SQU garage sale generates funds for charity, student projects in Oman

Muscat: More than 600 used items were available for sale at the first-ever garage sale that was organised at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) on Monday to promote the concept of reusable products.
All the earnings of the garage sale will be used to fund charitable organisations in Oman and support student projects, according to Firdos Al Mahrouqi, organiser of the event. She added that the whole concept of the sale is to raise awareness that many items that people may think are useless are actually very useful and can also be resold at reasonable prices.
“Many students and volunteers from all governorates of Oman sent us their shoes, clothes, toys, books, paintings and many other interesting products,” Al Mahrouqi added. The sale started at 3:00 pm and closed at 8:00 pm.
Jaber Al Lawati, a student at the College of Economics and Political Science, said adding a charitable and human touch to any event is a very important way for attracting visitors.
The event is a part of the 13th Business Week, organised by the Business Society, a student group at the College of Economics and Political Science at SQU.
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The theme of the annual event for this year is Environmental Economics and it was inaugurated on Sunday.
The opening ceremony of the event was held under the patronage of Dr. Abdul Monem bin Mansour Al Hassani, minister of Information, in the presence of Dr. Ali bin Saud Al Bimani, the vice chancellor of SQU, and a number of academicians and students from the college.
Commenting on this year’s theme, Adnan Qais Al Kindi, a student, said producing more with the same input is one solution to protect the environment and save costs.
“Waste management costs the Omani economy and is seen as burden. However, we can transform this cost into profit by promoting the Environment Economics concept,” Al Kindi said, adding that the students are working hard to educate youth in Oman on how to change their consuming behaviour and reduce usage of electricity.
“The event also features projects, research and ideas on Environmental Economics as we have plans to promote the concept throughout the year,” Al Kindi added.
Several activities, such as a quiz competition, a chess competition, lectures on green energy, a horse show and a drone show will be held on the sidelines of the event, which will last until February 17.