A group of pupils has joined a charity to help labourers with essential supplies this Ramadan.
The children at Al Shohub school have donated 155 boxes of toiletries and bedding to the Dubai based charity HelpingHandsUAE for its Eid Gift Box Appeal, to be given to labourers at the lowest end of the pay scale.
Elizabeth Bromfield, the school's head teacher, said: "We're so pleased with the response. The children have really enjoyed being involved with this project and after the success of this, we're going to start doing a monthly 'day of giving'.
"These are very fortunate children and it's very important that they learn about those who are not so lucky and have nothing. For us, this is the beginning of an ongoing thing for all the children in the school."
Distribution of the boxes is to begin today in labour camps in Dubai and last through Eid al Fitr.
Sarah Zimmerman, a teacher at the school, said the idea was in keeping with the emphasis on academics, culture and citizenship. "While the concept of shoebox donations is long established abroad, we decided this year to partner with HelpingHandsUAE," she said, adding that pupils and teachers were also donating mini-zakat of Dh10 (US$2.72) a week.
Each Ramadan, the school's senior year elects a student charity co-ordinator, and they decide which charities will receive the money raised throughout the year.
Miss Zimmerman said: "Last year we donated time and money to Make-A-Wish UAE and raised enough money to donate three laptops to terminally ill children and children with very serious diseases in Abu Dhabi."
HelpingHandsUAE was set up two years ago by the British expatriates Roger and Elle Trow. The charity began as a small project to help a group of Filipino labourers who had not been paid for five months and could hardly find money for food.
Mrs Trow said: "After the Filipinos, we clothed a group of Indian labourers who we found freezing in the winter months, still wearing their summer clothes. My husband and I went to Carrefour and bought a load of sweaters and it just grew from there."
This is the second year they have organised the Eid box project but they hope that they will exceed last year's distribution of around 2,000 boxes by thousands.
The charity is still run out of the couple's home in Umm Suqeim. They have a medical team of dentists, doctors and psychologists who the couple take around to the camps. They are now looking for Hindi-speaking doctors, dentists, dieticians, psychiatrists and ophthalmologists.
More information is available at www.helpinghandsuae.com.
mswan@thenational.ae
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Race card:
6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; 2,000m
7.05pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; 2,200m
7.40pm: Conditions; Dh240,000; 1,600m
8.15pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 2,000m
8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed; Dh265,000; 1,200m
9.25pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; 1,600m
10pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 1,400m
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Specs
Engine 3.8-litre, twin-turbo V8
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 582bhp (542bhp in GTS model)
Torque: 730Nm
Price: Dh649,000 (Dh549,000 for GTS)
Warlight,
Michael Ondaatje, Knopf
if you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct to Kolkata from Dh1,504 and Dh1,450 return including taxes, respectively. The flight takes four hours 30 minutes outbound and 5 hours 30 minute returning.
The trains
Numerous trains link Kolkata and Murshidabad but the daily early morning Hazarduari Express (3’ 52”) is the fastest and most convenient; this service also stops in Plassey. The return train departs Murshidabad late afternoon. Though just about feasible as a day trip, staying overnight is recommended.
The hotels
Mursidabad’s hotels are less than modest but Berhampore, 11km south, offers more accommodation and facilities (and the Hazarduari Express also pauses here). Try Hotel The Fame, with an array of rooms from doubles at Rs1,596/Dh90 to a ‘grand presidential suite’ at Rs7,854/Dh443.
If you go
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Chicago from Dh5,215 return including taxes.
The hotels
Recommended hotels include the Intercontinental Chicago Magnificent Mile, located in an iconic skyscraper complete with a 1929 Olympic-size swimming pool from US$299 (Dh1,100) per night including taxes, and the Omni Chicago Hotel, an excellent value downtown address with elegant art deco furnishings and an excellent in-house restaurant. Rooms from US$239 (Dh877) per night including taxes.
The biog
Favourite food: Tabbouleh, greek salad and sushi
Favourite TV show: That 70s Show
Favourite animal: Ferrets, they are smart, sensitive, playful and loving
Favourite holiday destination: Seychelles, my resolution for 2020 is to visit as many spiritual retreats and animal shelters across the world as I can
Name of first pet: Eddy, a Persian cat that showed up at our home
Favourite dog breed: I love them all - if I had to pick Yorkshire terrier for small dogs and St Bernard's for big
