Ismailis in the News: Zenny Hirji – Chairperson, Children’s Hope Foundation

The many tastes of charity

By Shiva Kumar Thekkepat, Staff Writer

Sharing recipes is one way of being charitable. Literally. As has been the newest endeavour between The Children’s Hope Foundation (CHF) and the Sheraton Hotel, Dubai. Packed with recipes from the diplomatic community in the UAE, it hopes to arouse people’s geberosity, tastefully.

“Fundraising cookbooks are a dignified way for any group to raise funds for charity,” says Zenny Hirji, chairperson, Children’s Hope Foundation (CHF), Dubai Chapter. “At the same time, cookbook publishing can preserve these timeless keepsake recipes.”

So naturally when the management of the Sheraton Dubai Creek Hotel and Towers came up with the idea of publishing a cookbook, with the proceeds going to CHF, Zenny was only too happy. It was a first for them, and fitted in with Zenny’s ideals.

For the Sheraton management, however, it was treading new territory. One would expect a large hotel chain to produce cookbooks at the drop of a hat.

But, “We had not published a proper book before,” says Thomas van Opstal, general manager of the hotel. “We had tossed the idea around for a while … it was intriguing.”

A collection of recipes from a hotel’s kitchen is not an unusual endeavour, but why a round-up of the favourite recipes of the diplomats posted in the UAE?

“I suppose one of the reasons is that we get a lot of customers from the diplomatic circles,” says van Opstal. “And then somebody came up with the idea of what they serve at the parties hosted by the ambassadors … and it just took off from there.”

Each country has its own colourful culture and wealth of traditions and this is reflected in their food, says van Opstal. “Thus, the idea of an introduction to their traditional cuisines. And a look at how diplomats entertain and dine.”

The aim was also to provide an insight into how the diplomatic community has grown in the UAE and also provide an understanding of how different countries’ representatives entertain in a foreign land.

After all, what could be more elegant than a diplomat’s dinner party? Zenny was thrilled and the idea was presented to Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of Dubai Department of Civil Aviation, Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Group, and patron of the Children’s Hope Foundation.

“I explained the idea of a cookbook [to raise funds] to him and he approved of it,” says Zenny. “So we were only too happy to assist in the venture.”

Then came the nitty-gritty. “We wrote to all the Consuls General, ambassadors and attaches,” says van Opstal.

“Our plan was not to dwell on too many recipes but to present a meal, starting with an appetiser, followed by a main course and rounding it off with dessert. Then came the question”

“How many people was the recipe to be devised for? Anyway, we sent off (our) requirements to the consulates and they came back to us with their recipes.”

But it was not as easy as that. “We had to follow up with them,” says van Opstal. “Many a time, the ingredients mentioned in the recipe were not easily available here.

“Also, some ingredients were not allowed in the country and sometimes, some of them just did not make any sense to our chef who would try out the recipe and (recommend it to us to also sample it). So there was a lot of going back and forth.”

Part of the reason they refused to just compile the recipes was that From The Diplomat’s Kitchen was not meant to be a glossy coffee-table production that would cost a fortune, sell a few hundreds, grace a table for a few months and then be forgotten.

“We wanted to compile a set of recipes that would make sense to everyone who likes to cook,” says van Opstal. “It could not be just so much exotica … it had to be practical as well. We wanted something that anybody who wanted to throw a party would be able to use at home. It would be no good otherwise.”

Zenny agrees. “You can’t just expect people to give away hard-earned money without giving them some value in return,” she says.

It is evident from the book that it is a no-frills effort. For one, there are no glossy colour pictures that make you want a meal just after you had had your industrial-strength sandwich.

The size of the book too is restricted to that of a modest paperback. The price is a mere Dh80. And all these factors were put into place for a good reason. “Our intention was to come up something like a practical guide (to cooking),” says van Opstal.

The idea seems to have paid off.

From the Diplomatic Kitchen, which was launched in January this year without much fanfare, has already sold more than 200 copies.

“For a launch without any publicity, it is very good,” says Zenny. “We had them for sale at the annual Al Noor lunch and all of them were sold on the spot.”

