A chance meeting with the founders of Paint The World (PTW) Georgia and an invite to attend their annual event in Malaysia, inspired young Adam Al Riyami to give wings to his dreams of making a difference in his society. Buoyed by the ideals and objectives of the project, he returned home to spread the idea among his friends and find the right footing to initiate the Oman chapter of PTW.
“In August 2016 we formed a team of friends, and began calling educational and charitable centres to book dates for us to visit and entertain the children,” states Adam, who wasted no time in putting the project to action.
Paint The World (PTW) Oman is currently managed by a team of 11 enthusiastic friends, who, as Adam points out, “have ideas that they are excited to implement in this upcoming summer break… In the summer of 2017, we are planning an event to invite all the children from all centres to a location where we will bring games, toys and performances to entertain the children, and we will be using the help of Oman’s youth as volunteers to this event to help in on the fun,” he adds.
When young minds fuse together to spread ideas of unification on platforms that are diverse and vibrant, their passion and energy is palpable even in little details. At present, one of their proactive members, Siham Al Jahdhami, is organising visits to different associations and centres around Muscat with a team that she has formed at ‘The Sultan’s School’.
About Paint The World
Paint The World started in 2014, in Tbilisi Georgia, by a group of 14-year olds who wanted to put smiles on the less privileged children’s faces. It then expanded and spread around the world. In Oman PTW project aims to unite the youth of Oman regardless of their differences. The main objective is to expand the team, raise awareness and give back to the community.
Explaining further, Adam says: “The purpose of this movement is to encourage, push and inspire the youth of Oman to use their time and efforts on things that would matter, which in this case is spreading love and smiles to those who don’t have the privileges and health that we have!”
He got inspired to start the movement in Oman when he witnessed such activities in Malaysia and realised that Oman does not have many youth contributing to the unfortunate and underprivileged children. In line with the structure of the movement, the local chapter of PTW consists of teenagers ranging from 17 to 21 years old – some still in high school, some in universities. “It started when I contacted my friends and cousins with this idea, and they all showed an immediate interest and were eager to help,” says Adam. The team currently consists of Ahmed Al Jahdhami, Siham Al Jahdhami, Rimaaz Al Riyami, Sabrina Al Riyami, Safwaan Amin, Hajer Al Yahyai, Shahad Al Barakat, Ziyad Al Harthi, Mohammed Awad, Majid Al Lawati and Junaid Al Said, in addition to Adam.
While Ziyad Al Harthi decided to join the PTW to invest time in helping and bringing joy to the less fortunate, Mohammed Awad’s objective was to become a more productive member of society and to give back to the community that raised him. As co-founder Ahmed states, the movement has given the team a chance to contribute to the community. For Junaid, the experience has proven to be an eye-opener. Besides, as he points out, “The group is not led by the opinion of one person, all of our views and opinions are taken into thought, creating an atmosphere of teamwork!”
The team made their first visit to Dar Al Hanan last August, spending time with the children in a variety of activities. “It is amazing to see how happy they got when they saw the balloons, cupcakes and guitar we brought for them, and how happy they were knowing that we wanted to spend quality time with them,” enthuses Adam.
Generally, the team undertakes activities that include face painting, guitar playing and drawing, along with balloons, toys and snacks, which they take along for distribution. With more such events lined up for the year, PTW Oman is geared to make our society that much more beautiful.
Interested youth can join by simply sending a message on www.facebook.com/painttheworldoman or www.Instagram.com/painttheworldoman
 project is a fun initiative aimed at uniting the youth on a platform that is designed to make a difference){kind=link}