THE BOOK OF GOOD DEEDS THAT WILL BE SENT TO EVERY SCHOOL TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION
Book, published later this year, includes stories of an anti-poverty campaigner and two sisters who set up a library in their home
Global poverty, obesity and literacy are just three of the themes featured in a book of inspiring good deeds by UAE residents.
The Good Deeds book will be published by the end of the year and distributed to the country’s schools.
One of the good samaritans is Saima Khan, 19, who says tackling global poverty is at the heart of her efforts.
“It is the first goal of the United Nations and it’s much more than just hunger,” said Ms Khan, a Dubai-born Indian and the first youth delegate to the UN from the UAE.
“If you see the UN sustainable development goals, they have global poverty as number one and zero hunger, too. It’s a vast term and everyone should have a basic standard of living.”
Ms Khan, who is also brand ambassador of the Thirst Relief Foundation and Protect your Mum campaign, started her humanitarian work when she was 13.
“In India, you walk out and see children starving and dying of hunger almost every day,” she said. “The amount of food wasted there is also very high so I wanted to help solve a problem between that link.”
Through the company she founded, Step Up Dubai, Ms Khan has so far set up water wells in Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan, with plans for another 50 in the next year in 30 poverty-stricken countries.
“I kept visiting labour camps and realised they’ve been deprived of basic sanitation items and food, so I became very attached to this goal,” she said. “There was a need to pay attention to this.”
Aaditya and Aditi Gandhi, 11 and 9, chose to share their passion for reading after being inspired by the UAE’s Year of Reading campaign last year. They turned their living room into a free neighbourhood library for children living in Bur Dubai.
“They had 300 books from their own collection,” said Puja Gandhi, their mother. “They would invite children into our living room, and now we have about 500 books in the library in Arabic, French, Hindi and English.
“They also initiate different events through this library, for recycling, breast cancer awareness, collecting clothes for the Red Crescent and creative writing for children.”
She said the public library did not seem good enough.
“They had a huge collection of books and we were wondering how others could make use of it,” Mrs Gandhi said. “My son came up with the idea because they started reading from an early age and it is their passion to collect books.”
Essa Al Ansari’s passion is fitness. The 25-year-old Emirati from Dubai was told he was obese four years ago, and decided to make an active change to his life.
“So far, I’ve lost 70 kilograms in four years with no operation, only by eating healthy and working out,” said the athlete, who works at Barry’s Bootcamp. “After that, I started my campaign Fitness with Essa on social media and through a website.
“Living in Europe for four years made me realise how many more active people are there while here, it’s all about getting in cabs and getting from A to B, so this is targeted to inspire the young generation and the youth of the UAE.”
Mr Al Ansari hopes to become an international motivational speaker to promote health and fitness after delivering a TED talk in Dubai.
“I’ve also recently seen Shamma Al Mazrui, Minister of State for Youth Affairs, and Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak, Minister of Culture and Knowledge Development, as part of the Beacon of Hope UAE campaign that will launch in September,” he said.
“It is all about helping young generations to live healthier lives. As one of the board members, I’m sure it will be a great cause to push children in schools to become healthy and active.”
Launched by the Abu Dhabi social responsibility organisation Nahtam, the Good Deeds book aims to show children and the public the many acts of philanthropy that are being performed.
The book is expected to be published by the end of September. It will be free across schools in the UAE.
“We have 35 stories in English and Arabic,” said George Itty, chief executive of Nahtam. “We did one book called 67 Inspiring Stories in the name of Nelson Mandela a few years ago, and the feedback from the general public was very successful. That’s what motivated us to create this one.”
Mr Itty had more than 700 applications for Good Deeds.
“I feel very happy when the writers talk to us,” he said. “It’s just a matter that there are people who are doing good. If you give them an opportunity, everybody will participate because they like to do community work and they all have humanity in them.
“So it’s just a matter of polishing it and giving them a push.”
They would invite children into our living room, and now we have about 500 books in the library in Arabic, French, Hindi and English