Brunei
Commonwealth Point of Light 19. Iqbal Damit
Iqbal Damit, representing Brunei, is the founder of ‘Hand4handbn,’ an organisation providing Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh with food and donations.
After raising over $15,000 for the organisation, Iqbal bought over 1,000 food packs and travelled to Balukhali refugee camp to distribute this food and other essential items. He distributed these packs, as well as thousands of items donated by other charities, to Rohingya refugees across the region, winning a National Youth Award in 2016 for his volunteer work.
The award for Iqbal Damit will be presented on 27th February by Richard Lindsay, British High Commissioner in Brunei.
Iqbal said:
“I am honoured and extremely humbled to be accepting this award. To be honest, I never saw this coming. What started off as something that I like to do, that is to travel and to help people, to then be given an award and recognition by Her Majesty The Queen and the selection team for something that I really enjoy doing gives me great honour. I would like to dedicate this award to the people that I have given assistance to. This is because they are the ones who have helped me instead. They have helped me to appreciate what I have and also be thankful with what I have. Until today, the assistance and aid that I have delivered in all my projects and charity work have taught me and reminded me daily to appreciate life better and to see beyond my own shoes and learn to walk in theirs.”
Richard Lindsay, UK High Commissioner in Brunei said:
“On behalf of the Head of the Commonwealth, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, I am delighted to present Iqbal Damit with a Commonwealth Point of Light Award, in recognition of his service in providing humanitarian relief for Rohingya refugees. Through his work, Iqbal has demonstrated great compassion for fellow Muslims, and is a great role model for other young people across the Commonwealth.
There will be 52 Commonwealth Points of Light awarded – one from each nation in the Commonwealth. Iqbal is already an inspiration to others in Brunei, and will now inspire others across the whole of the Commonwealth.”
Below: Iqbal Damit with UK High Commissioner Richard Lindsay
