Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, along with his family visited thousands of volunteers on Monday who were packing relief aid for those displaced by last month's earthquake.
From 9am until 6pm, inside the vast halls of Dubai World Trade Centre, a production line worked non-stop filling aid boxes to be shipped out to Syria and Turkey.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiative issued a call for volunteers last week to boost the Bridges of Giving appeal, one of the latest UAE relief efforts helping those most in need.
Posting pictures from the event online, Sheikh Mohammed said everyone was united by their mission for the day.
"2,000 volunteers participated in today's campaign, including children, school students, employees from the government and private sectors, businessmen, intellectuals, and others. Their goal is one," he wrote.
People from all walks of life responded to the Bridges of Giving appeal in Dubai, with many given the day off to form the crowds of volunteers.
“The target by the end of the day is to fill around 15,000 aid boxes,” said Sara Al Nuaimi, director of the Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiative.
“This is a continuation of the allocation of $100 million in aid from the UAE for the victims of the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
Crowds of volunteers turn out in Dubai to pack earthquake relief aid
“We have had more than 2,000 volunteers here from the private and public sector, as well as individuals, who have come forward through our volunteering programme, schools and universities.
“It is an amazing response and took around a week to organise.
“We were hoping for [some] volunteers, but to have this many is heartwarming.”
Aid delivered daily
From building boxes and labelling them with stickers, to filling each one with an assorted cache of supplies, the operation ran like clockwork — from 9am until 6pm later that day.
“There remains a huge need for this support as thousands of people have lost their homes,” said Ms Al Nuaimi.
“Planes are departing to these areas on a daily basis, so this aid will be flown out almost immediately.”
An estimated 14 million people, or 16 per cent of Turkey's population, have been affected by the earthquake that struck near the Turkey-Syria border on February 6 and killed more than 50,000 people.
The latest aid to arrive at the Syrian port of Latakia included 37,500 food parcels, under the directive of Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed, Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra Region and chairman of the Emirates Red Crescent Authority.
The Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiative is working locally in Syria and Turkey with NGOs to ensure aid is delivered to the sharp end of disaster zones across the region.
“I heard of the appeal through social media,” said Joana Talostan, from Syria, who lives in Sharjah and volunteered with the Emirates Red Crescent.
“Because I am Syrian, I wanted to help as much as possible. I have relatives in Aleppo and Damascus, hopefully they will be OK but they are not doing very well.
“These kinds of initiatives are so important — because of war and the natural disasters that have happened there is a real need.
“We know everything is getting delivered to the camps, refugees and even to people still in buildings who have no food or clothes.”
Step up to help
Production lines were split into clothing, food and medicine, with most volunteers working in shifts from 9am to 1pm or 1pm until 6pm.
Food boxes were filled with tuna fish, pasta, chickpeas and other foodstuffs, while other packages included hygiene items and children’s toys.
Winter clothing and medication were also included.
Danish Ahmed, from India, a postgraduate medical student in Dubai, was packing food items, mainly pasta and tinned food. He said he'd been looking for an opportunity to volunteer and this platform offered the chance to contribute to a good cause.
“I have been following the coverage of what happened and it is heartening to see people step up and want to help,” he added.
Teams of volunteers decked out in beige tabards emblazoned with national flags and UAE Aid logos lined up to build and pack boxes in a race against time to fill as many supply packs as possible.
Susie Schlesinger, originally from Britain, who works with the Chaloub Group and lives in Dubai, responded to an email asking for volunteers on Friday afternoon.
“I was very moved by what has happened and work with a lot of people from the areas affected by the earthquake,” she said.
“I was horrified and wanted to do something other than just donate money.
“A lot of women and children have been displaced so I wanted to do something to help them.
“Work allowed us time off and around 30 of us came down to help.
“We’ve been told the more boxes we can pack, the more aid will be sent out, so it was important it was well co-ordinated.”
