INTRO:
Aside from teaching noble actions such as abstaining from food, dawn to dusk, and reflecting on faith, Ramadan also endorses the spirit of generosity – to help understand what we can do to help. Community initiatives all over the UAE have set up special projects for the month, which range from providing iftar meals to labour camps to hosting comedy shows. There are causes to help out with all over the Emirates, and here are some that readers can get involved with.
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Cooking oil, flour, sugar, rice, all essentials that some families have to go without. For others it is education, water and the right to a safe existence. We look at how best everybody can make a difference.
Nashama UAE
It is a Dubai-based volunteer group that aims to aid and restore the UAE’s underprivileged community. This year, member Heba Redha said: “Nashama’s vision has been re-directed to focus mainly on initiatives that give back while raising awareness of significant societal issues.”
The group begins their Ramadan programs a week before the start of the month. The members buy basic necessities, such as cooking oil and flour, for the needy and personally deliver them to households in Sharjah and Ajman. During Ramadan, this supplying initiative continues as they distribute meals in deprived neighbourhoods of the two emirates. The group has a strong social media presence, and urges those who wish to volunteer with the organization to check for announcements on their Twitter page, ‘@nashama_uae’, or their Instagram, ‘nashama_uae’, when the initiative demands more helping hands. Those who are looking to assist may also email them at alnashama.volunteers@gmail.com.
Dubai Cares
At the start of Ramadan, Dubai Cares launched a campaign called ‘What If?’ The charity aims to have UAE residents contemplate the costs of child poverty in developing countries, and hence see the importance of education in these regions.
Chief Executive Officer of Dubai Cares, Tariq Al Gurg, said that the goal of the project is to “ignite the emotions and intellect of UAE residents”.The UAE community can contribute to the cause in a multitude of ways. To donate directly to the organization that will use these funds to further develop education provision, etisalat users can text the word ‘donation’ to 9030, 9090, 9300, 9600 and 9900, to donate Dh30, Dh90, Dh300, Dh600 or Dh900 respectively. They can also donate Dh50 to the Dubai Cares stand in Dubai Mall between June 30 and July 19 to partake in building a classroom. As always, online donations can also be made at the company’s website. Apart from donations, Dubai Cares encourages personal fundraising activities in support of their cause. If you have a fundraising idea for the group, visit www.justgiving.com/dubaicares.
Think Up GCC
Originally an Emirati-run public relations agency, Think Up GCC has now grown into a social virtual platform that pushes youth in the region to harness their talent, get inspired, and in turn promote productivity and positive action throughout the region.
“This will be our third year collaborating with Du,” Mohammad Al Ahbabi, a member, told Gulf News. This partnership aims to distribute meals to mosques in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah every day during the month of Ramadan.
To volunteer with these efforts, email the group at volunteers@thinkup.ae with your contact details and preferred date and location or simply fill in the online form found on their website, www.thinkup.ae.
The Angel Appeal
A UK founded charity that is focused on bettering the lives of seafarers, including the ones based in the Gulf. Providing aid and assistance to over 200,000 seafarers off the UAE’s east coast, The Angel Appeal will, in the coming month, work on, what volunteering officer Theresa Dommett calls “a company-sponsored charitable venture”.
TNT Middle East, Proctor & Gamble, and Hard Rock Café have chosen Angel Appeal as their project for Ramadan. The non-profit will be wrapping individual gifts to be given to seafarers for the holy month.
Any volunteers looking to help the group provide these gifts in Dubai and Sharjah can contact Dommett at Theresa@angelappeal.com.
Flea 4 Charity
As an association that began by raising funds solely through flea markets, Flea 4 Charity has now expanded to raise funds through a variety of events, to run social campaigns, and to promote all sorts of goodwill, focusing mainly in Dubai.
This year, a member Sajid Ismail, said: “We are moving away from labour camp iftars in favour of injecting social good into other things that can be made sustainable for the rest of the year.”
They have a busy Ramadan planned, with a charity fashion show auction, a show geared towards highlighting charitable individuals in the community, and a comedy show.
Post Ramadan and over the period of Eid, the group will carry out their annual Children’s Eid Event with food, games, and gifts to celebrate the holiday with the children in the local community of Ajman.
The organisation will require a number of volunteers for the coming month, and so those interested may connect with the group via their Facebook page or Twitter account, ‘@Flea4Charity’, and wait to be contacted for various aspects of each project.
Feel Great Helping
It is a network that aims to remind volunteers of the importance of giving back. Creating a close community of volunteers that, together, enjoy spreading goodwill, Feel Good Helping focuses mainly on humanitarian causes and projects within the UAE community.
Their Ramadan project is to provide an estimate of 400 care packages and rice to two separate women’s labour camps in the UAE, along with fellow charitable group Labour of Love. These care packs contains basic essentials, such as soap, shampoo, sanitary napkins, toothpaste, toothbrush, lady shaver, box of tissues, and laundry powder.
Founder Babs Klijin says that the packages are “designed specifically for women labourers who, in our experience, tend to send every bit of spare money back home to support their families overseas, often sacrificing their own personal needs and comfort”.
Along with assembling these packages, the group will also be distributing them. One of the camps is in Mussafah, Abu Dhabi and the second is split over three accommodation spaces in the capital.
To volunteer you may contact the group at feelgreathelping@gmail.com with your contact details and with information on when and how you would like to participate.
While encouraging people to apply, the group makes clear the several ways that one could assist in their upcoming projects. Those that are able to contribute knowledge and resources required by volunteers are needed by the group.
Adopt-A-Camp
Working with over 52,300 labourers in 50 camps in the UAE for the past 8 years, Adopt-A-Camp aims to continue its goodwill over the month of Ramadan. Known for empowering labourers with both dignity and love, the organization has provided services for the men that include starting English classes for them and hygiene workshops.
Traditionally, the group would provide camps with care packages comprising of mattresses, food, and other requirements during the month. But this year the initiative may be cancelled due to there not being a confirmed location available for the volunteers to parcel and assemble the packages.
However, assistant to the founder, Sarah Aziza, said: “The group will be hosting iftars and carrying out supply distribution over Ramadan.” To volunteer with either of these efforts, the public is invited to keep a check on their Facebook page where they will announce as and when volunteers are needed.
If all that apply as volunteers are unable to participate, Adopt-A-Camp welcomes groups and individuals from the community that wish to help out labour camps in their own way to get in touch with them, who will in turn put them directly in contact with the labourers themselves.
- The writer is an intern with the Readers Desk of the newspaper
