One UAE Expat turns her lucky win around to help others.
It all began with a lucky AED5 note! On her way to work one June morning in 2011, Dubai expat Marie found a five-dirham note on the road. She kept it as her lucky note, using it several months later as a contribution to a Dubai Duty Free raffle ticket. She completely forgot about it until she was contacted a month later to learn she had won a Ducatti Super Bike worth over 65,000 dirhams!

She sold it and decided to donate a portion to charity. Through friends Marie had heard of the RAEY Child and Family Development Association – a school for children affected by HIV in Ethiopia. Marie travelled to Addis Ababa to visit the school in October personally handing over her donation and was incredibly impressed with all they have achieved. On returning to Dubai Marie set about fund-raising enough to sponsor an entire classroom of 20 children through their next academic year.

She has continued to raise money for this worthwhile cause and is aiming to raise US$50,000 to buy a school bus. Some children as young as 4 years old are walking 10/12km to school each morning and again the same distance home each evening. Many of these kids are orphaned and their guardians are also sick and often have to make this trip four times a day with their children.

To help raise this money she is holding events in Dubai such as this quiz night at McGettigan’s and is also taking part in an ‘Ironman’ race over in Australia in December.

If you are interested to learn more please contact marie@raeyfoundation.org

Check out our list of Charities you can get involved with in Dubai