THE One understands that home is where the heart is; and employees of THE One in Doha recently put a lot of heart into making a real difference in the lives of an underprivileged family in their local community, by completely remodeling their cheerless home.
It all started when volunteers from THE One Qatar - a franchise of Al Mana Interiors - met Saheb Noor in the Rehabilitation Centre of Rumaillah Hospital in Qatar, during June this year. They learnt that Saheb had been involved in a serious car accident on November 25th 2005, which left him paralyzed from the waist down and forced the former army mechanic and father of three to remain in hospital for 7 months, while his wife was pregnant with their fourth child.
Upon closer investigation of these tragic circumstances, THE One staff were saddened to discovered that Saheb, his wife and his four children were living in a tiny, run-down house with very little furniture, sporadic supply of running water and electricity and doorways too narrow for a wheelchair to pass through. Most disturbing though, was the fact that the children slept on the bare floor!
In the Ramadan spirit of giving, THE One Qatar team put plans in place to make life a little better for Saheb and his family, by giving their home a one-day makeover! As THE One Doha theatre traditionally closes for the first day of Eid, employees agreed to give up their day off for this worthy cause. Using their collective skills and resources, every aspect of the house was given THE One’s magic touch! New flooring was laid, electric cabling re-wired, a new bathroom plumbed in and new furniture assembled throughout. The team even custom-made units for the kitchen and built the children a bunk bed to fit their room. In addition, the house was repainted and decorated, new electrical items installed, including a cable TV and stereo, and the finishing touches were added with tons of funky home accessories.
But it gets even better… As it would have been impossible for the team to do all of this work in a small house with 6 family members around, THE One contacted The Four Seasons Hotel & Resort who, after hearing of the family’s plight, very generously offered to put them up for the day, not in an ‘ordinary’ room, but in one of their suites, no less! Saheb and his family thus spent a day in the lap of luxury while their home was completely revamped…
Gabriel Salome, Store Manager of THE One Doha said: “At THE One, we believe in making the world a better place, and this family truly needed THE Onederworkers to step in and help. Knowing that we’ve truly touched the lives of these people, has made the whole exercise a tremendously rewarding experience!”
THE One realizes that retail brands have a larger role to play than merely selling stuff no one really needs. By trying to give more than take, and to help when and where possible, we can all make a difference and improve the world we live in; one community at a time.
THE END
On THE One:
Funky, fresh and always new, THE One - Total Home Experience has offered global home fashion, food and a world of entertainment since 1996. Located in: Bahrain (Manama), Jordan (Amman), Kuwait (Kuwait City), Sweden (Stockholm), United Arab Emirates (Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah), and Qatar (Doha). Visit www.theoneme.com
On Al Mana Interiors W.L.L:
In Qatar, Al Mana Interiors is the franchisee of THE One Total Home Experience. As a 100% Qatari-owned company, Al Mana Interiors W.L.L. is a subsidiary of Saleh Hamad Al Mana Group and is owned by Hisham Saleh Al Mana, Kamal Saleh Al Mana and Wissam Saleh Al Mana, sons of the late Mr. Saleh Hamad Al Mana. The Saleh Hamad Al Mana Group has a highly diversified business portfolio, which includes automobiles, clothing, cosmetics, jewellery, engineering construction, real estate, media and restaurants. Besides THE One, other leading brands which fall under the Group are Nissan, Renault, Mc Donalds, Haagen-Dazs, Mango, BHS, Zara, Damas Jewellery, Furla, Miss Sixty, Jennyfer, Sergent Major, Kekos, Sunglass Hut, Lush, Wedgwood, Waterford, Hermes and Saks Fifth Avenue.
