Dubai: If you’re thinking of throwing away your children’s toys, think again. They might just bring a smile to orphans’ faces in Kenya this Christmas.
Dubai-based Indian couple Amit and Pooja Mulani on Monday launched a charity project called ‘Gift of Love in a Shoe Box’ for orphaned children in Nairobi this December 25. The couple is knocking on the hearts of Dubai residents to look into their cupboards for useable items for 400 children aged five to 17.
“We encourage them not to buy a gift but to check their homes for unused things and returned gifts that may just be lying around and gathering dust. These could also be toys that their children have grown out of. It’s really up to them if they want to buy new ones,” Pooja, 34, a fashion designer from Mumbai, told Gulf News.
Pooja said they are collecting small toys, pencils, notebooks, small towels, soap, and non-perishable items placed in a shoebox for orphaned children. The boxes will be given to them as Christmas presents.
“The kids there don’t have much. But here people just have so much that gets wasted. So we’re just diverting resources where they can be of better use,” Pooja said.
“The kids here always get something new [as presents]. So we won’t even miss those things once we give it away.”
Pooja is working together with British optometrist Dr Soroya Janmohamed who is based in Nairobi. She previously worked in Dubai for six years.
“I’ve known these kids for 15 years. They are street children taken in by Don Bosco charity orphanage to give them shelter and education,” Dr Janmohamed told Gulf News in a phone interview from Nairobi.
Abused
“I check their eyes regularly and give them food every month. Some of them were abused physically in the past, some lost their parents, some were taken off the streets after sniffing glue,” she added.
Dr Janmohamed said it is not the first time she has offered them shoebox gifts. She did the same thing three years ago.
“It’s a reminder that there are so many less fortunate people out there and we take so much for granted. This Christmas, let’s make a difference and put a big smile on their faces.”
Pooja said the boxes need not be wrapped. The gift items can be for girls or boys, but mainly for boys.
The group has secured the logistics to ship the boxes from Dubai to Kenya. Dr Janmohamed will work with orphanage officials to distribute the gifts by Christmas.
Those who would like to help may drop the shoeboxes off at Shaikh Rashid Building Dubai Creek before November 25.
