Neighborhood centers in Taif are considered by some to be an unattractive environment that is managed by jurisprudence and according to what is available, which made them lose their influence in achieving added value in the quality of programs and thus not achieving their desired mission. A master's study prepared by the academic at Taif University, Hana Abdul Rahman Al-Thubaiti, reveals the centers' pitfalls and proposals to activate their hoped and expected role. As for Dr. Zakia Al-Qurashi (a former member of a neighborhood center), she believes that in order for the centers to succeed, there must be a clear strategy and plan of action commensurate with the situation of the neighborhoods for which they were established, and for their employees to be dedicated to administrative work. Under the name of initiatives, because the initiative must have goals, however, the result is that there are initiatives, but without a goal, but rather an activity to distribute gifts and media spectacle.
Improving the quality of life
Dr. Zakia Al-Qurashi believes that what is required of neighborhood centers is to serve the community in the true sense of the word and not be limited to Ramadan activities and baskets.
Dr. Al-Qurashi wonders: Is it possible that the neighborhood center does not know damage, distortion, or lack of services? We notice the streets are broken and poorly cleaned. Although this is the responsibility of the Taif Municipality in terms of implementation, it is the duty of the center to research and deliver the message to the Municipality. In the past, the mayor was responsible and provided everything the neighborhood needs, but now his role has become limited. Therefore, the neighborhood centers are supposed to fulfill their duty in serving the community and implementing the quality of life program. "Currently, there are centers that are closed for days and extend for a week. They only open for an activity or a food basket, and this is not the role of the neighborhood center.. In order to raise Taif, the neighborhood centers must have a role in the promotion."
For his part, the volunteer, Mansour Al-Tuwairqi, adds that the development of neighborhood centers is through everyone's solidarity, sincerity in work, and the exchange of ideas that contribute to development and success, so that neighborhoods are competitive and perform their mission to the fullest. It is hoped in this regard that encouraging prizes will be allocated for the best neighborhood center.
"I am useful"?
Abdullah Hawsawi, a volunteer in one of the neighborhood centers, started from the saying “I am a beneficiary?” What he hears from the people who are asked to work in the center. Hawsawi says: In my opinion, in order for the centers to be attractive, programs must be developed that bring families together to the center and make them feel of belonging and benefiting from every person who has something to offer, in addition to formally employing people in the centers so that they are free to work. It is possible to benefit from the cadres by delegating them from their jobs, and providing financial support for the establishment of activities and programs and covering them in the media, as everything that is currently provided is an individual effort to be thanked for. They are honored at the end of each year.
Pictures and snaps are useless
Muhammad Ali Naji (formerly director of a neighborhood center) indicates that, in fact, the neighborhood centers still need a lot of follow-up and financial support to achieve the goal of their establishment.. and what is required is that the members devote themselves to managing the centers, and this has become an urgent demand, since most of the members are employees, as the centers do not have anything new to offer. So far, it has not touched the needs of the residents of the neighborhoods, and we look forward to a comprehensive development process commensurate with the goals away from favoritism, similar to the developed Jeddah and Makkah associations that find support from government agencies and merchants. Naji pointed out that 90% of Taif merchants did not participate in the initiatives, and most of the elderly members are supposed to be advisors, and currently meaningless initiatives are being held, stressing that the focus is on taking pictures and snaps and presenting gifts without looking at what serves the population.
Presidents, members, dignitaries and notables
Khaled Muhammad Al-Thaqafi (Secretary-General of the Association of Neighborhood Centers in Taif) says that the quest continues in the field of development and modernization through strategic plans until 2019, as work began to prepare the new strategy for the association with the participation of employees of the association and the relevant authorities, and the strategy came out in its new dress and was approved for 10 years (2020 -2030) and a special office was formed for that.
In the association’s branch in Taif, the strategy was kept up with through the general secretariat and through the neighborhood centers, which number 11 centres. The general plan was sent to the centers, and each center was asked to submit a plan of its own, and then the programs and activities included in the plan are submitted to the association during a full year for the region’s emirate. Through the governorate for approval, and after approval is received, implementation takes place.
With regard to the centers within the neighborhoods, Al-Thaqafi explained that the municipality or other services that the neighborhood needs are reported to the General Secretariat so that the governorate is addressed for guidance to the competent authority.
Researcher Hana Al-Thubaiti suggests: include it in “entertainment”
In a study she conducted on neighborhood centers to obtain a master's degree, the academic at Taif University, Hana Abdul Rahman Al-Thubaiti, confirmed the necessity of issuing an entertainment guide for the activities of the centers, stressing that the absence of mechanisms for designing recreational activities provided in the typical neighborhood center constitutes a difficulty in designing various entertainment activities that meet the desires of the beneficiaries. She pointed to the absence of studies and opinion polls that are concerned with the recreational needs of individuals in different age stages, which leads to dissatisfaction with the existing activities and thus a weak demand for them. She also pointed out that the small number of model neighborhood centers limits the provision of diverse and comprehensive activities for all members of the family and society, which is reflected in the demand for the centers and their activities, and also leads to a reduction in the importance and roles of the centers in the development of society and the development of individual skills. Al-Thubaiti pointed out the limited activities and entertainment programs, the lack of sufficient printed or electronic information about the center's activities and services that will be held during the different seasons, and the weakness of the advertising methods used by the neighborhood centers to announce their programs and services, all of which caused poor benefit from their activities and services, and the center's ineffectiveness. in achieving its objectives.
In her research, Al-Thubaiti put forward a number of proposals, most notably conducting survey research aimed at limiting recreational needs, conducting descriptive research aimed at revealing the training needs of those in charge of preparing activities in neighborhood centers, and preparing experimental research to verify the effectiveness of the proposed guide on improving the level of activities in the event that Neighborhood centers apply it, and prepare a plan to unify efforts between neighborhood clubs and neighborhood centers, and thus benefit from buildings, members, workers, and financial budgets, while studying the possibility of including neighborhood centers under the umbrella of the General Entertainment Authority, so that recreational activities and events provided by the General Entertainment Authority can be implemented in those centers . Among the proposals is cooperation between schools and neighborhood centers to support students with learning difficulties or weak academic achievement, and conducting similar research in different geographical environments using other methodologies.
The researcher recommended the importance of benefiting from family science specialists in preparing recreational activities in neighborhood centers, as the knowledge background of family science specialists is concerned with developing life skills, which is one of the most important goals that individuals seek to learn and acquire.
In her letter, Al-Thubaiti came out with another set of recommendations, the most prominent of which is the use of the life skills classifications that were reached through research in the implementation of recreational programs and activities and benefiting from them in the classification and classification of the activities of the entertainment guide or the website, and the activation of recreational activities that were designed and implemented in model neighborhood centers, Monitoring and monitoring the extent of demand for them to benefit from them, applying the mechanism for designing the proposed recreational activities to design the activities and programs of the centers, monitoring and evaluating the feasibility of the mechanism, and issuing an entertainment guide that may be seasonal or monthly to clarify the activities and events of the center, with the need to pay attention to the advertising means used to publish the activities and events of the center And activating the websites of the neighborhood centers so that the beneficiary can view the activities and events, register, participate and evaluate the activities that have been practiced, in order to facilitate the methods of communication with the beneficiaries and to know the extent of their satisfaction with the activities that have previously been practiced.
Princess Al-Mawlid (Taif) @amerhalmwlad
