{life}

Family........................................... 48
Travel.............................................50
 Fashionably
Frugal
Shop for savings on fall fashions
for your style-conscious kids
w./life/02.10.2009/aracontent.com

48
 Family

T
his year, even more fam-
ilies are trying to save
money without denying
their children the fash-
ion essentials they need.
When it comes to clothing, mums
fear that their hard-earned money
will be wasted on items that can
get ruined by 'kid stains' within the
first school term or even the first
few hours of playtime.
This fall, save yourself the stress
and take the advice of Yahoo! fi-
nance columnist and mother, Lau-
ra Rowley, on how to save while
shopping and ensure that your
children’s favourite outfits can be
worn all season long, so you don’t
have to buy new ones:
Shop with a list
Before you begin shopping, take a
look in your children’s closet and
figure out what items they need.
This way, when you get to the store,
you’re only on the lookout for spe-
cific items. Fortunately, current
kids fashion trends favour a frugal
approach: Faded jeans, leggings,
soft plaid shirts, graphic T-shirts,
distressed leather jackets, scarves
and messenger bags are items that
can easily be swapped with friends
and other family members.
Use coupons
If you shop at a department store,
make sure to ask the cashier if
there are any coupons behind the
counter. Most people don’t realise table stains that occur during ev- to be handed down to siblings or
how many deals can actually be eryday wear. In fact, according to a friends.
negotiated while in the store. If you 2006 P&G study, nearly $800 mil-
prefer shopping online, look for lion in children’s clothing is wasted Trade it in
retail sites that give you rewards because the clothing is used for Though gift cards are great gift
with every purchase. You can also play, thrown away or worn with a ideas, sometimes you just can’t
search the Internet for weekly or stain. To fight stains on children’s make use of them. This fall, trade
w./life/02.10.2009/aracontent.com

monthly coupons that can be used
in conjunction with your online
and in-store purchases.
Get more out of your
children’s clothing
Once you’ve shopped for the child’s
wardrobe, it pays to help protect
your investment from the inevi-
clothing throughout the year, Tide
has created new Tide Stain Release
— an in-wash booster that helps
remove many tough, fresh and
dry stains that kids often encoun-
ter, such as grass and ketchup. By
taking proper care of your chil-
dren’s clothing, you can help their
new wardrobe last long enough
or cash in your unwanted gift
cards. Do a search for a card ex-
change website — there are many
available that allow you to get up to
85 per cent of the card’s value back
in cash. You can put this newfound
money toward purchases at some
of your children’s new favourite
clothing stores.

49
 SMILES ON
WHEELS:
A mobile
hospital in
Delhi is aided
by trekkers

TOP OF THE
WORLD:
Trekkers climb
to the top of
Kilimanjaro

Before you book your next beach

holiday, think about swapping your
bikini for some hiking boots and
helping a good cause. Georgina
Wilson-Powell discovers that
helping charities can be just as
much fun as working on your tan

W
hat could be better than trekking through the Himalayan moun-
tains or cycling through Vietnam and Cambodia? How about earn-
ing money for charity at the same time? Gulf 4 Good is a UAE-based
charity that aims to improve under-privileged children’s lives all
over the world, but at the same time offers anyone who is interested
in a once in a lifetime, possibly life-changing, experience. Less a holiday and more an
adventure, the charity organises several treks a year, at varying levels of difficulty.
Previous challenges have included an alternative Inca trail, kayaking in Madagascar
in addition to the treks mentioned above, and the organisation is gearing up for a two
week trek in Nepal next month.
The trips are open to anyone who is fit enough to join. “We get people from all ages
and all nationalities,” explains Patricia Anderson, communications manager for the
w./life/02.10.2009

charity. “We’ve had 36 nationalities take part so far. On the last trek we had a couple of
Kuwaiti ladies who found out about us whilst they were surfing the Internet looking
for spa holidays.”
Each trek supports a local charity in the country, and one day of the experience is

50
 Travel

PEOPLE POWER:
SAVE THE
Volunteers get
CHILDREN:
ready for a trek in
Gulf 4 Good
Tanzania
challengers
with slum kids
in Delhi

