“Friends of the Big Heart” form an extended family of donors for almost 2 million Syrian refugees
For this 12-year-old Syrian boy, fasting every Holy Month was the norm; but this year the difference is that he began fasting long before Ramadan started. Not by choice, but because he wanted to leave enough food for his younger sisters and wheelchair-bound grandmother.
Ramadan is typically welcomed as a season to spend at home with the family in shared gratitude for everything you have. But with 850,000 Syrian children having been left homeless, and many of them now having no parents, no healthcare, no education and sometimes no identity, the most heartwarming thing is how they somehow still find something to be grateful for.
The Syrian boy – who declines to give his name to protect relatives still trapped in Syria – remembers: “Before she died in the bombardment, my mother used to say Ramadan is about family. But for every relative we lost, there are a hundred strangers from other countries who want to helpand become our extended family.”
The boy is referring to the “Friends of the Big Heart for Syrian Refugee Children Campaign”, in which UAE companies of all sizes are forming donor networks to make their collective fundraising go further and last longer.
In addition to donations through SMS and bank deposits, the campaign has triggered such inspirational fundraising as a charity walk by handicapped supporters, and even schoolchildren donating their birthday gifts and school prize money.
According to the ‘Big Heart’, HH Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, UNHCR Eminent Advocate for Refugee Children,“These inspiring contributions prove that the humanitarian spirit is alive and well. We are all one extended family, and generosity runs in the family.”
The boy adds that he and his siblings are already looking forward to sharing the little they have with the 8,000 new refugees pouring across the border each day – 50% of whom are children. There is now mounting optimism that the “Friends of the Big Heart” can combine the crescent moon of Ramadan with the rising sun of Hope to eclipse the refugees’ troubles – if only for a few more days.
Donors can make life-saving contributions to the ‘Big Heart for Syrian Refugee Children’ campaign. Funds are collected through ‘Salam Ya Seghar’, endorsed by HH Sheikha Jawaher.
SMS “Donate”:
Etisalat network: 2000(AED10), 2002(AED50), 2003(AED100)
du network: 9965 (AED10), 9967 (AED50), 9968 (AED100)
Bank Details:
Account Name: Salam Ya Seghar “For Syrian Refugee Children”
Account Number: 0034430430012
(Kindly write the bank account number behind your cheque)
IBAN: AE580410000034430430012
Contact: +971-6-594-1111/15/03
The Executive Office of HH Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qasimi
Amel Anbar Bashir Ali, +971-6-594-1103
amel.b@hheo.ae