Latest News from Our Alumni

The MBI Al Jaber Foundation remains in close contact with our scholarship students: first as scholars and later as alumni. 

We've included the latest news from a few of our alumni below. 

We invite other alumni of the MBI Al Jaber Foundation to write in to us with their latest news to share on our website here!

Othman Al-Helli

On the 10^th of November 2011, MBI Alumnus Othman Al-Helli (UCL, 2008) had the pleasure and honour to meet HM Queen Elizabeth II during her visit to his residence, Goodenough College.  Othman shares his experience with us here...

I was introduced to HM Queen Elizabeth II as an Iraqi doctor studying in London. The meeting itself did not last more than three or four minutes, during which she asked where about I am from in Iraq, what subject I am studying and at which university. She appeared to be impressed when I told her that I am studying for a PhD degree on Parkinson’s disease with the aim of finding out new methods to improve the current diagnostic approaches to the disease. For the meeting, I wore my father’s abayiah (traditional Arab coat), which he kindly sent from Baghdad just few days earlier. It was heavy indeed as it is made of thick wool to give maximum warmth. Many people, including the Queen, admired the abayiah and thought it was pretty and sophisticated. For me, it represents something beautiful from my homeland, Iraq, and a dear thing from my family who suffered a lot to get me where I am today. Surprisingly, the highlight of that day was not meeting the Queen, but what happened later that day. That afternoon, I uploaded photos taken by my dear friend, Aaron Murphy. My mother saw the pictures on Facebook and rang me saying “I am very happy for you meeting the Queen and deeply proud of you representing your country. You looked so handsome, I wish to see you wedded very soon, Inshallah!”   Those words touched me deeply, like nothing else has ever done.  My mother, a village girl from the south of Iraq and a mother of ten children, is very happy for me and because of me.  She is a woman that has been giving and giving all her life without asking for anything in return, never thinking of herself or her own needs. She is a primary school graduate, but all of her children have gone to university. She is a mother whose only dream is seeing her children successful and happy. Don’t get me wrong: meeting the Queen was awesome, but my mother being delighted, happy and proud is super awesome! Her happiness made my day, my month and my year!

Tariq Al-Aabed

Dr. Tariq Al-Aabed (UCL, 2009) recently got a job through Ministry of Higher Education of Iraq as a lecturer of Radiation Oncology at the Mosul College of Medicine Department of Radiology.   Currently Tariq is the only doctor with an MSc. in Oncology from UCL who works in Iraq as a Radiation Oncologist, and he is one of just two doctors who work as senior oncologists at Mosul Oncology Hospital and who work with the hospital’s new linear accelerator, which was recently imported to Iraq.

Tariq’s clinic for cancer treatment helps treat poor patients from Mosul, North of Iraq, Baghdad, Anbar, Tikrit and Deyala.  Tariq dreams of opening of an MSc. and Diploma in Radiation Oncology course for Iraqi doctors and of opening a cancer research centre in Mosul which would be unique to the Middle East.   

Fahmia Al Fotih 

Fahmia has again been working hard over the last year. Fahmia has worked as SAVE Yemen coordinator, which helps women in Yemen deal with extreme violence. It is a fantastic charity which is helping many women across Yemen and the rest of the world.  http://www.women-without-borders.org/

In 2010, Fahmia has been twice in Vienna to the SAVE conference to show the work she has achieved within Yemen. She also participated in other related-issue conferences, in “UN, Human Rights and Women: Partnership for Empowerment and Cultural of Peace” in Cyprus as well as in “The United States and Gender, National Security, and Counter Terrorism” Istanbul, Turkey. She has conducted a ‘Mothers’ campaign to engage Yemeni mothers in combating extremism and terrorism. 

Fahmia has also started working with United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) as a communication officer, which sounds like a fascinating and worth while job. We are extremely proud of all that Fahmia is achieving in Yemen and we look forward to hearing more stories of success in the future.

Reem Shaath

We are pleased to announce good news from Reem Shaath. Reem has been working very hard starting up her two new businesses which opened mid last year; a luxury travel business and a vintage clothes business. It is great to see Reem doing so well. As well as running two businesses Reem has also climbed Mt Kilimanjaro last February in order to raise money for the PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND (PCRF), which lasted over 7 days. Reem was the first ever Saudi women to climb Mt Kilimanjaro which is a huge achievement in itself. Reem and her 11 team trained extremely hard to walk in aide of this charity which is very dear to them all. Their fund raising efforts helped raise in excess of  $570,000.00 which will help treat 2500 children.

We wish Reem luck in all her future achievements.