Hobby: Collecting successes: Twenty-five
On January 18, 2025, I wrote about documenting a beautiful social experience under the title “Wow… to the Friendship and Peace Group,” as part of a lovely hobby of mine: collecting successes, or the hobby of “tracking successful experiences.” This included a series titled “Promising Youth from My Country.” This reminds me of my childhood and youth, when I practiced the hobbies of collecting foreign and Arab currencies and collecting stamps. My enthusiasm even led me to correspond by mail with “Mother of Everyone, Mama Anisa” (when mail was still mail). She actually responded to my correspondence and gifted me a beautiful collection of postage stamps. She continues to maintain a wonderful connection with me and with my companion on this journey, Umm Abdullah, may God preserve her, reflecting the generous spirit of the people of Kuwait in her big heart. Today, I continue this beautiful hobby of collecting successes by highlighting the Friendship and Peace Group, but from a different angle to avoid repetition out of respect for the dear reader, even though nearly two years have passed since I wrote the first article.
What stands out in this kind group is the emergence of twenty beautiful highlights, which I summarize below. In reality, there are more than twenty, but the choice of the number 20 is merely for convenience and out of consideration for the limited journalistic space available to the writer in the press:
1. National cohesion among all segments of Kuwait’s social fabric.
2. The positive spirit of this gathering of retirees and elderly individuals, which is far superior to the negative withdrawal that affects many retirees.
3. Moreover, this contribution by these retirees is distinguished by creativity, innovation, follow-up, and good organization that leads to success, praise be to God. Success comes only from Him, exalted is He.
4. Discipline and adherence to the group’s policies of avoiding involvement in political, religious, sectarian, intellectual, or social disputes.
5. Not utilizing this gathering or its activities for any electoral interests, personal projects, or for any party, and not showing bias toward any other party, whether an individual, institution, idea, or current, etc.
6. Loyalty to those who deserve it in all fields that have served and continue to serve the country, foremost among them the sports field, given that the majority of the group’s members are veteran athletes. It also includes adding media, social, cultural, and historical fields to the areas of honoring community figures.
7. Highlighting a new type of purposeful social gatherings other than the traditional diwaniyas (guest houses), as they are open to everyone because they are not limited by the usual diwaniya framework. Consequently, social invitations for such occasions do not necessarily have to come from a diwaniya owner, but can come from any citizen, even one who does not own a diwaniya.
8. Adding a new time for visitors to meet, namely the morning and daytime periods, rather than necessarily the evening period, as is customary in traditional diwaniyas. This provides comfort and convenience for the group’s members and their guests.
9. Complementing official and governmental honors, so that these civil gatherings provide a beautiful alternative to complete the honoring of all those who deserve it.
10. Highlighting positive models of gatherings that absorb the energies of retirees and engage them in useful activities and events, enabling them to remain a value-added asset to society.
11. Creatively utilizing the honoring process to achieve multiple goals alongside the honors, most notably attracting both old and new attendees, as they are either being honored or honoring others.
12. Unintentionally providing beautiful, successful social models for our people in the Gulf and Arab countries, highlighting Kuwaiti society as a friendly and nurturing community.
13. Media promotion through social media, compensating for those who could not attend, including the female segment of society, which has its own social sphere.
14. Bringing some sports and social activities out of dormancy after they had withdrawn from society following retirement, restoring their role and participation.
15. The suitability of the venue for these activities in terms of easy access and available parking, without causing disturbance to neighbors, which can often happen in diwaniyas located in quiet residential areas.
16. Successfully presenting a true and realistic concept of attracting audience attendance by offering content worthy of attendance, rather than relying on paid celebrity promotions that do not necessarily reflect the quality of the events.
17. Spontaneity and symbolism in participation, which does not require any conditions for membership and entails no obligations, while encouraging the practice of walking on the sidelines of the gathering, either before or after, or perhaps a “leg stretch” by walking in other places.
18. Providing an alternative during daytime hours for going out and being active outside the home, thanks to the availability of air-conditioned environments that challenge the heat of the summer sun, as is known to some who do not leave their homes in the summer except in the evening or after the Maghrib prayer at the earliest.
19. The ease and simplicity of implementing these activities, as they do not require large, costly budgets, hotel reservations, food buffets, or service staff, etc.
20. Complete independence from the government sector, the private sector, and the civil sector, as it is not a registered entity, either officially or commercially.
These twenty features are how I celebrate the Friendship and Peace Group and similar beautiful civil gatherings in other commercial complexes. Before concluding, and to the extent that I feel a sense of belonging to this noble group—and any purposeful social group—and praise them, I offer them these modest recommendations:
1. Involving younger, positive personnel so that the experience can be transferred and inherited across generations. It would be sufficient if each retiree invited one of their children to attend and participate.
2. Involving more activities from the outer regions, as attendance is concentrated—according to my modest and unintentional assessment—on the dear brothers in the inner regions.
3. Opening the door to donations, even symbolic ones, to cover the costs of honoring, with full respect and appreciation for the sponsors. This would add more independence, even though the support and sponsorship are unconditional, praise be to God. It would also provide a stable budget that maintains the level of events and honors without putting any specific external party in an awkward position.
4. Attempting to transfer this beautiful experience to other gatherings in other commercial complexes by inviting them or visiting them, with the aim of sharing the experience with them.
5. Inviting officials from the Ministry of Social Affairs, the College of Social Sciences at the University of Kuwait, and the Department of Social Studies at the College of Basic Education to attend and observe these successful social experiences up close, and to direct retirees and special categories to them as appropriate and without pretense.
These twenty features and five recommendations, along with many more Kuwaiti social successes… May God grant success.
Dr. Abdulmohsen Al-Jarallah Al-Kharafi