Trekking
for
charity
CLIMB EVERY
MOUNTAIN:
Participants at the
w./life/02.10.2009

Everest base camp

51

taken up with visiting that charity
and helping out.
In terms of giving, you can’t get
much more direct.
Leanne Brown from the UK took
part in the recent trek to Peru. “Hav-
ing the opportunity for interaction
with the children at the charity was
amazing. Visiting their homes and
helping to paint their school made it
all that much more meaningful.
“The trip was brilliant in the way
that it managed to combine the
charity work with the physical and
mental challenge. It allowed us a
glimpse into the true history and
culture of the country.”
Started in 2001, the charity is
overseen by a board of voluntary
governors and welcomes anyone
who wants to participate.
Often a Gulf 4 Good trek is the
first time people have done some-
thing like this, both in terms of the
adventure and helping others on
such a large scale.
The charity is also supported by
Fitness First health club, which
helps trekkers get into shape to
cope with the challenge ahead.
Butheina Kazim, a UAE resident,
is going on her first trek next month
with the group. “I have always
wanted to participate in a similar
challenge, which combines adven-
ture, travel and charity work.
“I can’t wait to experience the
w./life/02.10.2009
SCHOOL DAYS: Participants in Peru paint a school
52
Travel
culture, landscape and the hands-
on encounter with the New Youth
Development Center, which is the
charity we’re supporting. I’m look-
ing forward to seeing the children
and the conditions they live in and
being able to make their lives slight-
ly better through this initiative.”
Each volunteer taking part in a
Gulf 4 Good trek pays an admin fee
of Dh1,850 and then raises a mini-
mum target of between Dh10,000
and Dh20,000, usually through
sponsorship.
Once raised, a third of the money
goes on expenses like flights and
food, and everything else goes to
the children in need.
In a world where it is all too easy
to donate online or pop spare coins
into a charity box, we don’t often get
to see where the cash goes.
Charities like Gulf 4 Good help to
rebuild the link between the donor
and the recipient, whose life will
benefit from the generosity.
“One of our voluntary governors
researches the charities in the local
area. We usually pick the smaller
ones who wouldn’t be able to adver-
tise for donations,” says Anderson.
“We offer to help with a specific
project, like building a school, and
then go through all their accounts.
We’ll often pay for materials and
things directly. People want to learn
about where their money is going.
It’s a great reflection in our soci-
ety that people want to actively do
things, rather than just sit back and
let others do it for them,” she adds.
Often billed as a life-changing ex-
perience, many of the participants
carry on helping others once they
get back to their home country, or
even continue to privately support
the charity they helped.
“I often think about the children I
met on a tea plantation in Borneo,”
says Nabil Habbouche who took
part in 2007. “Meeting them has had
a lasting effect.”
Gulf 4 Good’s treks double up as
a sustainable adventure, too. All
guides and services needed are lo-
cally bought and trekking or kaya-
king doesn’t exactly produce many
carbon emissions.
The organisation has been joined
by Arctic explorer Adrian Hayes,
who will advise on how the charity
can go further its green credentials
and volunteers have started plant-
ing trees which produce fruit or
something useful on every trek.
Most years, the treks have about
25 participants, but this year the
charity has noticed a downturn in
numbers.
“We’ve got about 16 people going
on the next trek. People are worried
about taking time off work and fund-
raising has got harder. But, the kids
who need help are still there, even if
we ran 100 treks a year it wouldn’t
even scratch the surface.”
Despite the lower numbers, there
are plenty of people who come back
every year. Habbouche is planning
to do both the Himalayan trek and a
Kilimanjaro adventure in 2010.
“The simple fact that children are
benefitting from my participation
means that I’ll keep coming back.
Kids are usually the first victims,
but they’re also our future, so in-
vesting in them is vital,” he says.
Anderson agrees, “The charities
are thrilled to receive some help
and it’s amazing to see people come
together and share a real sense of
achievement.”
Rather than booking another
beach holiday, why not think about
doing something different and com-
bine making the world a better place
with an experience that will be trea-
sured forever?
wknd@khaleejtimes.com