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Dubai resident Sahar Wahbeh is a fo orce to reckon with. At the time of this intervi iew, the USbo orn Lebanese- Palestinian founde er of Dumyé, an nd her team, had just gotten ba ack to Dubai af fter a week spent conducting work kshops and di istributing dolls to over 700 or rphans in Egypt.gyp . It t was no m mean feat, especially considering g Sahar is also expecting her r second child. Feisty and dr riven, she does not seem to mi ind the challenge one e bit. “I think when you’re an entr repreneur, everyt thing is a challenge. Sometimes, I I wish there was m more time in the day,” she says, la aughing. “But t, really, it is our values that ke eep us groundedd and focused. Respecting Mothe er Nature and beingg compassionate to others… thes se are filters we use f for every decision we make.”
Dumy yé, the handcrafted doll compan ny she started only three years ago, has quite a fe ew of these values thatt make it so unique. Der rived from ‘ Doomyah h’, the Arabic word for doll, Dumy yé uses only Fairtrade organic cotton to create its rag dolls. Thee bodies are made from 100 p per cent organic cotton and are dyed naturally to create a nu umber of complexions ( all the dolls can be personalised for skin, eye and hair colour). Their dolls are stitched by an NG GO in India, which aims to empower the women creating t them, and proceeds go towards funding the next generation o of girls’ education there. Last, but definitely not the least, for e every doll sold, one is given to an orphan or vulnerablel bl child hild somewhere in the world.
Sahar first thought of the idea while looking for a ‘ forever doll’ for her daughter. When she couldn’t find anything tha at was special enough, she decided to dust off her sewing ma achine — and the idea just took off from there. But for thi is ambitious mama, who has a background in design and bran nd development from New York, it was about more than jus st setting up a successful business.
“Dumyé is an extension of me,” she explains. “It is who o I semdaysam and and whatso many I believeof themin. You representlook at all dolls the that wrong are values.sold thes I’m
not really conservative, but the clothes they have on aren n’t