UAE's Arab Hope Makers share how Dh1m prize changed their lives

Maali (left), Hisham AL Thahabi (centre) and Fares-Ali-(right)

The UAE's Arab Hope Makers award of Dh1 million is helping previous winners rebuild their war-torn and poverty-hit communities.
Launched in 2017 by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, the award aims to promote and celebrate humanitarian efforts.
Iraqi national Hisham Al Dahabi, for example, became an Arab Hope Maker and received the Dh1-million prize in 2017. He and three other recipients spoke at the World Government Summit this week about some of the humanitarian initiatives they have started after winning the award.
Al Dahabi had established the Iraqi House of Creativity to shelter homeless children at the peak of a war in 2004, and he also took part in drafting the child protection law in Iraq.
Now, he's using the award fund to further enhance his work in preventing child labour and helping homeless children.
"You are not just helping children, you are forming personalities that will lead the positive change in the future," he said. "Working hand in hand with the government is necessary to bring about the change that would benefit society as a whole."
A 2018 awardee, Sudanese Faris Ali, is on a mission to improve lives in villages in Sudan.
He started his work several years ago when he brought 20 home-made sandwiches to schools after learning that young pupils were dropping out due to hunger.
Slowly, his community volunteered to help make sandwiches, until they fed 35,000 students daily in 123 schools. Ali had distributed over 49 million sandwiches over the past nine years, with the help of more than 1,200 volunteers through his 'Food for Education' campaign.
Now, he is working with food distribution and school development teams to rehabilitate 17 villages and provide aid to over 25,000 students across the country. He regularly contributes to government committees as an expert, helping them in the drive to find food security solutions.
"Education is our only way to raise a generation capable of driving a positive change. We look to change our work from emergency aid to development projects that can completely change the situation in Sudan," Ali said.
Kuwaiti national Ma'ali Al Asousi won the award in 2017. She has devoted herself to volunteering in war-torn Yemen after seeing the poverty that has struck the country.
Her work is centered around empowering vulnerable women and children. She leads over 30 campaigns that help more than 250,000 people with the support of 1,400 volunteers, out of whom 70 per cent are women. So far, she has put together 637 youth scholarships and 51 water supply projects for 450,000 people.
Al Asousi has faced several challenges in her volunteer work as a woman, including multiple arrests and threats from militant groups who accused her of 'corrupting girls' for educating them.
"Women have more access in vulnerable communities, giving them a bigger influence in helping others. Women are the mothers of future generations. They have to be educated enough to raise better generations able to combat radicalism," she said.
KT NANO EDIT
Celebration of humanity
By expressing gratitude to those who dedicate their lives for the improvement of the Arab World, the award not only encourages such actions but also celebrates humanity and humanitarian works. The UAE has once again shown the world that it considers humanitarian works as a responsibility it takes very seriously.
sarwat@khaleejtimes.com