DUBAI Abhilasha Sinha, an Indian expat in the city is travelling back home this weekend, and struggling with her excess baggage issues. And she is doing it for a cause.
The 38-year-old mother of two, has managed to collect 250 fancy clothes from fellow UAE residents and is now looking forward to distributing them at orphanages in her home town Lucknow in North India.
“While I was clearing my 10-year-old daughter’s wardrobe one evening, I was reminiscing the smile she would have whenever she saw a new dress at a store before we would buy it,” she says. It was then that she thought about the unfortunate ones back home, who would probably feel the same way on seeing these clothes. “I thought to myself why don’t I distribute these at orphanages and see them smile like my daughter did,” she says.
Dress selection
What started as a personal charity drive slowly spread among Abhilasha’s neighbours, friends, friends of friends and within no time she had collected over 400 items, in just 45 days. “Some of the dresses were torn in places, faded and not in the best condition. My daughter is the one who decides which dress makes it to the final list,” she says.
Desptite her best intentions Abhilasha has had to deal with detractors who felt the outfits wouldn’t really benefit the kids.
“I was asked by a lot of people how would the clothes help the kids. They said I should instead provide them with education or some other things,” she says.
Her response was simple. “The most important thing they need is love, and I am trying my best to help them experience that feeling,” she says.
Speaking about her baggage allowance, she thinks the 250 shortlisted items would add up to nearly 70 kilos. She plans to pack them in two suitcases.
“Since it’s four of us travelling together, we can carry about 120 kilos between us. The remaining 50 kilos will be sufficient for us,” she says, adding her husband will make a second trip if needed and carry more clothes.
This is not the first charity work by the mother-daughter duo. Sometime back they organised a brunch in Al Nahda Park for blue collar workers and helped maids with essential home items.
The orphanages that she will be supporting back home include Munshi Lilavathi Balgrah and Northern Railway Women Officers’ Association apart from working with some philanthropists.
You can contact Abhilasha at abhilasha.s@hotmail.com or 056 681 9685, for contributions.
