PROCEEDS OF ABU DHABI CHARITY SOUQ TO FUND MEDICAL CENTRE IN MAURITANIA
▶ In the Year of Zayed, Ataya’s energy is focused on needy rural families
It does not look like much from the outside, but the rows of cars parked in the celebration area opposite Mushrif Palace offer a hint to something special within, as Emirati women disappear behind the tent’s white doors.
Ataya, “giving” in Arabic, has been held annually in Abu Dhabi for six years under the patronage of Sheikha Shamsa bint Hamdan Al Nahyan.
Hundreds of women will pour into a temporary exhibition hall until Thursday to buy clothes, food and jewellery in support of an Emirates Red Crescent charity project.
Since its inception, all of the proceeds from the exhibition have been donated to aid organisations in the UAE and abroad.
This year, money from Ataya will be dedicated to aid projects in the Mauritanian village of Dali Gimba, where it will be used to build houses, schools, health facilities and an ophthalmology centre because more than half of the population suffers from congenital blindness.
Dozens of local and regional businesses have set up booths for the five-day exhibition, selling clothes, perfume, natural herbs, jewellery, furniture and food.
The Nashwa Jewellery booth sells pearl pieces that it promises will repair the wearer’s energy. Visitors to the stall can have a picture of their aura taken to learn what kind of energy they should nourish.
“All pearls bring calm and tranquillity and put you at ease,” says Linda Anderson, a life coach from the Soul Centre in Scotland who specialises in chakras. “Pearls are energy.”
Ms Anderson says that wearing a dark pearl brings wisdom, while lighter-toned ones bring self-love and comfort “like a spiritual hug”.
Nashwa Jewellery, which was launched by Nashwa Al Ruwaini, sells pieces using natural, untreated pearls from the seawater off Al Mirfa in Abu Dhabi’s Al Dhafra region.
“I wanted to start a jewellery line that is very socially responsible and very much in line with sustainability,” Mrs Al Ruwaini says.
About month ago, she collaborated with the Environment Agency Abu Dhabi on the Lulu project, a sustainability initiative to culture pearls.
“Pearls are the only gems that you need to preserve the environment for them to come out, so pollution affects pearls,” she says.
The jewellery is designed in a way that allows the pearl to be in direct contact with the skin so they may have a healing effect, Mrs Al Ruwaini says.
The exhibition was opened on Sunday by Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of State for Tolerance, and Noura Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, was later seen visiting the stalls.
As he toured the exhibition, Sheikh Nahyan said Ataya was particularly significant this year because it coincided with the Year of Zayed.
He said he was optimistic that the proceeds would greatly contribute to the development Dali Gimba, where a lack of basic services means its residents endure extremely difficult living conditions.
“This year Ataya’s cause has moved a step forward by contributing to the development, construction and social stability of the Mauritanian families in this rural village,” Sheikh Nahyan said.
In its first year, Ataya supported a children’s cancer centre in Lebanon. The following year, it donated all proceeds to 11 autism centres in the UAE.
In 2014, the UAE’s inmates benefited from Ataya’s revenues as the money was given to the Faraj Fund, which helps prisoners to pay off their debts.
The year after, money went towards a maternity and children’s hospital for refugees in Kurdistan.
In 2016, Ataya contributed to education projects in Socotra, Afghanistan, Mauritania, Egypt, India and the Philippines. And last year, the money was donated to people suffering from kidney failure.
The Emirates Red Cresent event has become a big fixture on Abu Dhabi’s charities calendar