Married on Campus: Volunteers in Action Holds 13th Group Wedding for Orphan Brides
Volunteers in Action (VIA) student club held its 13th annual group wedding for orphan brides this past weekend. Each year, VIA helps five orphan brides celebrate this special moment and settle into their new homes. Throughout the year, the club helps an additional 30 brides prepare their new homes.
This year, 350 guests -- friends and family of the couples -- celebrated this memorable occasion. Bouquets of white and blue decorated tables across the University Garden. Student and alumni volunteers had been preparing for this day for months, raising money and collecting various donations to help five couples start new lives together and furnish their homes-to-be with all of the essentials, including a bedroom set, kitchen, refrigerator, stove with a gas cylinder and washing machine. Donations were collected both inside and outside AUC and totaled EGP 80,000. The club also held a Brides Fair prior to the wedding celebration to collect clothes and home accessories for the brides and their future families.
One hundred volunteers, including current VIA members as well as alumni, showed up to usher in and seat guests, snap photos, serve food -- including cake, of course -- and fill up the dance floor.
These volunteers also had the support of a number of sponsors to throw the perfect wedding celebration. CocaCola provided drinks, Tamra Lebanese Bistro offered meals, Le Carnival sponsored the cakes and dessert, and L'Oreal helped with makeup and veil design. Additionally, Careem offered transportation to and from the event for guests.
"During my freshman year, I joined VIA as a housing member and was a bridesmaid for one of the brides. The next year at the wedding, I saw that bride with her baby. She was invited because one of the brides was her relative. She remembered me and said thank you for changing my life. These moments are why I never left VIA throughout my five years at AUC."
- Menna Ayman, mechanical engineering major and VIA president
Masrawy covered the event, snapping shots of the brides before guests arrived and capturing the evening celebration. To read the full article in Arabic, click here. Watch the video coverage below.
