People across the UAE are contributing to the Pakistan relief effort, aiming to raise tens of thousands of dirhams by holding charity iftars and collecting donation. Individuals from all walks of life have been moved by the plight of the flood victims and have launched a series of events to help collect cash and supplies such as blankets and food for those worst affected.
Nilufer Nejmi, 32, and her twin sisters, Nazgul and Gulnaz, 29, who are all of Pakistani-Turkish origin and live in Dubai, decided to team up with their friend Mubarik Jaffery, 34, a graphic designer, to host a charity iftar to raise cash for Pakistan. The women, who work in the fashion industry, will hold the iftar for their friends tomorrow evening in a hotel behind the Mall of the Emirates. They will invite them to make a Dh100 contribution for the buffet meal and a professional portrait.
"This is a personal initiative for us to feel we are doing something, and to get our friends both informed and able to help," said Nazgul. She will photograph the attendees with a background that will show they have done something to help Pakistan, then e-mail the resulting high-resolution image to them. At least 150 friends are expected, and the organisers hope to raise at least Dh20,000 to send to the women's aunt, who lives in Lahore.
She will then distribute food and supplies to needy families. "We will come back to our friends with reports and pictures and videos showing where their money went and who it helped," said Nazgul. Students at Preston University-Ajman, a Pakistani university established in 2001, also are doing all they can to collect money and supplies. Sadaf Abid, a lecturer at the university, said she was moved by how much the student volunteers have managed to do so far. "They have raised Dh40,000, and already sent shipments of food and non-food items, such as medicines, bed sheets and towels," she said. "The student council has been running the campaign day and night, with volunteers there to pack and box the items, and everyone is taking part, Pakistani students and Indian students and Arabs."
Donations made by Pakistani doctors and nurses at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City (SKMC) in the capital caught the attention of the hospital's administration and Seha, the capital's health services company. Dr Sabahat Wasti, a consultant in physical medicine and rehabilitation at SKMC, said the scale of the problem demanded a large initiative. "The need for food, money, medicines is huge, so we approached administration at SKMC who, together with Seha, have been very helpful in taking up our cause and organising large collection points at an institutional, rather than individual, level," he said.
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