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Pinay single mom latest to win big in UAE draw
By JOJO DASSDUBAI, United Arab Emirates – A 44-year-old nurse, single mom to two children, was the latest overseas Filipino worker (OFW) to win AED100,000 in a popular weekly raffle here, where over 20 Filipinos have won big since 2020.
“Sharon,” (not her real name), a single mom of two children who has resided in the UAE for the past 14 years, said the money came at a perfect time.
The cash prize Sharon won comes down to a windfall equivalent of P1.53 million noting the current peso-dirham exchange rate – money that, she said, will be used for her kids’ studies and reach out to the less fortunate.
“I'd love to utilize this money to support my kids' education and, of course, to support charitable causes back in the Philippines,” Sharon said.
The weekly raffle is facilitated by Mahzooz, which means “lucky” in English. Participants need only to register via www.mahzooz.ae
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They also are automatically entered into the weekly raffle draw where three lucky winners will take home AED 100,000 each.
Every bottled water purchased is channeled through Mahzooz’s community partners, including a foundation, which has recently collaborated to help provide medical assistance to a year-and-a-half old baby boy afflicted with a chronic kidney ailment.
Sharon, based in Dubai’s neighboring emirate of Sharjah, has been taking part in Mahzooz since November 2020, albeit inactively. She has, however, been actively engaging over the past two months in the hope of winning.
The biggest OFW winner so far is Patricio (real name withheld for security reasons), a material contract supervisor at an oil and gas company in Fujairah, an emirate two hours north of Dubai.
Patricio, father of two sons aged 23 and 18, won AED10 million in November 2021. Interviewed by GMA News Online, he expressed plans to go home in the Philippines for good and provide a state-of-the-art care for his younger son who is afflicted with cerebral palsy. —KBK, GMA News