The Filipino is one of the many in a diverse community who has seen the remarkable progress of Qatar since the 1970s.

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The small Arab Nation, gifted with enormous natural wealth, has been a steady provider of livelihood for Overseas Filipino Workers or OFWs. From the Oil fields to the Malls and impressive infrastructure, and all the way to its households, the OFW has become a familiar sight in Qatar’s labor community.

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Under the outstanding leadership of HH Sheik Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, Qatar’s technological advancement, accessible healthcare, competitive educational system, green parks and reliable transport system, offer the OFW a healthy living environment. 

 

Qatar’s labor reforms that impose a standardized minimum wage and guaranteed housing and food allowances provide a sense of security and stability for the labor community. These measures help create a dynamic synergy between the State and Migrant Workers. Thus, to the OFW, Qatar has become a Home away from Home.

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But despite what is seemingly an idyllic setting, the OFW is not without the struggles, more specifically in adjusting to the social and labor environments. Although pre- departure learning for OFWs is provided for by the Philippine Government’s Labor Agencies, the realities can be very challenging.

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For most of the OFWs coming into Qatar, the main struggle is adapting to mainstream Qatari Culture. A new set of rules almost always pose a threat to one’s self-confidence that which can impede personal growth. Add to that the sudden immersion in a multi- race social and labor terrain that can instantly breed Culture Shock and discourage self- confidence.

 

This backdrop readily explains why the OFW in Qatar, despite being a sought-after figure in any workforce, seems to lag behind in terms of creativity and individual growth compared to other nationalities.

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Cosmopolitan Events and Hospitality LLC finds the motivation in this realization to provide the OFWs an avenue for both personal and collective advancement.

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The Marouf Rafiq TWINS Project for the Filipino

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Through a collaboration with the Marouf Rafiq TWINS Project, Cosmopolitan Events and Hospitality LLC launched the Marouf Rafiq Twins for the Filipino, a Corporate- Social Responsibility Program that will conduct a series of activities aimed at providing the Filipino with the necessary tools both to adapt to the social norm and to become more competitive in the workplace.

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The Marouf Rafiq Twins for the Filipino will encourage creativity and innovation, highlight skills and talent, and further promote the Filipino’s standing as a significant part of Qatar’s society.

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The program’s activities will each have an assigned Theme based on Marouf Rafiq’s literary works as representations of the advocacies the initiative wishes to advance.

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The Marouf Rafiq Twins Project is inspired by the life and literary works of Marouf Rafiq, a Qatari public figure who manifested in his works the value of spirituality, multi-culture cooperation, empathy, and innovation, predicated on the modest thought that it is everyone’s role keep a strong social fabric.

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In deconstructing his writings, there is created a sense of urgency to pursue a course of action that serves others, by helping them shape a better life ahead.