'Eiddie in UAE' initiative brings smiles to workers

More than 150 workers received gift packets from the initiative, Eiddie in UAE. - Supplied photo

What started as a woman's social media initiative helped spread smiles on the faces of more than 150 blue-collar workers during Eid.
'Eiddie in UAE' is an initiative started by Ayesha Sohail, admin of the Facebook group 'UAE Fusion Socialites', to distribute goodie bags to the workers who have no time or money for Eid shopping. It became a huge success with the participation of a number of volunteers including children. Within a week, Ayesha was able to buy and collect items for the less fortunate and hard working labourers who support their families back home and cannot afford to be with their loved ones on Eid.
The idea of the initiative started when she was doing Eid shopping with her son. "My son told me that our maid has no time to shop. It made me realise that there are so many less fortunate people who don't have time to do Eid shopping because they are too busy working.
"We spend so much money on our children and ourselves, why don't we ever think about helping others who don't have the same privileges as we do?"
Thus an idea was formed. The gift bag contains clothes, shoes, food and an international telephone calling card.
Ayesha, along with nine other volunteers including three children, distributed the bags to more than 150 people in Ajman, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
"When we started the initiative, I was very nervous because I thought we won't get a good response. But we received good responses from almost everywhere," says Ayesha.
"Ramadan is a month of giving and earning deeds from Allah. Through this drive, we were trying to teach our generation that we need to think about the less fortunate and keep them in our hearts and prayers."
milrina@khaleejtimes.com