DUBAI // A volunteer group is proving that it is possible to help thousands of people without raising a fil.
Between them, Volunteers in Dubai (VID) and Volunteers in Abu Dhabi (VIAD) provide almost daily help to 138 special needs organisations, without doing any fund-raising or donating any cash. Instead they are armed only with a contact list of almost 10,000 people and businesses.
The founder, Lola Lopez, estimates the groups did more than 30,000 hours of volunteer work and saved UAE charitable organistions Dh2.7 million over the past year alone.
"We are here to help charities spend their money more wisely and, where possible, not spend it at all," she said. Recently, for example, a support group for parents of children and adults with Down's Syndrome needed two new laptops. Instead of buying them new, All 4 Downsyndrome contacted Ms Lopez.
She sent out an e-mail to her thousands of contacts and by the next day she had two donated machines which another member, an IT technician, cleaned up and installed with the latest software.
"I guess I saved them at least Dh2,000 in one day," said Ms Lopez.
Another time, Senses Dubai, a special needs care home, had no cereal for the following morning's breakfast. They called Ms Lopez, who changed her status on Facebook. Within three hours she was delivering 80 cereal boxes to the centre.
"I think so many people want to do good but sometimes they just don't know how. Through my groups I facilitate it so they can do it in a flexible manner, there is no pressure if they want to help and can help then great, if not then maybe they will next time."
VID began three years ago when Ms Lopez, who was working in the aviation sector, decided to get a group of friends together and begin volunteering in the community. She approached charities and offered the group's services and before long was regularly organising her friends to help whenever possible.
As word spread, more people joined her group and she quit her job to dedicate her time to managing them.
"The nuts and bolts of what we do is save charities money, because everything has a value, and if I can take the time to get something for free then I can add value to that charity or support group."
Nadia Khalil al Sayegh, the general manager of Senses Dubai, a residential care home for 80 children and adults with special needs, said Volunteers in Dubai had given her and the centre enormous help and support.
"They are perfect people," she said. "They save me and my staff time, money and most importantly, stress."
Ms al Sayegh said when she had to move the centre's location last month nearly 200 volunteers helped to clean and set up new furniture and transfer all their belongings in two days.
"They were angels," she said. "We could never have done it without them."
Most weeks Ms Lopez takes groups of 50 or more special needs patients and volunteers to Wild Wadi water park, the cinema or Ski Dubai as part of a project called Funday Sundays. She also gets creative with corporations to help them increase their social responsibility.
"Last year Crocs the shoe maker came to us and asked us to put on a sale for their end of season stock and they were planning on donating the proceeds to charity. However, because I don't fundraise I agreed to do the sale on the condition that for every pair of old stock we sold they would give us a brand new pair."
She was given 8,100 pairs of shoes, and spent the next 12 months sending out groups of volunteers to distribute them to kids at special needs centres.
"It would have been much easier for both of us to simply donate cash but doing it this way involves the whole community plus it is fulfilling a direct need. You never know exactly where cash is going but with products it is clear."
VID and VIAD have of late been focusing corporations, encouraging companies to allow their employees to do volunteer work on company time.
"If I find 10 people a day for a month to work at a care home or another charitable organisation I can save them around Dh45,000," said Ms Lopez. "So then I tell the manager of a company that by doing without his secretary for one morning one day a month he is adding to that sum. It's good for both sides."
Alia Galadari, 20, has been volunteering with VID since they began. Miss Galadari, an Emirati medical student in Dubai, said working with Ms Lopez's organisation gave her more than just personal satisfaction.
"It helps me connect with other nationalities as well," she said. "We are in a multicultural city and through working together we can learn about each other, expand our personalities and look at things from different angles. As an Emirati, I also think its important for people to see we can be welcoming and kind in order to redress misconceptions."
@Email:aseaman@thenational.ae
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
PRISCILLA
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Sofia%20Coppola%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Cailee%20Spaeny%2C%20Jacob%20Elordi%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
Could%20We%20Be%20More
%3Cp%3EArtist%3A%20Kokoroko%3Cbr%3ELabel%3A%20Brownswood%20Recordings%3Cbr%3ERating%3A%203.5%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 2 Bournemouth 1
United: Sharp (45 2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
Man of the Match: Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United)
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Farasan Boat: 128km Away from Anchorage
Director: Mowaffaq Alobaid
Stars: Abdulaziz Almadhi, Mohammed Al Akkasi, Ali Al Suhaibani
Rating: 4/5
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
More on animal trafficking
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Transmission: ten-speed
Power: 420bhp
Torque: 624Nm
Price: Dh325,125
On sale: Now
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
Company profile
Company name: Suraasa
Started: 2018
Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker
Based: India, UAE and the UK
Industry: EdTech
Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially