The impact on the community...

Great news - we had another full page publication in our local UAE newspaper "Khaleej Times" at the beginning of this month, telling the story of "Glorious Orphanage" and the blog.

Being very proud of the article and hoping to have reached some people, we were not disappointed. Last week, an email reached us which touched us all:

Hello Sheraton team!

I have been living and working here in Abu Dhabi since moving from Australia nearly two years ago. I work as the Human Resources Coordinator in Abu Dhabi.
 
I was very touched to read your online blog about your visit to the Glorious Orphanage, after reading an article about it. What an amazing and rewarding trip for you and your colleagues.

Of course I'm keen to make an individual donation, and thought perhaps I should purchase some 'bricks' for the proposed new facilities, that I read about in the August 2011 newsletter on the Glorious Orphanage website. 
 
As it turns out I am taking leave soon and, for some weeks now, I've been booked to travel to Tanzania near the end of this month, for the sole purpose of climbing Mt Kilimanjaro with an adventure group. I do actually have a few spare days before I return to work and I was wondering about extending my stay in Tanzania to visit the orphanage and lend a hand. It would only be for two, maybe three, days and then I'd have to head home. Admittedly, this is a rather short period and I don't know if I could be of any practical assistance. But if I could be of any help in any way, either in the yard, or helping in the school, I'd only be too happy to assist. 

I understand that getting to Arusha from Moshi is fairly straightforward and I could make my own accommodation arrangements in Arusha.

I'd also be keen to return for a longer period later in the year to volunteer, if work commitments allowed it.
If such a visit was permitted, I would need to make changes to my existing flight arrangements this week if possible, as I am out of the country from Friday. 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this suggestion. You must be extremely busy, and I expect you have probably been inundated with enquiries, so I do very much appreciate your time.

Thanks,

XX

We've met the gentleman together with Lujan and advised him on his trip to the orphanage. He is planning to buy the "festive meal" for the kids and maybe even food bags for the families! Of course he is also looking forward to help with cooking and playing with the kids. What an exemplary person, we are so happy for him to experience the same as we did!

On another note - Abu Dhabi Week received a call from a 13-years old girl saying "I read the article on the orphanage. I do not have money, but please let me know how I can help otherwise!". Isn't this great?

Bitten by the charity bug: Post-Tanzania plans and activities

It has been one week now that we returned to the UAE and as difficult as it was to adapt again to the "normal" life, the feedback from the local community was overwhelming!

With our blog reaching slowly but surely 2000 followers from 10 different countries, we are convinced that there is a lot of interest out there for charity work.

The media in Abu Dhabi are extremely supportive and eager to learn about the story. We sincerely hope that many readers learn about this project and if there is only ONE person amongst them who donates to the orphanage, we feel that raising awareness in this way was worth it.



Abu Dhabi Week Magazine, 8th of March 2012





Al Zajel Magazine, March 2012

With all this enthusiasm from within and outside our hotel, we have decided to donate the funds which will be raised in the next charity flea market (12th of May) as well as the September one to the "Glorious Orphanage". The "no-email day" funds will also benefit the kids again.

We are not sure yet whether we will send another "task force team" to Tanzania later this year or just giving the amount to Lujan Mourad (Fundraising Director of Glorious Orphanage UAE) who will fly to Arusha in August.

Whatever we decide, we hope that our efforts paired with future media publications will drive additional interest from individuals or corporations towards this topic. We will keep posting media articles (expecting Khaleej Times and Friday Magazine soon), as well as the further development on our fundraising activities for the cause.

If anybody would like to get in contact with Ms Mourad (for information or donations), please feel free to contact her on lujan.mourad@gloriousorphanage.com or contact us directly.

Thanks and we'll keep you up to date!