YES alumnus Nasser Al Balushi ‘09 is no stranger to community activism after his exchange year on the YES program. He is a regular volunteer with Dar Al Atta’a (translation: The House of Giving), which is a non-profit organization that periodically organizes fundraising events.

One project that’s been implemented by Dar Al Atta’a is the “Let’s Read” project. The mission of “Let’s Read” is to promote the habit of reading for pleasure among young people, and to collect books in order to build a mobile library which would help underprivileged children gain more access to reading materials. “Let’s Read” activities include several events promoting fun and games, encouraging reading and literacy, monthly book sales, weekly readings at the Royal Hospital, and school book drives. Nasser most recently volunteered in one of the project’s used books sales, and raised $130 USD. The funds will be used for the purchase of school supplies for public schools in Oman.