Empowering Community: Lessons from The Oldest Service Learning Club
The Hoya Empowerment and Learning Program—better known as HELP on campus— is different from most classes taught at Georgetown University in Qatar. Inside these classrooms, a unique learning exchange is taking place: GU-Q students teach English, computers, and financial literacy, while community support staff including cleaners, security guards and technicians teach students the value of lifelong learning, and the meaning of community.
Founded nearly 20 years ago and led for almost that long by Uday Rosario, Senior Program Manager for Operations, the HELP initiative has been a staple of the Georgetown experience in Qatar. This year it brought together 21 students and 40 service providers to put values into action.
“Rooted in dignity and mutual respect, the initiative reflects Georgetown’s Jesuit values, particularly Cura Personalis and People for Others,” says student HELP coordinator Neilla Uwera (GU-Q’27). She goes on to explain: “The exchange is mutual. Service providers bring their skills, knowledge, and perspectives that shape us as much as the classes shape them.”
At the center of the initiative is building human connection. Mehek Elahi (GU-Q’28), joined out of curiosity and a desire to connect with her community. “If you don’t talk to people, you won’t know about their lives and story,” she said.
Left to right: Student instructors Nazira Al Shanableh (GU-Q’28) and Mehek Elahi (GU-Q’28) with Chameli Magar, Rita Gole, Samjhana Rai, and Danish Qurban
Francis Kamundia, Lead Security Guard at GU-Q
It is a sentiment echoed by Francis Kamundia, who jumped at the chance to share a mutual love for knowledge with students outside of his role as Lead Security Guard at GU-Q. “Education has helped me move to greener pastures,” he explains, sharing that it is a value he is passing down to the next generation. “My dream is for my children to study well.”
For Rosario, this is precisely the point. “With HELP, the lessons are almost secondary to the more meaningful things we gain: community and connection, values rooted in our history as a university.”
Student instructor Pragyan Sharma (GU-Q’28) with Warui Lawrence, Duke Kisala, Awais Tayyab, Joseph Kangethe, and Ruth Ogega