The CHF’s strategy is to sell them at such fundraisers. The upcoming gala planned on the SS Grand Dhow on March 14 would be the next such opportunity. “Most of the people have liked the effort,” says Zenny. “All of them are talking about the book.”

The 31 recipes, from as many countries, have been contributed by either the wives of the diplomats who are instrumental in planning the dinner parties or the chefs who prepare them.

The history of charity cookbooks
The idea of publishing cookbooks for charitable purposes is not a new phenomenon. “Charity,” “church” or “community” cookbooks made their first appearance over 150 years ago to raise money for worthy causes.

Tens of thousands of charity cookbooks have been published since the first one in 1864, according to Kansas State University library.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, times when nearly all women were financially and politically dependent on men, women found the means to support causes ranging from homes for friendless women, old age homes, orphanages, garden clubs, women’s colleges and reading groups.

The enjoyment of these books was immediate and went far beyond the kitchen: the buyer had the satisfaction of helping fund an important cause, read what her neighbours were cooking, compare her skills to others and learn which advertisers supported the community.

Women used these books to share their talent and to support some part of their world at a time when charity cookbooks were one of the few ways in which non-professional women could gain financial support for a cause.

“And that is just what we hope to do with From the Diplomat’s Kitchen,” says Zenny.

The foundation’s work
The book is just the most recent of the CHF’s efforts to raise money for its charitable causes. “The mandate of Children’s Hope Foundation is to provide medical, educational and leisure facilities for children suffering from illness, disability or poverty, wherever and whenever they occur,” says Zenny.

“The public response to CHF continues to be tremendous and to date, CHF provides assistance to no less than 60 beneficiaries in the UAE, the UK, Asia, Africa and Europe. Donations to these various recipients come in the form of funding, equipment, facilities and manpower.”

In Dubai, the CHF came into being in 2000, when Zenny moved here from London. Her years of charity experience with various groups in the UK including the Children’s Hope Foundation, were put to use in her new country of residence almost immediately.

Zenny quickly assembled a group of like-minded volunteers to continue CHF’s work in Dubai and, most importantly, she secured a large number of sponsors who generously supported CHF’s work.

Under the patronage of Shaikh Ahmad, CHF flourished and is now “one of the most recognisable and respected charities in the region”, according to Zenny.

“The proceeds from the various functions we organise have been distributed throughout the community and abroad. Locally, CHF has provided social opportunities for children suffering from cancer, contributed to the construction of a new wing for the Rashid Paediatric Therapy Centre and supported the work of Al Noor Centre for Children with Special Needs.”

CHF also continues to contribute to the work of The Dubai Centre for Special Needs, the Dubai Autism Centre and Manzil in Sharjah.

Because the Children’s Hope Foundation does not identify itself solely with one particular illness, project or disability, it is able to respond to cries for assistance from many different areas and for many different purposes.

“It is this flexibility that allowed CHF to respond to the plight of the people in Gujarat when the area was devastated by a huge earthquake in 2001,” says Zenny. CHF sourced the funding and expertise to build seven houses for people in the region.

In 2002, CHF responded to a call from the Shaikh Mohammed Charitable and Humanitarian Foundation as it set up the first refugee camps inside war-torn Afghanistan.
In early 2005, CHF heeded the worldwide call to work for victims of the tsunami that devastated many countries. Funds were sent to India, and in Sri Lanka, CHF donated funding for a home.

The tragedy when Northern Pakistan was devastated by a deadly earthquake in 2005 that left thousands homeless was another occasion when CHF stepped in, sending blankets and 50 all-weather army tents through the Pakistani Consulate in Dubai.

But for all that, the CHF maintains a low profile. “We are a small outfit,” says Zenny. “We just have 12 organising committee members including Deena Motiwalla, CHF’s co-chairperson. All of us are volunteers. We have no overheads, just an office in the Humanitarian City.”

Perhaps that is why it has been able to work on a wider canvas and attempt to make a difference to the underprivileged across the world.

With From The Diplomat’s Kitchen, both CHF and the Sheraton group hope to bring about some change in the lives of the dispossessed and underprivileged.

“More than anything else, what drove us [to produce the book] was that each time a person buys the book and plans their menu from it, all of the proceeds from the sale will go to the needy,” says van Opstal.

Source: Gulf News

Children’s Hope Foundation