Sometimes the strongest women are the ones who have the softest hearts. In my years living in Dubai, I’ve been fortunate to have met many inspired women, who will be remembered for the lives they’ve touched. Many of them have become good friends, and I want to share some of their stories with you.
I had read about Saher Shaikh, a banker-turned-humanitarian working for the betterment of the very large labour community in Dubai. Later when I got the chance to interview her for my show, Saher told me that she was out shopping and had seen a labourer struggling to pay for his meagre purchase.
Saying it was her baby’s birthday, she offered to pay the labourer’s bill, but all he picked up was milk. That gesture stayed in Saher’s mind, inspiring her to step out of her comfort zone and become an evangelist for this overworked community. Starting by helping one person, today her charity Adopt-a-Camp has helped more than 7,900 labourers in the region.
Gulshan Kavarana has two beautiful daughters — one is a beauty pageant finalist and the younger one has Dravet syndrome, a rare form of epilepsy that began in infancy, after a perfectly healthy birth. Gulshan’s world crashed, but when she began to look at the families around her, she began rebuilding a life that she now calls normal, and I call extraordinary! In a land away from home, Gulshan continues to bring love, happiness and a support system to the UAE’s special needs families.
British teacher and mum-of-three Lucy Bruce married an Indian and once, while in Delhi, witnessed the gut-wrenching condition of slum dwellers. But Lucy couldn’t walk away. Despite her own pregnancy she worked to raise funds and soon “Harmony House” — a day care/learning room was born. Lucy leads an inspired life, inspiring all of us around her too.
It’s women like these that inspire me to be a better person, to give back what I can and to pay it forward. In the city of superlatives where we have mighty towers and luxurious islands, we also have people who prove that all it takes a soft caring heart to make this city “home”.
