UAE school kids rush help for quake-hit Nepal

Impacted by the news of the devastating Nepal earthquake, and how it left many homeless and stripped of basic necessities, a Sharjah-based student community initiated a relief drive to help those in need.

Titled ‘Nepal Quake Relief Drive’, the campaign organised by ‘Students of the Earth’ got an overwhelming response on their social media platforms.

“We were impressed with the overwhelming response and generous contributions from people all across Sharjah. It is our bit to bring smiles on the faces of Nepal quake victims,” said student group president Arushi Madan.

Venkatesan, who leads charity and humanitarian activities of the group, added, “It is heartening to see people contributing for such noble causes. We should help those who are affected by such fury of nature.”

“We had two things very clear in our mind – we would accept only non-financial assistance in the form of goods and we wanted our collection to reach an authentic and well-recognised organisation to ensure that it genuinely reaches the needy in Nepal,” she added.

Once they completed their campaign, the collected items were handed over to  Emirates Red Crescent in Dubai on May and it now be transported to Nepal within a week.

“We didn’t want volunteers to dump their unwanted clothes as that’s not going to do any good for  tragedy-hit Nepalese people.”

Their announcement specified that food items (ready-to-eat) should have at least 6 months validity and priority for blankets, tents, and basic toiletries. The volunteers then packed the items into cartons, and handed them over to the Red Crescent.

“We collected 60 boxes and we kept this campaign open for five days as we wanted to send out the relief at the earliest,” added Arushi, who studies at Delhi Private School in Sharjah.

School Transport Services LLC stepped in to help them transport the goods from the collection point to the Red Crescent centre in Gharoud and Spinneys on King Faisal Road and Precision Exhaust in Sharjah Airport Free Zone provided the empty cartons for the packaging.

Volunteer Ayesha Tabrez said, “It feels good when you get to help the needy. This is my way of bringing smiles on their faces.”

Another enthusiastic volunteer Albira Khan helped in a big way by collecting and contributing 14 boxes of various kinds of goods.

Student volunteer Mohit Talreja added, “Service to humanity is a great work of life. After seeing the immense destruction in Nepal, I felt it was my duty to help out.”

“Students for the Earth” is a member of Earth Charter International Youth Groups.