Knowing how to help great causes in Abu Dhabi is often difficult. Now a new creative collaboration is making a real difference by linking causes, companies and the community.
Abu Dhabi Cause Connect acts as a central point for great causes in the Abu Dhabi community by promoting charitable events and facilitating volunteers and resources for community groups. Founders Suparna Mathur, Mame Diop, Soffia Diop, Yassmeen Hashim and Tariq Jallad all have experience in the not-for-profit sector and use their passion and expertise to benefit charitable causes.
“The awesome thing about supporting charitable causes is that most of the time, through the events and campaigns, you can immediately witness the difference you are making with your own eyes,” said Tariq.
Led by mentor Ryan Rowe, the team at Abu Dhabi Cause Connect (ADCC) has built strong partnerships with non-profits, charities, community groups and socially responsible businesses to provide invaluable assistance to many causes.
Recent events
A quick look at recent activities on ADCC Facebook page reveals the extent of their work in connecting the community with local causes. In May alone, ADCC helped to raise awareness for Pink Pilates, Recycle For A Cause, the ART’MIA Handicrafts Bazaar, Operation Smile UAE, Make A Wish UAE, Animal Action – Abu Dhabi and Médecins Sans Frontières UAE.
They have also rallied the community to donate sporting equipment for the Children’s Summer Appeal, called for volunteers to teach English at labour camps in Abu Dhabi and Jebel Ali, asked people to assemble care packages for labourers, and promoted the Abu Dhabi Autism Walk.
The simple act of helping other people inspires the ADCC team.
“Every time I meet a person with passion and an unshakable urge to help, it makes me feel that anything is possible!” said Suparna.
ADCC says they cannot survive without the amazing help of the Abu Dhabi community and this keeps them motivated to continue with their efforts.
“Seeing the impact and outcomes of our work as well as other wonderful UAE non-profit groups can only motivate you to do and help more,” said Mame.
Soffia agrees. “The fact that I see that everything we are doing is not in vain keeps me motivated. The results are here, and more and more people are joining the group to also make a difference.”
How you can help
To connect with charitable causes in Abu Dhabi, visit the ADCC Facebook at
www.facebook.com/AbuDhabiCauseConnect or follow them on Twitter at @ ADCauseConnect
ANIMAL ACTION- ABU DHABI
Animal Action – Abu Dhabi was started in June 2010 by Melanie Stones. The organisation uses social media to raise awareness about the plight of homeless animals in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and educates the public on the importance of adopting, spaying/neutering and other things pet owners should know.
Melanie now has much-needed help at Animal Action with the recruitment of more volunteer animal lovers who are willing to pick up animals, take them in and spend money on them at the vet.
“We all have full time jobs so we do all this before work, during lunch breaks, and after work until bed time. It gets very stressful, especially on days you feel no one is willing to go out of their way to help us, but this is slowly changing and a lot more people are stepping forward to try and help, especially with fostering. A lot of people were naive to the stray population problem here.” said Melanie.
With people she can now depend upon, Melanie is looking at further ways to help animals in the UAE.
Volunteers from Animal Action drive up and down the emirates to deliver dogs and cats to foster homes or adoptive homes. They also pick up animals they find on the streets, in construction sites or are stranded, and take them to devoted foster mums who spend their own time and money looking after the animals until they are adopted. These foster mums then open their arms to the next bunch of gangly mutts.
“We are ever so grateful to our wonderful foster families and volunteers,” said Melanie. “They are helping us save the lives of so many animals and ask for nothing in return!”
For further information, visit www.facebook.com/animalactionabudhabi
BRAILLE BOOKS
Helping the blind to read is surely one of the greatest gifts one can offer.
Huda El Shourbagy spent 10 years working with the blind. Starting as a volunteer at the Al Boraq Charity Organisation in Cairo, she assisted by converting educational books into Braille and then empowering the visually impaired to read and study independently.
“It all started with feeling that I had to do something for the community and for the underprivileged,” Huda explained. “I’ve always believed that we are born to be helpful to those that can’t help themselves and the Al Boraq project was an initiative that drew me in.”
Global impact
After moving to the UAE, Huda wanted to continue her charitable work and got in touch with Lola Lopez at Volunteer in UAE to help her bring volunteers together. “I learnt she was doing this wonderful but very laborious work alone. I then offered to organise support for her by turning this in to a Volunteer in UAE project,” said Lola.
“This project is easy to contribute to from any part of the world because all the work is distributed and collected electronically. All that is required is a little time and patience from the volunteer,” said Huda. “I would like to be able to create a network with branches in a number of countries to help blind students all over the world.”
Creating a Braille book
The visually impaired in Cairo decide what books they would like to read. The pages of these books are scanned and sent to Huda and her team as images in jpeg format. The words are then patiently typed into Microsoft Word by volunteers to slowly piece together the soft copy of an entire book which is then sent back to Cairo to be printed as a Braille book.
Make a difference
Huda believes there is no greater feeling of satisfaction than knowing that you helped another in their time of need.
“You CAN make a difference, trust me. The satisfaction and happiness you feel the first time you volunteer with a charity organisation, any charity organisation, is a feeling that never dies and you see it in the smile of a young child that just finished reading a book because you taught that child to read.”
For more information about volunteering with Braille books, visit www.volunteerinabudhabi.com
MORE INITIATIVES TO SUPPORT….
Big Sisters/Little Sisters
The Big Sisters/Little Sisters mentoring programme is an initiative run by the Abu Dhabi-based Women’s Excellence Group and supported by the Abu Dhabi International Centre for Organizational Excellence (ADICOE). The programme is a cross-cultural mentoring project that teams young women with experienced professionals from a variety of industries. The Big Sisters, or mentors, are at a senior level in their careers and can offer valuable guidance to young women who have recently embarked on their career path. This innovative first for Abu Dhabi has just celebrated its first year of mentoring success.
For more information, contact Gulizar Jonian on gjonian77@hotmail.com
Heroes of the UAE
Heroes of the UAE is an initiative established by EWS-WWF in partnership with Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD). This national campaign focuses on energy and water conservation across all sectors of society. It was launched to help address the country’s ecological footprint through four programs: Energy, Water, School and Corporate. With the private sector accountable for 30% of the country’s ecological footprint, Heroes of the UAE inspires companies to be proactive in reducing their energy and water consumption. By using carbon audits and retrofits, a downloadable business toolkit and Corporate Hero pledges, companies can learn easy-to-adopt tactics to help them achieve a lower carbon footprint and a better bottom-line.
For more information, visit www.heroesoftheuae.ae
Sougha
Sougha is an initiative launched by the Khalifa Fund in partnership with several government entities. The project targets craftsmen and women within the UAE with a goal to preserve local heritage through artisan development, product adaptation and opportunity creation through market access. All Sougha products are hand-made by Emirati artisans with patterns inspired by Emirati culture, and are available for sale to the general public. The Sougha project aims to revive dying arts in the emirates and supports sadou (textile) weavers, khouss (palm-frond) weavers, boukhour (incense) makers, potters and more. These artisans retain the skills and know-how of their Bedouin ancestors which have been passed down through the generations.
For more information, email sougha@khalifafund.gov.ae or call (02) 696 0000
By Sharon Carvalho
