The night before Debbie Smith won Dh20,000 in the Secret Sound competition on the radio channel Dubai 92 on Monday, April 28, she was trying to help a group of children in rural Nepal who had been affected by the massive earthquake that hit the country on Saturday, April 25.
Smith, with 14 other Dubai-based residents, had spent time in Nepal supporting education project of the not-for-profit organisation Children of the Mountain earlier this year and was deeply affected by the images of destruction emerging from there. So when 92 Breakfast presenter Catboy asked her what she’d do with the prize money if she correctly identified the secret sound they had played that day, she didn’t need any time to think.
“With all the things that have gone on [in Nepal] and all the devastation over there, this will go straight to Nepal,” said the mother of four, who correctly identified the sound as an umbrella being popped open.
Catboy says Smith’s response “caught us all on the back-foot”, adding that the prize money had been carried forward from the past few days of failed attempts from listeners trying to identify the sound. “When Debbie said the answer, and then said she would give all the money away, I had a split second to try to gather myself and, as you could probably hear on air, I didn’t manage it too well.”
Her response got a big cheer from the radio crew and they were inundated with calls and messages from listeners who were overwhelmed by her generosity.
“This cause is just close to my heart having spent time with the children in the slums of Nepal,” says the 41-year-old Briton. “The place I visited is 125km away from the city and it took us nine hours to get there. As it is, this is a country with poverty and this earthquake has made it worse. I was chatting with one of the children I met through the charity on Facebook and she was crying about the damage and loss they are facing.”
Smith is already working on getting the money and supplies to the charity, with the help of the team she went with to Nepal.
“We are in touch with the people of the charity to see how we can support them right now. Earlier we sent Dh125,000 in total for building proper schools and other educational supplies. But now we are trying to collect tents and food for long term rehabilitation efforts. This win has just bolstered that effort.”
Smith says her radio moment has inspired others in the community to contribute, as well.
“I’ve been getting calls and messages from people who want to donate,” she says.
“Right now, the best thing to do is donate money as that is what they need. But if you have supplies, such as tents and clothes, then we can collect them and send them across later.”
Catboy says they received messages from listeners who want to get involved in and support Smith in her efforts. “I had people texting saying they were crying in their cars and that we ruined their make-up that morning.”
aahmed@thenational.ae