Equait is a youth-driven organization founded and run by Faisal Al Fuhaid and Leanah Al-Awadhi and is associated with the British Council’s Global Changemakers program and the We Are Family Foundation’s Three Dot Dash  program, where Faisal is an official Global Teen Leader.

EQUAIT works to promote social equality and respect towards Kuwaiti residents from all walks of life. 69% of Kuwait’s population is expats and some of them are seen as occupiers rather than residents. Through events like Model United Nations, food rallies and walkathons, we aim to make Kuwait a more open and accepting environment. So far, we have recruited over 230 Q-heroes (volunteers), received over 200 individual delegate applications for Model United Nations, and distributed 500 lunch-bags to 18 areas all across Kuwait for the needy during Equait/iGive Ramadan food rally. We are also expanding our program to the United Kingdom through our partnerships with other organizations.

Equait’s first meeting

History

It was in early August when the Equait website emerged along with it’s motto ‘equality x Kuwait = Equait’. Faisal started writing articles based on his previous experiences, his determined points of view on the Kuwaiti society and more. His first article was one titled ‘Stateless Citizens in Kuwait: Looking at it Both Ways’, it was a very controversial and argumentative article regarding the bidun issue in Kuwait, which garnered a lot of attention. Two months later, Faisal met Leanah Al Awadhi, a student at his old high school who also shared the same views about society as he did. Leanah had spent her previous two years in Colombia, where she had participated in MUN and did community service in the slums of Colombia. Faisal told Leanah about Equait, and she was more than happy to join.

Together, they agreed that a website wasn’t sufficient to reach out to the entire society, so Faisal & Leanah decided to expand Equait into a full fledged community action project and recruited 9 new members to help achieve its vision. We started out by participating in the Spotlight Expo, which took place while Faisal was attending the Global Youth Summit. We managed to boost our followers on twitter from 20 to over 300. We also managed to recruit 250 Q-Heroes, coverage on national television and on 10 Kuwaiti blogs. After that, we managed to host our first event, which was the Pink Friday Walkathon. The walkathon’s theme was bullying and we decreed that all people who participate had to wear a pink wristband or a pink shirt in support of our cause. Close to 200 people showed up for the cause and assisted us in our fight against bullying in schools.

Vision:

A more open minded and culturally accepting Kuwait where the residential youth can express themselves in a positive manner without the limitations of society.

Mission:

To showcase our message of social equality through interactive activities that both educates and entertains everybody involved, leading to an increased value transmission to the target audience.

Future

Equait still has a long way to go when it comes to the issue of achieving social equality in the region but we believe that, with the right group dynamic and the right support, we will be able to achieve our goals. It is going to be a long, hard and tedious for us here at Equait but we all thrive on the challenge!

For more information about Equait, e-mail us at Founder@equait.org