Changing lives, one worker at a time

Dubai: The small office-turned-classroom in the labour accommodation district of Al Quoz transformed into a music room in an instant when a group of blue-collar workers laid out their instruments and played Bollywood-themed music.

With requests from the audience, Indian expatriate Manoj Kumar belted out his very own composition, The Essence of Living to a cheering crowd. The place seemed like a mini-concert area in mere minutes.

These workers, mainly labourers and drivers, are encouraged and taught how to play musical instruments in their free time by Welfare of Mankind, a non-profit organisation (NPO) operating in labour accommodation in Dubai in collaboration with the Community Development Authority (CDA) for the Honour Labour programme.

Launched in May 2012 by the CDA, Honour Labour facilitates educational, vocational and entertainment activities in labour accommodation in Dubai in collaboration with private entities and organisations. The programme has touched 453,000 lives since last year. Malkit Singh is just one of them.

The Indian violinist had always wanted to pursue his passion for music but his trip to Dubai to work as a carpenter years back cut short this dream.

“When I first came here, I was staying at labour accommodation at that time. I am interested in music but even though I tried to practise, I couldn’t because of the environment and circumstances at the accommodation,” Singh, 31, told Gulf News.

When he learned about Welfare of Mankind’s programme, he immediately brushed up on his playing skills and joined. From then on his love affair with music flourished. The violinist from Punjab has so far played at three CDA-sponsored functions since last year, one of which was the celebration of UAE National Day.

“It gives me pleasure when I’m playing music. Life is better now, the family is OK, work is OK too,” Singh, who has also been promoted as a foreman, said.

“Without these bodies, the CDA and Welfare of Mankind, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. They gave me more exposure where I got to mingle with different communities and learn from them,” he added.

Happily listening to the mini-concert from the corner of the centre were two Indian friends Rajalingam Thathaiah and Ritesh Patel. Both could not contain the joy on their faces when Gulf News asked why.

“My life has changed,” Patel, 28, from Gujarat, told Gulf News. “Before, I couldn’t understand English. I was so confused. I couldn’t speak to people.”

But all that changed when Patel enrolled in a free English language course last year with SmartLife Foundation, a Dubai-based NPO that provides intensive training in spoken English, Basic Computer Skills, Personality Development and vocational courses.

Since joining SmartLife, Patel has had a salary increment making it possible for him to save a decent amount to build his own family home in India.

“Before the increase, I couldn’t make do with my salary for all my family’s needs. But that has changed, my family is very happy now. I have given some money to my mother to start building our house this September,” Patel said.

Patel’s friend Thathaiah never imagined opportunity would knock on his door, too, after almost a decade of working in Dubai as a cleaner. He said he used to watch television on his day off, to escape the reality of life in his accommodation.

“Before, I was just dependent on the television for my entertainment, to kill time on my day off. I wasted my life,” Thathaiah, 29, told Gulf News.

Thathaiah has now mastered basic computer skills through SmartLife. He is now studying computer hardware and computer software such as Adobe Photoshop and InDesign.

“Now I can speak English well, I can work using computers, I have improved my personal grooming also. If I were to meet some people of higher status than myself and need to speak to them, I can do it with confidence now,” Thathaiah said.

“This is like a dream. All of us here at the labour accommodation, all of us want to have an opportunity like this,” he added.

In a similar setting at the Danube Welfare Centre in Karama, a packed all-male class thumped their feet in vigour as they learnt important breathing techniques to handle stress while job hunting. All came well prepared — wearing their best shirt and ties — as if attending a job interview.

The centre has a holistic training programme that teaches communication skills, personality development and grooming, interview skills, among others, to around 70 blue-collar workers every day, six times a week for free.

“These are very good classes. We converse, we learn a lot of things. Now I’m not afraid of talking to people anymore,” Farham Mohammad, 20, the most improved student in the class who is in Dubai looking for a job, told Gulf News.

“I want to work as a receptionist. But it will all depend on me, how I can improve my confidence so I can be employed here and prepare for my future.”

Stories upon stories of hope and success abound in both the centres in Al Quoz and Karama. To an extent, they have overwhelmed the volunteer teachers in a positive way.

“Every month we get good news from the people we teach. They would always say, ‘I got promoted from here to there, or received increments.’ So far I have a record of more than 25. But off-record, it’s more than that,” Rex Prakash, SmartLife Foundation general-secretary, told Gulf News.

“There are certain drivers who learned how to speak and read English. When they go to Saudi borders or different places, they can now easily read directions, company names, so it’s easier for them now. So with this, they’re happy and their confidence level with which they speak to their bosses has increased,” Amanjeet Singh, general- secretary of Welfare of Mankind, said.

Amid a slew of bad press labour accommodation often gets, the Dubai government through the CDA, private entities, and NPOs are determined to change this to somehow help spark change in the lives of the 900,000-strong blue-collar workers in the emirate.

“This is to show that nobody is marginalised in Dubai. All members of the Dubai community are equally important,” Dr Omar Al Muthanna, CEO of the CDA’s Social Regulator and Licensing Sector, told Gulf News.

“These are not superficial solutions but real ones. It’s not a half-done job. People actually sat with us and we came out with proper solutions. We follow through to make a change in people’s lives.”