An Abu Dhabi-based Syrian family has risen to the challenge of feeding people in their homeland by helping to establish an automatic bakery on the front line of the fighting between rebel forces and the Assad regime.
Their charitable organisation, Every Syrian, which they set up in March last year to spearhead a range of humanitarian projects there, collaborated with the US-based Karam Foundation and UK-based Syria Relief to build the bakery in the town of Maarat Al Numan in Idlib.
Residents of the north-western town, which has seen its population decline from 150,000 to 30,000 since 2011 because of the conflict, are desperately in need of outside assistance.
“Ninety per cent are dependent on aid. It’s everybody,” explains Farouk, whose real name cannot be used because his aid activities in insurgent-held areas are considered illegal by the Assad regime and it would put his relatives back in Syria in danger.
Farouk, whose family runs an oil-and-gas services company in the capital, believes that helping people help themselves is the best way to improve people’s lives during the conflict. In addition to providing residents with 50,000 free loaves of bread a day, the bakery provides desperately needed permanent jobs for residents and helps to stimulate the local economy.
Supporting the enterprise, Farouk says, is vastly superior to trucking bread across the border from bakeries in Turkey. “We have 20 people working there,” Farouk says. “That means 20 families have a breadwinner.”
The bakery, built by the groups at a cost of US$50,000 (Dh183,650), is funded by the local city council charity, which must secure donations of more than $40,000 per month to keep it running. The bakery is just one of numerous innovative humanitarian projects that Every Syrian is involved in.
Others include a prosthetic-limbs clinic, where artificial legs are manufactured and distributed gratis to amputees, who are also able to stay on-site and undergo rehabilitation. Since the conflict began, thousands of people have lost limbs, many of whom would not have had to undergo amputation if normal medical services were available. “They don’t have time to save legs,” Farouk says. “They have to move on to the next guy.”
In partnership with MedShare, a US charity dedicated to the efficient recovery and redistribution of surplus medical supplies and equipment, the group sends life-saving container shipments to Syria on a regular basis.
Concerned that the lack of available education will be as destructive to the country as the war itself, Farouk is also looking at ways to get children back in school. “We are looking into internet-based education,” he says.
Last time that The Review spoke to Farouk, in March 2012, he was involved in an informal network that loaded aid – donated food, blankets, medical supplies, clothing, mobile phones and almost anything else that they could lay their hands on – onto lorries destined for Syria, where it would be broken down into smaller parcels and smuggled by car and motorcycle to those in need throughout the country.
But the aid-distribution strategy shifted dramatically after rebel forces seized control of areas in the north. “The Turkish border opened up and that changed everything,” explains Farouk, who has crossed from Turkey into insurgent-held areas in Syria four times over the past year.
“From Turkey to Syria, the line of trucks is amazing. There’s the official crossing and the unofficial crossing, which we use now.
“Last year, we started upping our aid activities significantly.”
There is little doubt in Farouk’s mind that the need for his organisation’s services will continue indefinitely. “It is much worse every time I go back,” he says. “This thing is going to go on for generations.
“As Syrian expats, we have to do this. It is something we have to do as people outside. It is our duty.”
• To find out more about Every Syrian, go to www.everysyrian.org
pmuir@thenational.ae
Specs
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'Gold'
Director:Anthony Hayes
Stars:Zaf Efron, Anthony Hayes
Rating:3/5
The Dictionary of Animal Languages
Heidi Sopinka
Scribe
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Confirmed%20bouts%20(more%20to%20be%20added)
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The Cockroach
(Vintage)
Ian McEwan
EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
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Results
Stage three:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-43
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
4. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s
5. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
6. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) UAE-Team Emirates, at 24s
General Classification:
1. Stefan Bissegger (SUI) EF Education-EasyPost, in 9-13-02
2. Filippo Ganna (ITA) Ineos Grenadiers, at 7s
3. Jasper Philipsen (BEL) Alpecin Fenix, at 12s
4. Tom Dumoulin (NED) Jumbo-Visma, at 14s
5. Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE-Team Emirates, at 18s
6. Joao Almeida (POR) UAE-Team Emirates, at 22s
A new relationship with the old country
Treaty of Friendship between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates
The United kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates; Considering that the United Arab Emirates has assumed full responsibility as a sovereign and independent State; Determined that the long-standing and traditional relations of close friendship and cooperation between their peoples shall continue; Desiring to give expression to this intention in the form of a Treaty Friendship; Have agreed as follows:
ARTICLE 1 The relations between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the United Arab Emirates shall be governed by a spirit of close friendship. In recognition of this, the Contracting Parties, conscious of their common interest in the peace and stability of the region, shall: (a) consult together on matters of mutual concern in time of need; (b) settle all their disputes by peaceful means in conformity with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
ARTICLE 2 The Contracting Parties shall encourage education, scientific and cultural cooperation between the two States in accordance with arrangements to be agreed. Such arrangements shall cover among other things: (a) the promotion of mutual understanding of their respective cultures, civilisations and languages, the promotion of contacts among professional bodies, universities and cultural institutions; (c) the encouragement of technical, scientific and cultural exchanges.
ARTICLE 3 The Contracting Parties shall maintain the close relationship already existing between them in the field of trade and commerce. Representatives of the Contracting Parties shall meet from time to time to consider means by which such relations can be further developed and strengthened, including the possibility of concluding treaties or agreements on matters of mutual concern.
ARTICLE 4 This Treaty shall enter into force on today’s date and shall remain in force for a period of ten years. Unless twelve months before the expiry of the said period of ten years either Contracting Party shall have given notice to the other of its intention to terminate the Treaty, this Treaty shall remain in force thereafter until the expiry of twelve months from the date on which notice of such intention is given.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Treaty.
DONE in duplicate at Dubai the second day of December 1971AD, corresponding to the fifteenth day of Shawwal 1391H, in the English and Arabic languages, both texts being equally authoritative.
Signed
Geoffrey Arthur Sheikh Zayed
How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
Company%20Profile
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Infobox
Western Region Asia Cup Qualifier, Al Amerat, Oman
The two finalists advance to the next stage of qualifying, in Malaysia in August
Results
UAE beat Iran by 10 wickets
Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by eight wickets
Oman beat Bahrain by nine wickets
Qatar beat Maldives by 106 runs
Monday fixtures
UAE v Kuwait, Iran v Saudi Arabia, Oman v Qatar, Maldives v Bahrain
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All or Nothing
Amazon Prime
Four stars
ALRAWABI%20SCHOOL%20FOR%20GIRLS
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
RESULT
Valencia 3
Kevin Gameiro 21', 51'
Ferran Torres 67'
Atlanta 4
Josip Llicic 3' (P), 43' (P), 71', 82'
SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%201.5-litre%204-cylinder%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20101hp%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20135Nm%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20Six-speed%20auto%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20From%20Dh79%2C900%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Now%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
What is graphene?
Graphene is extracted from graphite and is made up of pure carbon.
It is 200 times more resistant than steel and five times lighter than aluminum.
It conducts electricity better than any other material at room temperature.
It is thought that graphene could boost the useful life of batteries by 10 per cent.
Graphene can also detect cancer cells in the early stages of the disease.
The material was first discovered when Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov were 'playing' with graphite at the University of Manchester in 2004.
How to report a beggar
Abu Dhabi – Call 999 or 8002626 (Aman Service)
Dubai – Call 800243
Sharjah – Call 065632222
Ras Al Khaimah - Call 072053372
Ajman – Call 067401616
Umm Al Quwain – Call 999
Fujairah - Call 092051100 or 092224411
Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989
Director: Goran Hugo Olsson
Rating: 5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Company%20Profile
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