August 2019
Muscat: In cooperation with the Department of Hematology and Oncology for Children at the Royal Hospital, ARA Petroleum, group company of The Zubair corporation have sponsored a free virtual library reading app ‘Children of the Royal Hospital’. The app has been designed for children residing in the hospital and aims to help them better cope with the stages of treatment.
Several studies have shown the positive effect of reading on the speed of children’s response to treatment and its effect on decreasing the length of their stay at the hospital.
Dr. Ibrahim Al-Ghaithi, Head of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, explained that the reading app has been welcomed by children and their families.
“Reading, in addition to being an educational skill, is one of the easiest and most enjoyable hobbies that children can maintain during their treatment. Many children and their families enjoy reading for leisure, and reading is an inspiration to many people through heroic characters and their achievements in novels and stories. This app is undoubtedly a positive motivation for children and their families to follow the treatment plan,” he said.
Dr. Al-Ghaithi hopes that the app will be further develop to include some educational curricula so that children can continue their academic achievement while in the hospital.
He also praised the role of ARA Petroleum Company specialised in the field of energy, in launching the app. Their sponsorship and funding of the smart app project for the departments of Hematology and Oncology at the Royal Hospital has made it possible.
Osama Alzadjali, Communication and Corporate Affairs Manager, ARA Petroleum said, “Energy companies are stand out for their contribution to various charitable projects. The children of the Department of Oncology and Hematology at the Royal Hospital are receiving our focus this year. This is in the interest of the health of today’s children, who are the pillars of our society of tomorrow, and the youth of the future. The idea behind this app is to keep up with modern technologies while contributing to drawing smiles on children’s faces and in developing their reading skills as well.
Mohamed Al-Baghdadi, Chairman of TechKnowledge, said: “We are very pleased with the presence of institutions that support and are interested in providing such solutions to all who need them. The idea of offering free reading to ailing children was a long-standing idea. We were introduced to similar experiences in large international hospitals and we dreamed of presenting the idea within a technological innovation framework that is in line with the technological development of our children.”
“So, based on our partnership with the Royal Hospital, we decided to present the idea of the project to them, which received great attention from the management of the hospital, and to launch the app with the magnificent efforts of all the concerned parties.”
The Children of the Royal Hospital application, operated by Al Manhal and using one of its specialised products for children, Nahla wa Nahil, offers hundreds of interactive stories that children can listen to and read, as well as educational games and various worksheets.
Children in the hospital can download the app free of charge from the Apple store or Google Play. They can then scan the login code that’s found on a sticker on the hospital bed to enjoy hundreds of stories that have been selected specifically for different subjects and age levels. The app is supported by Nahla wa Nahil, a system designed to develop the love of Arabic reading for children through a variety of features that generate enthusiasm and add fun for children.
The smart application is not the first for ARA Petroleum to launch as at the beginning of 2019 ARA Petroleum had launched HSE mobile application for its staff and contractors working for all ARA assets in Oman, ARA Petroleum Oman B44, Qarat Al-Milh Petroleum a and ARA Petroleum Oman Block 31.