Meet the Ramadan Do-Gooders

It's the Holy Month in the Year of Giving, and some UAE residents have taken it upon themselves to help the less fortunate

"The Ramadan Sharing Fridges initiative has taken on a life of its own"
If you're living in the UAE, it's impossible not to have heard about the Ramadan Sharing Fridges. What started out with a few UAE residents leaving fully-stocked fridges out in the open - which encouraged others to pick up cold water bottles, juices and snacks for free - turned into a country-wide initiative when more residents wanted to lend a hand. This year the initiative is back - in a bigger avatar.
"The idea behind it is nothing new," says Sumayyah Sayed, one of the 12 community members behind the initiative. "Fikhra Yel (also in the community) was the first in the group to keep a fridge outside so people could help themselves, about four years ago. But last year, I took her fridge for the same purpose and started a Facebook group to spread the message - and it just took off. We got over 15,000 followers in just three weeks!"
It isn't just their number of followers - and fridges - that have increased since last year. The number of ladies behind the community has also grown from five to over 12 - most of whom have met through the Facebook page. This year, this dedicated group of volunteers, who come from different backgrounds and nationalities, have ensured that the Ramadan Sharing Fridges initiative falls under Emirates Red Crescent, along with a partnership with Open Arms UAE. They have an app developed, and have also got five Dubai schools to participate by installing fridges. In short, things are changing fast - but it's all for the better.
"We were actually surprised by the way it grew last year," Janine Bensouda, a community member, confesses. "We weren't the ones who expanded it to Sharjah and Abu Dhabi - people there just heard about the idea and wanted to take it forward."
It's because of all the people who believe in the concept that the ladies humbly believe this is a programme that will continue for many years - with or without them.
"At this point, even if we didn't want to do it, it would happen." says Nadia Sarie, a volunteer who handles sponsorship. "The Ramadan Sharing Fridges initiative has taken on a life of its own. You could 'delete' all the community members and there will be 12 other people here, doing the same job. Because people believe in it."
"It isn't simply about opening a fridge and feeding people," adds Sumayyah. "It's all about the joy you get from giving and instilling the value of compassion and generosity into your children. You don't have to do what everyone else is doing - you can improvise and take it forward."
Anyone and everyone can be a part of the project, and if you are interested, simply send a message over to the Ramadan Sharing Fridges Facebook page and the members will guide you on the process. For those who are unable to do so, fret not, the members have other ideas to help spread the spirit of Ramadan. For example, residents can always volunteer to clean fridges, donate food or simply set up an ice box outside their house.
"I think it's also important to simply communicate with others during this month," adds Nadia. "Talk to labourers, construction workers and delivery boys. Ask them how their day went or offer them a glass of water. The relationship we can have with workers can extend beyond 'hi' and 'bye'". 
"For Filling The Blues, restaurants team up - just like the Avengers"

UAE resident Tahir Shah has always been a fan of distributing food to the less fortunate. The British-Pakistani had been doing it privately with the help of friends and family for years. So, when he started Moti Roti, a Pakistani street food eatery in 2012, he came up with a novel idea - why not just distribute the food they make for Ramadan?
"At that time, a lot of other local restaurants were coming up," says Tahir. "Dubai's community of restaurants is pretty small and you get to know each other quickly. So, when I started mentioning I was distributing food to workers on Twitter, other restaurants
offered to supply drinks, water or dessert. The idea just snowballed from there. That's when I thought - why not a group of restaurants, all offering labourers different food every day? One day the labourers could eat biryani. The next, burritos."
And that's how Moti Roti's Filling The Blues initiative was born. During the month of Ramadan several restaurants team up - "just like the Avengers," according to Tahir - to distribute iftar to labourers. Each restaurant takes a turn to supply the food, ensuring the workers get a variety of cuisines.
"To be honest, all restaurants let their guard down for a good cause," says Tahir. "Even though we are competitors, they are all people who gave up jobs for their own startup. I identify with them. And when you're in the small business world, it makes is much easier to collaborate. Here in Dubai, I feel like we are all in this together. There's this sense of camaraderie."
The Filling The Blues initiative always looks for 10 volunteers to help distribute the food every night. But this year, when the need for volunteers was announced, slots filled up so quickly, the team were forced to turn people away.
"Our volunteer list always gets filled out, but this year we were just overwhelmed," says Tahir. "A couple of media outlets helped us with announcements and our inbox was completely swamped! Although we had to tell a lot of people that our volunteer spaces were booked, if they want to help with anything else, they can always let us know."
The Filling The Blues initiative will see workers and volunteers mingling together every evening except for Saturdays throughout the Holy Month of Ramadan, with restaurants such as Appetite, Bookmunch and Sumo Sushi & Bento contributing to feed about a 100 workers a day.
"At the end of the month, the amount of food that is distributed almost doubles. It's interesting and we see this every year. It's because labourers from neighbouring construction sites often join in, as do grocery shop attendants and security personnel," says Tahir. "But that's cool. There's more than enough."   
janice@khaleejtimes.com