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CARING mum Aurora Nolasco rallied her children to spread a little happiness into the lives of displaced refugees and watched as it grew into a concerted community effort.
She received support from her employer and her children’s school and as a result a shipment of supplies is now winging its way to a camp in Erbil, Iraq.
DHL Express Iraq & Afghanistan human resource manager, Aurora, and her caring children have been cooking up traditional Portuguese pumpkin jam and swapping the jars for stationery and books to be donated to help equip temporary classrooms set up for young refugees.
The mother-of-five said: “My children and I love to cook and we have cooked jam together before as a family and then given it to our friends. That’s when I thought this could be a good initiative. I give people jam and they give me four items of stationery or more.
“I posted this initiative on my personal Facebook page and soon schools, bakeries, banks and many individuals contacted me asking for jam in exchange for stationery.”
The big-hearted family has been spending recent Friday mornings and afternoons driving around the kingdom dropping off the tasty jars of jam to everyone who has participated in the exchange and picking up donated supplies of notebooks, bags, pencils, pens and reading books.
Aurora said she had been keen to get her children, Daniel, nine, Abdulla, five, Alya, 14 and Jamal, 13, involved in social responsible activities. Her eldest child James, 18, is currently away studying at college. She has also been inspired by her company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities like ‘GOGREEN, GOTEACH & GOHELP’, where employees actively engage in helping communities in need all around the globe.
“You see, on a global scale, DHL supports many initiatives,” she explained. “And, on a personal level, giving back, supporting education and lending a helping hand is key and a very important factor of my day-to-day life. We can all do a little and that ‘little’ effort may just go a long way.
“I believe it is important that the children of today are aware that sometimes circumstances change and that there is always a way to overcome challenges.
“We as adults carry the responsibility and have a great opportunity to be role models to our children, the fact of life is that we are all here for a little while, why not make it worthwhile, why not look around us and lend a helping hand when needed? Why not? The reward of delivering results is great, however, the reward of knowing that you have made a difference is even greater, in my opinion.”
As news of the family’s endeavours became better known, DHL Express Iraq & Afghanistan teams based in Bahrain, schools including Nadeen School and St Christopher’s School, a Brownie Unit, parents and even bakeries, such as Tuga Bakery in Amwaj Islands, offered support.
She said: “We are so grateful for the show of support across Bahrain. Moreover, we were very excited to see the unity between all the communities. The results show how little efforts can make a big difference.”
The books collected will be used in a ‘reading corner’ located at Erbil’s refugee camp. Around 100 jars of jam were swapped and Aurora’s children, who attend the Multinational School, came up with the idea of making soft snowmen filled with rice to trade too.
Aurora said: “The snowmen were a continuation of the jam project. It came up as an arts and crafts thing from my kids. Some of the DHL staff also got involved in making them.
“I would like to thank all who provided aid and support to this initiative as well as my colleagues who immediately provided the necessary assistance to make this a success.”
Since the swap, more than a thousand kilos of stationery items have been collected with the first batch of supplies already delivered.
The second batch of boxes full of stationery and books were sent earlier in the week full of items including those donated by the Nadeen School Year 5 and Year 6 students, parents and staff. The children organised a collection table every morning for two weeks. The Student Council also hosted a fund-raising Costume Day and collected BD315 which was used towards purchasing additional school supplies, soft toys and craft materials.
Pauline Puri, Nadeen School principal, said: “The children were very proud of their donation but, more so, were so empathic to the plight of the refugee children.”
* Aurora and the DHL team are now concentrating on supporting GulfWeekly’s Wrap Up for Christmas Appeal in which readers are being urged to donate blankets and socks. Items can be dropped off at Bahrain Rugby Football Club and at St Christopher’s Cathedral and will be delivered by DHL, the world’s leading express delivery and logistics company, before Christmas morning to the refugees.
