This weekend, Princess Haya bint Al Hussein, the wife of ruler of Dubai and VicePresident of the UAE Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, took the royal jet and personally delivered 90 metric tons of relief supplies to those affected by Hurricane Matthew in Haiti.
The devastating hurricane has affected at least 1.4 million people directly, with nearly 300,000 Haitians currently living in temporary shelters. More than 500 people were killed when the hurricane's 235 km per hour winds damaged or destroyed tens of thousands of homes earlier this month.
"They say that in the four districts worst hit, two things happened at the same time. A wave came from the sea front about 15 feet high, at the same time massive floods developed as a result of the relentless rain," Princess Haya said via social media.
"The flash floods from the rain descended the mountain terrain and met the wall of water coming from the sea. Anything caught in between that was alive - people, animals, trees - were killed."
Princess Haya's and Sheikh Mohammed's aid contribution is estimated to be worth more than $350,000 and should impact about 340,000 people. The delivery included water purification units, mosquito nets, medical supplies, tents and other support equipment.
International Humanitarian City (IHC) organized the aid shipment at the instruction of Sheikh Mohammed. It included supplies from the United Nations Humanitarian Response Depot as well as its partners, including Save the Children, Handicap International, World Vision International, Catholic Relief Services, USAID and Lutheran World Relief.
IHC was created by Sheikh Mohammed and is "the world's largest logistical centre for aid and has played a pivotal role in aid responses to crisis-hit areas as far afield as Gaza, Pakistan, Nepal, Haiti, Greece and Sudan," according to Princess Haya .
Upon arrival in Haiti, Princess Haya, who originally hails from Jordan, was greeted by Jordanian UN peacekeepers. She shared a photo of herself with the troops on social media and expressed her appreciation for their efforts.
In 2010, a severe earthquake devastated Haiti, leaving more than 100,000 people dead and wreaking havoc on the countries infrastructure. Following the earthquake, Princess Haya also went to the Island nation to distribute aid in a similar mission.
Of course, considering the UAE has been named as the country to give the largest percentage of its gross national income to official development assistance in the world for two consecutive years, it's not really surprising to see Sheikh Mohammed and Princess Haya taking such an initiative.