Wednesday 15 / January / 2025
Muscat: Want hundreds of reasons to feel good about the Sultanate? Then you should be following our #OmanPride campaign which has just turned one year old.
Times of Oman launched #OmanPride in print and on digital last year in the run-up to National Day in a bid to highlight the great work done by groups and individuals, public sector servants and private sector volunteers, both Omani and expatriate.
Also read: Top 10 #OmanPride stories
Now 12 months on those featured in our ‘Home of good news’ have spoken about the impact being part of the #OmanPride has had on their efforts to give back to the Sultanate.
Maha Al Baluchi, the nation’s first Omani female senior first-officer working for Oman Air, was featured last February.
Since then, she has spoken at more than five educational institutions and has more requests still pending. “After the article came out,” Baluchi said. “I felt more responsibility to being a role model and setting a higher standard for girls. They considered me a motivational character, even the boys.
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“Follow your dreams no matter how big they are. Understand that success and comfort are two circles that don’t ever mix.” The campaign has featured 14 different nationalities and has highlighted the good work of more than 100 Omanis and well as a diverse number of expats. More than 50 groups of people who came together to make a difference also had their story told. When featured in Oman Pride last October, the Whatsapp group “We Help Blood Donors” had only 250 individuals donating blood. After the article was published, that number grew.
“At first when we started,” Kabeer CV, one of the members, said. “We only had 150 donors. Today, we have around 600 people willing to donate.” “What we do is like service work,” he said. “Everybody here is very cooperative. Everybody wants to help.
” Rita Samuel, a social worker in Oman since 1996. She was called a “saviour for expatriate workers in distress” in last November’s issue. The support she has received since is monumental. “Schools have connected with me,” Samuel said. “Even social services are contacting me.
I am so grateful to Oman for giving me these opportunities; I am now just trying to give back.” Samuel lives by the motto, “Service to man is service to God.” *Got a story you want featured as part of #OmanPride? Then contact [email protected] or reach out on social media.
