Dubai: Despite being in the UAE for seven years, Jessy B.J, a domestic worker, had never experienced a picnic or much outdoor activity here.
Her outings were limited, with her only regular trip being to the nearby church on weekends. That changed when Jessy became one of the 150 home helps in Dubai and Sharjah to go on a daylong excursion to Fujairah, thanks to an expat community group.
The trip was organised by the ladies’ wing of Prachara Chavakkad UAE, a community group of expat families from Chavakkad in the South Indian state of Kerala.
The organisers said they took up the mission after realising the need for a “well-deserved break and a fun-filled trip” for housemaids, who usually do not get such opportunities, through a request sent by one of the home helps, Kavitha Vinod.
“When I got to know [the group is] doing a lot of community service, I sent them a request because most of the maids, from the WhatsApp groups that I am in, hardly get to go out and see the places here or enjoy a trip. I have been to many places here because the family I work for takes me everywhere. But that is not the case with all,” Kavitha told Gulf News.
WhatsApp coordination
When the office bearers of the group agreed to organise the trip, Kavitha Vinod, along with her fellow home helps Kavitha Muthu and Lakshmy, collected the details of the housemaids who wished to join, through WhatsApp groups. Shiny Shahul, Sandhya Sunil, Jaseela Firous, and others from the women’s wing coordinated with them to finalise the plan.
Finally, 150 housemaids were taken on three luxury buses from Dubai and Sharjah for the one-day picnic. The excursion was inaugurated by Prachara Chavakkad Chairman Suseelan Vasu, along with Indian businessman, Saji Cheriyan, a recipient of the UAE Pioneers Award in 2019, and his wife Elsy Cheriyan, who offered their farmhouse and auditorium in Fujairah for free for hosting the group.
The group organised a raffle draw with expensive gifts such as mobile phones and watches and also gifted every participant with goody bags. Several entertainment programmes and games were also organised.
The women were also happy that many of them got a chance to showcase their talents in singing and dancing.
Once-in-a-lifetime experience
“I am still thrilled, recollecting the memories of the great experience we had that day,” said Jessy, a widow with two sons.
“I was in heaven. I felt like I was flown out of a cage. We always cook and serve others. That day, the organisers served us food. We thoroughly enjoyed the trip right from the fun we had in the buses to all the entertainment activities they organised for us. We didn’t pay a single dirham. Everyone got nice gifts also. That was also a first experience for us. Most of us had never had so much even during our school days. We can’t thank them enough for this once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said.
Kavitha Vinod said many of her fellow maids felt the same. “Now, I have been flooded with requests from dozens of other maids to look for someone else to organise a similar trip for them as well,” she added.
