In February 2017, the MEI Foundation organized a renal failure awareness program at the Sri Lankan embassy, under the distinguished patronage of the then Ambassador of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to Saudi Arabia, His Excellency Azmi Thassim.
The event was open to the public and gathered people from all walks of life. The speakers were two medical students (Noora Rameez and Safiya Salim) who enlightened the crowd on how water contamination caused renal failure, followed by a locally renowned Urologist who talked about maintaining good renal health, later some guests were offered the lectern to share their personal experiences with relatives who had renal failure and finally concluded with MEI's chairperson Zainab Ifthikar's speech, which introduced the audience to the issue of water contamination in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka and how they can be helped.
The aim of the event was to deliver a piece of the struggles of Sri Lanka to the Sri Lankan community in Riyadh and at the same time to offer them advice on how to protect their own renal health in the long run. The mission and vision of the event was accomplished. The words shared by all at the event came with great ferocity for the despicable tragedy that was taking place back home, slowly stealing lives in broad daylight.
The event was a huge success and was covered in a local newspaper which facilitate in the message reaching an larger crowd. The article published in Arab news can be found here: https://www.arabnews.com/node/1068006/saudi-arabia