TWO GIRLS JOIN HANDS TO COLLECT Dh 500,000 WORTH RELIEF MATERIAL
by Shadiah Abdullah, staff reporter
Gul News
December 30, 2003

The earthquake in Iran has brought out the best in some UAE residents, always known for their largeheartedness. This time they seem to have excelled themselves.

A case in point is the example of two Iranian girls Niloufar Mohazzabi and Roia Jabari. Putting aside their interior design business, they have turned themselves into a two-woman help centre which have managed to collect over half-a-million dirhams worth of relief goods for the earthquake victims.

Through SMS, radio and word of mouth, and through calling up a few friends, they have gathered everything from blankets to powersets, to be sent to Iran. "We started sending SMS messages to our friends and the response was so overwhelming. It was unbelievable!" said Niloufar.

The donations will be shipped to the disaster hit area through the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation.

The organisation yesterday sent a fourth relief plane to Iran. On Sunday, some 350 tonnes of relief goods were flown to the disaster hit area.

The duo wanted to collect the donations at their office premises but the overwhelming response prompted them to try and find a bigger site. "Wafi City then gave us space to convert into our collection point," said Roia.

One of their friends, Khaled Al Kamdah, pitched in and went around hotels in Dubai to collect clothes and foodstuff. The donation drive was given a big boost by Radio Station 96.7. They have been continuously broadcasting the appeal message, said Roia."

We get loads of phone calls from people who have heard of us on the radio. While some donated hundreds of blankets others dropped over some cans of Pepsi. The response is wonderful, it is Dubai coming together as a community," she said.

The duo do not accept any cash donations, preferring to send anybody who wants to do so to the special account set up at Bank Melli Iran. The account number is 0101010800010.

Roia and Niloufar declined to take credit for the large donations collected, saying they were just a catalyst who brought people together.

They thanked everybody who helped them out. "We especially want to thank Farid Maqsudi who donated Dh200,000 to buy temporary housing, Al Bawardi Group, Al Habtoor and Riyadh Sadeghi for donating power generators, Wafi City, Free FM, and Sun and Sands Sports," said Niloufar.

Further information can be had from telephone No 04-3244543.