Reham El Gallad – Karate Girl

Life is hope and optimism, labour and achievement, and a tranquility that makes you contemplate this univesrse and realize that your conditions are extremely better than many others. Thus you thank Allah for what you have.
Reham El Gallad found that God has blessed with her a lot of graces so she endeavored to thank him by donating a part of her time and effort to those people whom life took away their parents.
 

This is our interview which we start it with:

Q: Who is Reham El Gallad ?
A: I’m an athletic trainer specilaized in Taekwondo at one of the sport clubs. I have completed my masters degree and my ambition is to get the Ph.D in the sports field and to teach at the Jordanian universities. But the unsatisfying academic level of the postgraduate graduates precluded me from completing the study.
 

Q: To what extent has sport affected your personal life?
A: Sport is that passion which seizes me wherever I am, and the outlet without I would have been another person. It helped me managing my time and increased my self-confidence. Moreover I have become a successful social person. Through sport I have become acquainted with famous athletic figures, and gave me great knowledge and also I became more familiar with my body and its functions.  
 

Q: What are the most important sports you have played?
A: I have played in five-players women’s football team, but the team came to an end for various reasons! Also I had a little experience with boxing. I do Taekwondo, a high-level combat sport that requires several years to advance in, since it’s not only a sport but a world of its own which originated in Korea.

Q: What are the most important activities you are doing at present?
A: I always seek my family satisfaction because family comes first. In addition, I work part time as a trainer. Also I have joined a great touring group that conducts trips in Jordan, through which I have come to know many regions I hadn’t known or couldn’t reach before.

Q: What does Amr Khaled represent to you?
A: I think that the (Islamic) caller Amr Khaled has a very fine and simple style in presenting religious themes, which enables him to reach the hearts and minds of many youth. Many callers lack this style in Jordan. Through him I became familiar with the importance of prayer that once I perform it grants me high spirituality.

Q: How was your start with Life makers?
A: Two years and a half ago, at a given moment, I looked into myself and my work, and realized that I’m not with my God as I should. I looked for what I can give and who I can help. Meanwhile one of our mates introduced us to the Life Makers association to us, and we started at first by preparing Ramadan supplies, and later I wanted to work with the orphans. And I found an orphanage and shifted my activities toward, them together with the association or by myself.

Q: What does volunteer work mean for you?
 A: Volunteer work represents a fundamental matter in my life, as if it is a duty. If a long time passes without doing anything for God sake I would feel stressed. even more, I had persuaded my younger brother to come and participate with other present youth. They had a special effect on him to the point that he now considers volnteer work an essential need that should be done.

Q: What is your opinion about (Be My Brother) team?
A: It is an apt and fitting name. We have to become brothers to the orphans.

Q: How you describe working with the orphans?
A: Working for orphans requires high skill of treatment. At the beginning of work you feel that you don’t know how to deal with them being from different age categories, but as time passes and by your frequent presence work becomes easier as they start to get familiar with you. I wish there will be special courses on how to deal with them according to their age.

Q: Which activity impacts on orphans and affects you?
Playing. To play and give them from your time letting them know that you are there for them; games might be available but persons are not! In other words the incorporeal coverage of the playing event is the missing link. That’s why I find playing the most effective activity on children and me as human being.

Q: What are the most important problems that orphans face?
A: Incapability of reading. One of the activities we do is reading a story where children congregate around me as a step to get closer to them, but I realized that the orphans’ educational level is very low. The student can’t read correctly (He can’t spell a word!), plus he can’t write neither! Knowledge is man’s weapon, let aside that this orphan who came to life and did not find the necessities of proper life? The orphan child will be a man someday and he will have to go through life without a degree! How the orphan girl who will become a mother be able to teach her children in future?!
In fact they are the seed of new life and the sternness of those in charge stems from their lack of understanding of children.
 

Q: what are the most serious problems that face the orphans?
A: Essentials like food, drink, neatness, and cleanliness are available in the orphanage, but the frequent change of the administration and the huge number of orphans make the orphans feel unstable.

Q: What are the most prominent children cases that join the orphanage?
A: Mainly children without parents, but there are other social cases where divorced parents give up supporting their child, also a very limited cases for children with special needs.

Q: what is the activities effect on the orphans?
A: The most remarkable effect is raising the incorporeal value of the child, whereas it takes some time for the behavioral effect (like changing the manners of treatment among children, respecting adults, and etc).

Q: What do orphans need most?
A: They need mainly corporeal and incorporeal support, but at the same time they need to feel their existence by mingling with the outside world (outside of the orphanage confines). This is possible through arranging trips of children from other schools to share with the orphans their day. In (Be My Brother) team we conduct these trips to make the orphans interact with other children.

Q: What do you wish for the orphans?
A: I hope the number of staff in the orphanages increases for the benefit of the orphans. also I hope we have more and varied activities to share together; I have strong urge to give orphans sport courses that will qualify them enough to participate in championships, and even if not, sport still has great effect on children attitude, but the most important which is teaching orphans how to read and write in correct manner.

Q: What are the main characteristics of the volunteer in (Be My Brother) team ?
A: To be jovial, patient, active and compassionate.

Q: Are you with or against?
Are you with children participation from all age stages in the voluntary work?
 Of course. The student will feel the blessing of Allah and thank him.

Volunteers are human power with a positive effect on society?
Of course I agree, because society development depends on the initiator youth who have a message. They also become role models for others.

Volunteering is a real activation of the citizenship concepts?
Yes sure. Striving to meet unknown people’s needs is part of my citizenship.

Does work needs Media and marketing?
I am with marketing the voluntary work because some seek to join but do not know where to go, on the other hand also to make people aware of associations’ voluntary works. Hence I want to mention that I am among the good followers of the association site on the internet, I always find new news.

Q: What did the association add to Reham El Gallad?
A: I became acquainted with good knowledge to the point of thinking not only of myself but in others as well.

Q: On whom do you bestow the association shield?
A: To all the staff in the association because I always find answers to all my questions.

Q: It’s said that every girl is fascinated by her father.
A: Yes, true. My father represents to me the symbol of giving; he always work to give his best.

Q: What do the following words mean for you?
Mother: tenderness, giving, and sacrifice.
Lifemakers Society: goodness, cooperation, and youth community.
Book: knowledge and science.
Man: like my father; leading, giving, and responsible.

Q: Who says “No” to Reham and she doesn’t object?
A: My family.

Q: What keeps you optimistic and enthusiast for work in general?
A: To see goodness still there and people fear Allah and seek his satisfaction. Enthusiasm stems from work while accomplishment realizes optimism.

Q: What do you do when you wake up in the morning?
A: I praise Allah for being and my family in good health. I am, thank to God, an optimistic person for the smallest things.

Q: What is your favorite hobby?
A: I love photographing so much.

Q: what are your favorite colors?
I like blue because it is the color of the sea and the sky; the spacious horizon gives calmness and repose, also I like white because it indicates purity.

Q: To whom Reham dedicate a red flower?
A: I dedicate it to every real mother who sacrifices and cares for her children.

Q: A message you would like to address to the association?
A: God bless them, they work and develop their work significantly. I hope they get financial support and be joined by more volunteers.

At the end of the interview I’d like to say that the human being wasn’t created to live for years and then just depart, rather he was created for giving, and what is giving except goodness, so love goodness to others as you love it for yourself.

Prepared by the technology team and translated by: Heba Daba