Ahmed Zaeem, Everblue, Aa. Ukulhas, is the person who came up with the idea and tookthe initiative to establish the ‘Ukulhas Gymnasium’, to help his fellow youths by introducing an outlet to gain more fitness, strength, stamina and to enhance the overall development and health of the youth through weight lifting and exercising.On June 1995 his dream was realized with the establishment of the ‘UkulhasGymnasium’.
Asthe visionary behind the Gym establishment, the Gym initial process of formingthe Gym was managed Ahmed Zaeem himself. He initiated the practical activityrequired for the establishment of the Gym by assigning the following group ofindividuals to assist him in completing the establishment in order to commence the operation.
Withina short duration of forming the assisting team, Ahmed Zaeem started the initialcontribution and the team shared their distribution as a primary subscriptionon the following basis;
· As a leader Ahmed Zaeem, Everblue,Aa. Ukulhas – Shared MVR 500
· Mohamed Hassan (Seedee),Athamaage, Aa. Ukulhas as a team member – Shared MVR 500
· Shaukath Ibrahim (Manik), Udhares,Aa. Ukulhas as a team member – Shared MVR 500
· Mohamed Niyaz (Niya), Noothari,Aa. Ukulhas as a team member – Shared MVR 500
· Shameem as a team member – SharedMVR 500
· Ali Nahid as a team member –Shared MVR 500
Onthe above ratio, a total of MVR 30000 was collected by Ahmed Zaeem as a primary contribution to invest in the initial stage of gymnasium establishment inUkulhas Island.
Initiallybasic bodybuilding equipment such as a bench press machine, chest fly machine,shoulder press machine, Lat pull-down machine, biceps curl machine and a legextension machine was procured for the Gym along with other basic equipment.
AhmedZaeem’s basic intention was to produce a small budget required a for a small investment for a random collection of basic equipment, in order to establish a Gymnasiumat Ukulhas, which had never been established on any of the Local Islands at that time in the Maldives except Male’, the capital of the Country.
Asthe second stage of moving forward, Ahmed Zaeem held a meeting with his fellow team members and shared his plans and strategies, including the one which was purchasing at least a few pieces of equipment that can be used for bodybuilding purposes rather than sophisticated modern equipment. And finally, Ahmed Zaeem organized a trip to Male’ along with his team members with the collected MVR 6000.
Asin those days, the only operated gymnasium was Muscle Load located in Male’, Ahmed Zaeem and his team members visited the Muscle load showroom, soon afterthey arrived in Male’ to meet the operators and some of the senior management staff. Upon their request, Ahmed Zaeem and his team members were able to meetAhmed Haleem (Kesto), the owner of Muscle Load and during the meeting, AhmedHaleem offered to grant his support to open a Branch of Muscle Load in Ukulhasin the name of Muscle Load Ukulhas Branch, instead of selling the bodybuilding equipment. Ahmed Haleem also requested the team to come Male’ for thecollection of bodybuilding equipment to arrange a setup and to start the establishment soon. After this meeting, Ahmed Zaeem and his team memberstraveled back to Ukulhas and started to organize a formal visit to Muscle Load.
Upon returning to the Island, Ahmed Zaeem started the preparation for the second visit to Muscle Load and found a fishing vessel name Landaa owned by IbrahimRasheed, Swastika, Aa. Ukulhas, and organized the second trip to Male’ for the collection of bodybuilding equipment.
AhmedZaeem carried all the equipment, donated by Ahmed Haleem (Kesto) from MuscleLoad by Landaa, and found shop premises that were previously operated as asouvenir shop by the late Imad Khalid, Asseyri, Aa. Ukulhas, as an ideal location. The initial setup of the gym was made in ‘Imadbe’s shop’ which wasgranted by Imad Khalid as a community contribution to run under Glorious SportsClub (GSC) for the betterment of youth development across the Island.
Thecontributed subscriptions of MVR 6000 were invested for the installation of a mirror on the wall, setting up a table, fixing the electricity, etc.
HussainnFiyaz, Fiyliyaage, Aa. Ukulhahs was assigned as the operator of the Muscle Load Kulhas Branch and Seedhee was assigned as the finance controller.
Those days, Members were advised to pay a monthly fee of MVR 250 as a service fee to 'Muscle Load Ukulhas Branch’, and later members of ‘Muscle Load Ukulhas Branch’ who wanted to receive the services from ‘Muscle Load’ in Male’ could do as such by paying a monthly fee of MVR 50.
Upon the first establishment, senior management personnel of Muscle load who visitedUkulhas for the initial gym setup including Ahmed Haleem (Kesto), Body Builder Afrah, Allo, etc. The accommodation was provided at Athamaage’, Aa. Ukulhaswhile the food was provided by the mother of Hussain Fiyaz, Late Mrs.Hareera.
In90s Makthab was a place run as a hall for different purposes, at present thehall is called 'Kanbaafaanu Maalam'. Though the Gym was firstly set at Imadbe’s souvenir shop, as it was a community-based activity and the Gym was requiring abigger spacious place, it was believed that it would need public premises tooperate and to serve properly - and finally, with the initiation of Ahmed Zaeem& Mohamed Irshad (Everblue, Aa. Ukulhas) the Gym was relocated to Makthab.
During the Island Council’s presidential term of Mohamed Khalid, Muringu, Aa. Ukulhas,Ahmed Zaeem suggested moving the place to a better location based on length, width, and breadth. Ahmed Zaeem preferred to change Gym from Makthab to the place now where ‘Bodywork’ is operated.
Asa grant for Fishermen’s Day, Minister of Health Ahmed Abdulla agreed to grant the equipment equivalent to MVR 300000 for the Gym and upon this offer, AhmedZaeem moved forward with MVR 22000 which he found as additional support for thenew development of the Gym. During Ahmed Zaeem’s grant searching exercise he used to visit the Minister, in every visit to Male’ and while in the Island he used to make nonstop calls to the Minister. Ahmed Zaeem often requested toexpedite the grant process, and finally, he was asked by the Minister to submita letter on behalf of Glorious Sports Club. Along with the letter and tireless efforts by Ahmed Zaeem, the collection of the grant was carried out by AhmedZaeem and Ali Nashath (Noovillage, Aa. Ukulhas). The grant was executed within two years upon the first offer by the Minister.
Since the Gym developments weren’t to reach the requirements of Ahmed Zaeem, he wrote a letter to a popular businessman and an entrepreneur Waheedhudheen and paid a visit to Waheedhudheen along with Abdulla Rasheed, Muringu, Aa. Ukulhas while he was staying at Marry Dream, Male’ and Waheedhudheen agreed to grant a gymset from Bandos Island Resort. As soon as Ahmed Zaeem had received the confirmation for the delivery of the Gym set from Waheedhudheen, he tried tosend all items and equipment via ‘Aarian’ by communicating with Shaukat Ibrahim (Manik), Island Committee members, and the youths of Glorious Sports Club.
Upgrading works of Body Work wasinitiated by the Ukulhas bodybuilder Mr. Ahmed Zaeem, Ever blue, Aa. Ukulhas, who adopted and introduced modern ideas and methods of fitness and body building to the society. Currently, Body Work is run by theIsland-based NGO, Glorious Sports Club (GSC) under the supervision of the Ukulhas Council.
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