Yalla Natural, an
initiative aimed at reconnecting people with nature to help them lead
healthier lives, recently participated at in Qatar National Day,
joining the celebration with a food truck at Darb Al Saai.
The initiative,
run by Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar (WCM-U), is part of the larger
community campaign Sahtak Awalan (Your Health First).
WCM-U Dean Javaid Sheikh said he relished the chance to bring healthy lifestyle
awareness to the community.
“WCM-Q’s Yalla Natural
truck has been inundated with children and young people, and while
they are having fun on the blender bikes or planting their own
vegetable seeds, we are able to offer lessons about living a healthy
life that they will hopefully take into adulthood,” Sheikh said.
“We want to help create a healthy generation who unlock their
potential and are able to meet the goals of Qatar National Vision
2030.”
The Yalla Natural trailer welcomed thousands of
schoolchildren, who got to see cooking demonstrations in which
healthy ingredients were transformed into meals for the whole
family.
“Health issues are obviously so important for
our children,” Victoria Horsburgh, a physical education teacher at
Awsaj Academy, said. “We have a high rate of diabetes in
Qatar so we we try to educate the children as much as we can about
making healthy choices and coming to places like this where they
learn about health and where the lessons are in both Arabic and
English is really important and good for them.”
