It all began a little more than a year ago when Saher Shaikh, a banker based in Dubai, noticed a labourer counting his coins while shopping to make sure he had enough. “When I saw that, I was depressed and did not know how to help him without hurting his dignity,” says Shaikh.
“I told the gentleman to take anything from the store [as it was] my son’s birthday. All he took was a strawberry-milk bottle. The experience will always stay with me.”
It wasn’t the first time Shaikh had reached out. She always helped the men who were finding it hard to use ATM machines, as they were not familiar with the language. “I didn’t know anything about them and asked them how their life was,” says Shaikh, who was born and bought up in England with roots in Pakistan and Afghanistan before moving to Canada where she did her MBA in banking.
“They asked me to come over to their labour camps. After understanding their living conditions, I felt the need to do something.”
Over time, Shaikh supplied care packages to almost 12,800 people from around 38 camps. She does not accept monetary donations but asks donors to come over to do the shopping and help make goody bags, and then distribute them among the labourers.
She also conducts workshops on personal hygiene and gives English classes. I received the Philadelphia Inspiration Award last year for the best social work initiative. With my award money, I’ve set up a scholarship for the men to get IELTS [International English Language Testing System] coaching so they can upgrade their skills…
“One of my men, a crane-operating specialist, has passed the English proficiency
levels and is currently going through his migration process to move to Australia. It was
wonderful to experience shaping the future of another individual.”
Sami Said Ali is a Sharjah-based freelancer
