Dubai: If you meet a person doing charity work, chances are they have learnt it from their mothers.
For example, if you see an Emirati distributing food for the needy or for fasting people during Ramadan, do not be surprised to hear the food was due to the mother personally cooking the meals.
“Until today, my mother believes in this and follows that system,” said Khalid Qasim, Chief of the Board of Directors of Tarahum Charity Foundation.
“If we tell her we can order the food from the restaurant, she would say, ‘No, what about my work? I want to put the effort and feel I did something’,” Qasim told Gulf News.
“She has maids helping her. Yet, she likes standing in the kitchen cooking and supervising, and she likes to distribute the food in her own way,” he added.
After cooking, his mother would ask the drivers to send the food to needy families she knows in Dubai. The rest of the food would be sent to a mosque built by the family. More food would be ordered from a restaurant to fulfil the demands of nearly 350 fasting people at sunset.
In Islam, offering food to a fasting Muslim is a rewarding deed.
Umm Mohammad Al Mansouri is another Emirati woman who used to prepare biryani every day during Ramadan for many years before she stopped because of health and age reasons.
“I, by myself, used to buy quantities of chicken every day for my mother to cook, with househelp. By late afternoon, the meals are ready, and those would like to have food can leave their pots at the front gate. The maids would bring them in and my mother would fill them before returning them to the spot to be picked up,” said her son, Ahmad Al Mansouri.
The vast majority of Emiratis, like Qasim and Al Mansouri, were brought up in a culture of giving and with a sense of helping the needy.
Until today, in mainly Emirati-dominated neighbourhoods, each household is expected to send an item for iftar for the needy to the mosque in the area. Some might send “thareed” (soaked bread in meat or chicken sauce), or harees, or biryani, or laban or even water.
“Fathers would ask their children to send the food and drinks to the mosque, so the children will learn the habit since an early age and start appreciating the value of giving,” said Al Mansouri.
Almost every mosque in Dubai offers iftar meals during Ramadan.
“We need to distribute values and not money, we want to have a new generation with the sense of giving, a generation that appreciates the principle of sharing with others and production,” added Qasim.
“I always say that giving is a feeling, and we want the younger generations to feel the urge to contribute to society, whether it is money, or time or effort, so they can be active and produce in any place they are in. If the drive is within you, you could keep giving around the year, or for life,” and not just during Ramadan.
Because of that, Qasim accompanies his children, boys and girls, in his charity errands, so they will appreciate what they have and learn to be part of the culture of giving.
In many cases, looking at the abundantly stacked trolleys in supermarkets can also be misleading. For all we know, the trolleys would be filled so that food can be cooked for others, outside of the family.
A recent campaign by du and Tarahum Charity Foundation was a good example of how people are willing to give.
The campaign was initially targeting backing 12,000 boxes of food items from June 1 to 14 to distribute to needy families in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. However, thanks to the massive public voluntary reaction, the campaign concluded in one week.
“I was expecting this to happen,” said Humaida Al Khalsan, Director of Corporate Communication Projects and Sustainability at du.
“Since we opened the door for registrations in the last week of May, we noticed that the reaction was huge. When we reached the 5,000 registered volunteers to assist in the campaign, we closed registration,” she told Gulf News.
The campaign, which is totally financed by du from its Emirati Plan revenues to serve the community, is the second of its kind.
Last year’s campaign was equally successful and attracted volunteers from different nationalities and age groups.
Earlier, du used to have “Mawaed Al Rahman” for nine years where food will be offered at mosques across the UAE for needy people.
“In 2015, we changed the model. We would distribute food items that would be enough for a month instead of feeding one person for a day.”
Last year, Khalsan took her six-year-old son with her. His experience was rich enough to ask her this year to join her along with his younger brother.
“My son invited all his cousins to join him this year without asking me. I went to the campaign site with a car loaded with enthusiastic children,” she said.
