Thursday, September 2, 2010

After news of a devastating flood in Africa reached Dubai, residents joined together to help rebuild the lives of those affected

Natural disasters seem to be dominating the headlines the last few months.

From a typhoon in the Philippines, a tsunami in the Samoan Islands, an earthquake in Indonesia and a drought in India - all have resulted in the displacement of populations, the destruction to property and heavy loss of life.

In September floods swept through Burkina Faso, a small country hidden in West Africa. But being off the beaten track, and off the radar of most international media agencies, reports of homes being destroyed and people waist deep in water didn’t make it out of the country, until the sister of a Dubai resident sent news of the disaster.

“My sister lives there as an expat and she sent me a message explaining how the skies opened over the town of Ouagadougou and how many houses, which are made from a mixture of mud and straw, collapsed within hours,” says Yannick Hide.

“She asked if there was any way the Dubai community could help fund the rebuilding of people’s homes.”

Yannick translated this message to all her friends and colleagues and the response was overwhelming.

Dubai British School, responded promptly by organising a second hand toy sale.

The primary school children brought in toys that they no longer played with, and were able to buy the second hand toys that they wanted. For an hour, DBS turned into an intense flea market for a very worthy cause.

Work colleagues, friends and neighbours all dug deep into their pockets too, and since then Yannick has managed to raise dhs8,600 to send across to Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso to help rebuild homes for the town’s people.

“This is a story of generosity that saw families, work colleagues and a whole school pull together here in Dubai to promptly raise funds for a neglected cause,” says Yannick.

“If disaster strikes Dubai next, perhaps some privileged community that we don’t know, will pause, put down their lattes, and help give us back our dignity and our future.”