Emirati couple hosts expats for Eid, says 'we are all one family'

Abu Dhabi - From 8am, couple Ayesha Yousef and Ahmed Hassan welcomed residents to their villa.

To share the spirit of Eid Al Fitr, an Abu Dhabi-based Emirati family on Friday hosted more than 30 expatriates, who were alone and had no one to celebrate with. The family wanted expats to mingle with the local community and experience a traditional Emirati Eid.
From 8am, couple Ayesha Yousef and Ahmed Hassan welcomed residents to their villa in Khalifa City A. Their invitation, Ayesha said, was also an effort to relive their own Eid traditions of the past. "My mother used to host huge family breakfasts on Eid morning, which I miss. Today, our larger family prefers to gather more conveniently over lunch."
She said there are many people, especially expats or new Muslims in the UAE who feel very lonely during festival days.
"Several people live and work in the UAE for so many years but don't get an opportunity to interact or mingle with Emiratis. They miss out on an amazing chance to get to know our culture. I don't think it is right. They should be welcomed in and feel as a part of our community. We are all one family. Also there are new Muslims who have just converted to Islam and feel isolated or have nowhere to go on Eid. So, we wanted to open our home to anyone who had nowhere to go, or who just wanted to experience Eid with a local family."
Ayesha, mother of an eight-month-old, woke up at 3am to make a sumptuous spread.
"This is my first time opening up our home like this but it was such a beautiful experience. We had more than 30 people from 8am to 10am and had to extend it to 12 noon. It was really nice. We all made new friends over a beautiful breakfast of Emirati dishes."
She noted that residents from diverse nationalities turned up.
"We had Vietnamese, Bosnian, Australian, Filipino, Scottish, American, British, a Pakistani family and more. The connections that we made were just amazing." It was through a Facebook post that the couple invited the residents to their villa.
A visitor noted that she had never been invited to Eid celebrations. "We have Iftars but never been part of a local family's Eid celebrations. This is very special," she said.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com

• UAE
• Ramadan 2021
• Abu Dhabi