Wednesday 20th, November 2013
by Oman Observer

“Spoilt for choice” was what everyone who came to the WGO’s Winter Craft Fair on Tuesday at the Al Bahja Hall of the Jungle Restaurant. This is the fourth Winter Craft Fair and it has steadily grown in popularity over the years. This time, we had a packed house with 70 stalls, which is the highest ever.

The fair had an exciting range of items on sale, from handmade goods to clothes, accessories and Christmas items.

Popularly considered as the much awaited, one stop shop for buying Christmas presents, the fair got rave reviews from all we spoke to. Beverly Johnson, a long time WGO member said that while she has always enjoyed coming to the WGO’s Craft Fairs, she had enjoyed this one the most. Neera Taneja told us almost the same thing, a fact that left us happy and satisfied that all the hard work and effort put in by the WGO Committee had been acknowledged and felicitated.

“Making friends and raising funds’ is probably the best way to describe the Women’s Guild in Oman, (WGO) now marking its 40th year. Beginning in 1973 with just 13 ladies, the WGO now has over 2,000 members of 92 different nationalities, making it a truly international group. With a wealth of different cultures, a wealth of possible friendship and a wealth of talent, the WGO believes in giving back to the community and as such raises funds and donates them to deserving charities in Oman. From a modest start of RO 70 going to Charity in the first year of existence, to date the WGO has donated more than RO 180,000 to various worthy local causes and we look forward to giving even more in the years to come. The main aim of WGO is to give back to the community.

“This entails raising funds for various charities. The Summer and Winter Craft Fairs and the Crystal Ball are among the most popular events. The Crystal Ball this year will be held at Al Midan Amphitheatre of the Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa on December 6.