FURTHER EDUCATION PROGRAMME

Alumni Achievement Prize

For the past two years the Saïd Foundation has awarded an Alumni Achievement Prize to former scholars who have made an outstanding contribution to their fields and to development in the Middle East.

In 2010, the Foundation awarded its Alumni Achievement Prize to Dr Adnan Al Wahaidi from Gaza. Adnan was supported by the Foundation in 1996/97 for an MSc in Mother and Child Health at the Institute of Child Health, University of London. He is now Medical Director of Ard El Insaan, a Palestinian NGO which treats children suffering from malnutrition and provides free preventive and curative health and nutrition services to children from some of the poorest communities in the Gaza Strip.

The knowledge Adnan obtained in the UK enabled him to work far more effectively for Ard El Insaan and, over the years, he has had to put his skills into practice under the most difficult circumstances. During the Israeli attacks on Gaza in December 2008/January 2009, Adnan volunteered round the clock at Gaza's Shifa Hospital treating the injured and dying. It is the consequences of the continuing blockade, however, that have been most severe for babies and young children and the rates of child malnutrition and stunting have increased. Adnan has dedicated himself to alleviating the suffering of these vulnerable children and is now a recognised expert on the nutritional health situation of children in Gaza.

Adnan is also a member of the Palestinian Ministry of Health's Paediatricians Consultation Committee; a lecturer in clinical nutrition at Al Azhar and Al Quds universities; has acted as a consultant/researcher on a number of important child health and nutrition studies; acts as a national trainer on paediatric issues for local doctors and nurses; has undertaken research for the Palestinian Nutritional Assessment Survey; participated in UNICEF's Child Health and Nutrition Survey and assisted the World Health Organisation research into risk factors of vitamin D deficiency among Palestinian children.

In 2009, the Foundation awarded the first Saïd Foundation Alumni Achievement Prize to Dr. Wassim Maziak (pictured right).

Wassim is from Aleppo, Syria and was supported by the Foundation in 1996 for a year of research at the National Heart and Lung Institute in London. On completion of his research, he returned to Aleppo and embarked upon two years of study into tobacco smoking in Syria. He was then awarded an Alexander von Humbolt fellowship to conduct research at the Institute of Epidemiology and Social Medicine in Germany.

In 2002, with funds from the US National Institute of Health, Wassim established the Syrian Centre for Tobacco Studies, which he now directs. The Centre is a pioneering research and capacity building institution and has become a centre of excellence in public health in the region. Centre representatives have held discussions with the Syrian Ministry of Health about anti-smoking campaigns in the country.

Wassim is a rising star on the international public health scene. He was invited to write an essay on the current status of Arab science for the prestigious journal "Science" on its 125th anniversary; in 2005 he received the American Cancer Society Special Award; in 2006, he won the World Health Organisation Director General Award; in 2009 he was honoured with the Elsevier/Scopus distinguished researcher award and the Syrian Centre for Tobacco Studies was recently awarded the Hamdan Prize for the Best Research/Medical Facility in the Arab World.

In previous years the Foundation awarded Student of the Year prizes to scholars who completed their studies in the preceding calendar year.

2007 Prize Winners (awarded in 2008)
	First prize winner - Waseem Kotoub Syrian, Diploma in Piano Performance, Royal Academy of Music Waseem is a qualified medical doctor and an accomplished musician. According to his tutor, Diana Ketler, "Waseem achieved in one year what many students find hard to achieve in two". Whilst doing his postgraduate diploma in piano performance, Waseem also studied for a Royal Academy teaching certificate and a certificate in special needs music therapy at the Nordoff Robins Centre. Since his return to Syria, Waseem has been working with autistic children as a music therapist through local NGOs; he has performed fundraising concerts for special needs children; written articles about music therapy for the Syrian press; performed in a production of "Carmen" and established Syria's first music therapy centre.
	Second prize winner – Ahmad Habash Palestinian, MA 3D Computer Animation, University of Bournemouth. Ahmad created his first animated film in 2003 and since then has produced a number of pieces which have been critically acclaimed. He achieved a distinction overall for his SF-sponsored course and a mark of 90% for his final project, a short film entitled "Red Feather". Since his return to Palestine, Ahmed has been employed by the World Health Organisation to direct and animate a short film about the health system in Palestine under occupation. He has also beem working as a creative consultant for the municipality of Ramallah on their centennial celebrations and is teaching animation workshops in a number of educational institutes in the West Bank.
	Third prize winner - Nadine Haddad Jordanian, MSc International Management, Oxford Brookes University. Nadine told us that she returned home a completely different person. Whilst in Oxford, she immersed herself in British culture and found time to organise social and cultural activities to challenge negative stereotypes of Arabs and the Middle East. She was elected student representative for her course which involved acting as a conflict mediator between students and teachers. Nadine was proud to have the opportunity to present a positive image of Arab women to her Western peers. She has now returned to Jordan where she is working for the Jordan River Foundation on their "Safe Schools Programme" a national initiative which aims to turn 500 Jordanian government schools into safer environments.