ALMOST BD1,000 was raised during a special charitable auction in support of women’s crisis care centre in Bahrain.
The sale of around 25 rare coins and banknotes fetched a total of BD924.
The Shamsaha Charity Auction was organised by Arados Auction House on Friday night through Instagram Live on @arados1.
Bahrain-based Shamsaha is the first and only crisis response programme in the Middle East offering support to women victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse.
Among the items sold during the auction was a rare banknote from Denmark dating back to 1804, making it around 216 years old, which went for BD25.
A five shilling note from Biafra, which was a state in West Africa from May 1967 to January 1970 before its merger under Nigeria, was sold for BD14.
A rare KD10 note (Kuwaiti dinars) – on which were written the words, “The use of this currency was halted”, during the Iraq-Kuwait war in 1990 – was sold for BD50.
In addition, 145 banknotes from all countries were sold for a total of BD150.
A German coin made from zinc, during the 1940 Second World War, was sold for BD22.
While BD100 in total was made from selling three coins used during the British rule of India – a one rupee coin from 1890 during Queen Victoria Era, a coin from the George V period of 1917 and another coin from 1907 during the rule of King Edward.
Arados Auction House founder and owner Mohammed Al Aradi said the online event was aimed at supporting the nationwide campaign ‘Feena Khair’ (There is Good in Us).
He told the GDN how more than 250 women who have been affected by the coronavirus will benefit from the money made in the auction.
“We sold 25 pieces of rare coins and banknotes for BD924,” he said.
“Our target was BD1,000 and we are very pleased and happy to help more than 250 women of different nationalities who have lost their jobs because of the coronavirus.
“All the proceeds raised through the auction will go towards Shamsaha and this is a stand of solidarity with our people and our leadership in these extraordinary circumstances.
The GDN previously reported Shamsaha founder and executive director Mary Justine Todd as saying that the funds would go towards the newly-launched Covid-19 Emergency Food Relief initiative.
The programme aims to provide food for any woman who has lost her source of income due to the unprecedented situation caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
She said the charity auction was crucial to Shamsaha because the Covid-19 food programme was beyond Shamsaha’s normal budget.
In the past 12 months, Shamsaha has served women in more than 1,000 cases of abuse, as rates of violence against women around the world increased during the pandemic.
noorz@gdn.com.bh
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