Ambassadors’ wives raise QR100,000 for cancer boy

By Salman Siddiqui/Staff Reporter

The Wives of Ambassadors and Heads of Mission (WOHOM) raised more than QR100,000 at a charity show yesterday for a one-year-old boy who suffers from cancer.

The gala event included displays of national costumes, dances and cultural performances from Poland, Bosnia Herzegovina, Brunei, Egypt, Eritrea, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, Palestine, Peru, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and Gambia.

Most ambassadors’ wives came on stage to accompany the artistes and models from their countries.

The boy, Shaim from Yemen, is under treatment abroad for cancer and needs at least QR200,000. While half of the money was raised at the event, the organisers hope to raise the rest in the coming days through publicising the cause in the media.

WOHOM president Bozena Rostek, the wife of the Polish ambassador, told Gulf Times that the idea of holding the event came when she approached Qatar Charity about what her organisation could do to help someone in need.

“They said to me that now there is a small boy, one-year-old, and he needs surgery that requires a lot of money. They had generated money on their own, but they said QR200,000 more is needed.”

She was happy that the event raised QR100,000 within just a couple of hours and hoped the rest would come through other donations soon.

Rostek said that even though wives of ambassadors kept a low profile, there still was a lot of good they could do. “The good thing about being ambassadors’ wives is that we can still make a difference by arranging charity events such as these. We get to engage with the media on important issues.”

“It is our husbands who deal with the politics, while we are in the shadows. But we proved today that we can still do a lot of things like charity, and promote our countries while being in the shadows,” she said.