Perhaps the highest accolade that can be given to any individual is to say that they made a positive difference to their community. And that description is something that unites the seven people who won the Abu Dhabi Awards, presented at the Emirates Palace hotel this week.
Presented under the patronage of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed, the awards celebrate a diverse group of people, in age and national background, who have made a contribution to the emirate.
They range from a Croatian schoolboy, Dominik Vugrinec, who led a campaign to have other students screened for the medical condition scoliosis, to former National Consultative Council chairman Abdulla Mohammed Al Masaood, for his contributions to foreign service and charity.
The other worthy winners were poet Jumaa Manea Al Ghuwais, journalist and historian Peter Hellyer, falconer Roger Upton, historian Dr Falih Handhal and traditional healer, the late Mouza bint Mroshed Al Subousi.
Awards such as these are important because they recognise the unsung heroes whose quiet contributions often go unnoticed. And the fact that the winners were chosen from 30,000 deserving nominees shows that community spirit is alive and thriving in Abu Dhabi and across the UAE.
