humaid Al Noeimi for the Plantation Week and opening of Al Raqayeb Park 2019.
- Representing the Arab Voluntary Union at the Peace for Development Forum in Sharm Al Sheikh, June 2019.
Running a school is different from running a society... What is the link between working in the two fields?
Yes.. After retiring, it was my honor to run Ajman Society of Social & Cultural Development. It posed a great challenge for me on the personal level, as the Government of Ajman has placed its trust in me for advancing the Society's work and manage its activities efficiently in order to ensure its presence among the citizens and residents of Ajman. By the grace of God and since I have spent a lot of time in the education sector, I developed a great sense of patience and thanks to my social personality I was able to establish many relations that helped me move the Society forward. In my opinion, working in both fields is similar, but the main challenge in working at the Society is changing the way people think and drawing them to the Society by providing incentives for participating in the Society's activities and events.
How were you able provide such incentives for your community?
Each society is comprised of key components such as women, children, men, old people, artists, athletes, literary figures, intellectuals and so on, and each one of these components have needs to be fulfilled, skills to be developed and ideas to be expressed and we were able to provide them with the opportunity to do so. We launched activities and events through which they were able to unleash their hidden potential and we were able to garner the support of these groups for our activities through cooperation with them. We also launched and organized a number of events for each group and succeeded in creating community participation in the Society that helped draw the attention of many of Ajman's institutions to the Society.
Speaking of such, how do you evaluate the responses of such societies towards your activities?
They were very intrigued... These community institutions play an extremely important role, especially since they are institutionalized same as our Society. Therefore, when they plan an event or advertise a campaign, they are direct and transparent and genuinely wish to present something valuable that could benefit the audience. When the Society's activities began to gain visibility, many of these institutions were quick to offer us all kinds of cooperation and they supported our activities on all levels. We touched that from many acts of these institutions in terms of sponsorship or volunteering.
Speaking of volunteering.. In your opinion, what is the added value represented by this concept from the perspective of the Society's work?
Yes.. Generally speaking, the Society does not have that big of a staff. In addition, one of the most important activities for the Society is promoting the values of community volunteering in light of the Society's belief that volunteering is the flip side of national action that is based on voluntary participation. As such, the Society helps promote such values in the community among young persons by inviting them to oversee the events it holds with the purpose of developing their sense of responsibility and equip them to be productive, active and positive individuals in the future. This role may be viewed by some as minimal, but its significance will be manifested later, because it is important to nurture these values at a young age in order to reap what we sowed in their great ambitions and hopes to build and lead our nation's development in the future.
What is your message to the audience and officials in all positions in general?
My message is that we are all responsible for using our social relations to serve our countries, no matter our position, be it a citizen or an official and this is the least we can give our country. Life is initially based on relationships, and even the Society's name nods to this significance: (Social Development...). These relationships are part of the concept of development and as such everyone must build and invest in them in service of themselves and their societies as well. However, these relationships must be based on healthy and objective grounds and must at the same time be well-established and used for the good.
A word to young people?
I would tell them to invest their time well even when traveling. When I used to travel overseas, I would look for activities related to my field to participate in. I visited many libraries in USA and Britain where I saw how these libraries archive their books which inspired me to launch initiatives and come up with ideas for our school libraries. I received the Sharjah Award for Excellence in Education for my project to establish a a cultural cafe in a school library and I was honored by the President's wife, Sheikha Shamsa bint Suheil. This is where ideas come from and for this accolades and awards are granted. So, I always advise young people to use their time well under all circumstances.
To whom do you say thank you?
I would like to express my thanks to the Government of Ajman for placing their trust in me by trusting me with this position. I also thank His Excellency / Saif Ibrahim Al Noeimi and members of the Board of Directors for their continuous support for the Society. Last but not least, I thank GPSSA for extending this opportunity to me to go over my career and convey my message to everyone reading my words... I deeply thank you for honoring us with your visit to the Society here today.