How a Dubai charity campaign turns sick kids into superheroes

Charity comes in many forms. It’s donating money to the less fortunate. It’s giving blood transfusions for the ill. It’s participating in a walkathon for awareness.

For Basma Al Masri and Tarik Batal, it’s turning cancer stricken children into superheroes.

Rather than ask people to give money for cancer research, Al Masri and Batal wanted to create a non-traditional, charitable initiative. And so one year ago, Superhope was born.

“The idea is to empower children through the power of imagination,” says Al Masri.

“We sit with every child and we ask them, if you were a superhero, what would you be?” she begins explaining.

“So as a child sits down and imagines and says I want a cape that’s red and I want a helmet that lights and so on, the illustrator right next to him, who’s a comic illustrator, sketches out the child’s imagination,” she says.

When the illustrator’s done, the child’s measurements are taken and sent to a professional costume designer. After 2 to 3 weeks, once the costumers are ready, Superhope surprises the children with a professional photoshoot day.

Original article by Lubna Hamdan

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How a Dubai charity campaign turns sick kids into superheroes