Dubai
Hundreds of youth volunteers — plus a drone — will distribute free suhour meals to thousands of workers in Dubai and Umm Al Quwain this Ramadan.
The Dubai Community Development Authority (CDA) Youth Council is spearheading the second edition of “Their Suhour On Us” initiative that aims to distribute 32,000 suhour or pre-dawn meals to low-income workers across the whole month.
“The Youth Council chose to distribute suhour meals because there are already many entities distributing iftar meals. Nobody is addressing this need [for suhour] meals right now. Also, suhour is a very important meal for the day,” Ahmad Abdul Karim Julfar, CDA Director-General, told the media on Tuesday.
“We made sure it’s a complete meal with a main course, sweets, fruits, laban, water and dates. Sometimes there’s coconut water, ice cream, pop corn, karak chai,” he added.
Julfar encouraged individuals and groups who want to distribute goodies during Ramadan to register with CDA through the Dubai Volunteer App. But he clarified that CDA will not stop anyone from volunteering and doing good deeds.
Halima Mohammad, president of the CDA Youth Council, said the Suhour On Us initiative this year will be touring seven mosques in Deira and Bur Dubai during the month, distributing five to six days in each of them. They will also visit two mosques in Umm Al Quwain.
Distribution will start after the Taraweeh prayers between 10pm and midnight.
“Suhour is very important because after finishing the evening prayers, the workers need to get their suhour ready and they might not be able to afford it. Each meal may cost Dh10 and if you multiply it by 30 days, they can’t afford it,” Mohammad said.
Drone distribution
To spice things up a bit this year, CDA will have a drone ready to distribute food parcels in areas inaccessible to volunteers who are persons of determination.
Khalfan Obain, an Emirati technical consultant who developed the drone, said the drone gives persons of determination a chance to be part of the mission. Currently, four persons of determination are training and getting certified to fly drones.
“We want to give a cool, interesting and entertaining job to people of determination for them to have an impact on the operations that we’re trying to achieve here. They’re going to observe it and make sure that the operation is going smoothly,” he said.
Aside from suhour meals, Dubai Health Authority Youth Council will also provide free medical check-up for workers on site.
The initiative is a team effort of CDA, Smart Dubai and 21 sponsors and partners from government and the private sector.
Mohammad said Dubai residents, especially the youth, can also contribute by sharing their time and energy this Ramadan.
“Most of the youth after Taraweeh prayers either go to restaurants to chat or they go to malls for no reason, no target, just to hang out. But here we have a really valuable thing that we do. This is a good time to give without taking back. So I would encourage every youth who has the energy to volunteer with us to come and join us,” she said.
BOX:
Tour Plan 2018:
Locations:
Abdul Rahim Ktait Mosque (AL Quoz) - 28 days
Qurtoba Mosque in Satwa - Days 3 to 7
Shaikha Latifa Small Mosque in Jafiliya - Days 7 to 12
Al Yacoub Mosque in Ras Al Khor Industrial Area - Days 12 to 16
Aqeel Abbas Mosque in Al Qasan 1 - Days 15 to 20
Bin Fulad Mosque in Rashidiya - Days 19 to 24
Abdul Rahim Katit mosques in Muhaisnah 4 - Days 24 to 28
Distribution time: after Taraweeh prayers or from 10pm to 11pm or midnight
In Numbers:
32,000 suhour meals
1,000 volunteers
21 sponsors
Quadcopter drone – 1.5 metres in diameter that carries 10kg of payload or 10 food parcels
One flight time is 10 minutes.
