Toddlers add their own touch to Iftar
Nursery kids spend time, share meals with female workers
dubai — More than 20 students at a Dubai nursery took on the role of surrogate children to some overseas working mothers here on Tuesday, by preparing and eating Iftar with them.
The doting students helped prepare a fruit salad and sandwiches for the workers, before ending fast with them over Iftar.
Like many brave migrant workers who leave their own families to make a living abroad, the children at Kids World Nursery wanted to honour their selflessness by spending time with them during the holy month which is dedicated to giving.
The women — eight of which are mothers themselves — sat, ate and played with the students, and many reminisced on time spent with their own children.
kelly@khaleejtimes.com
These children have made my day bright. Seeing them makes me miss my children but it also makes me so happy,” Priyanka Roshani from Sri Lanka
dubai — Nepalese resident Sharda Tamang hasn’t seen her three children for over four years now. But on Tuesday evening she was reduced to tears when more than 20 children from a Dubai nursery prepared and shared an Iftar meal with her.
After moving to Dubai to work as a housekeeper in 2013, Tamang was due to travel back to Nepal in 2015 to see 18-year-old Anil, 16-year-old Sunil and 14-year-old Sanju.
But following the earthquake, which devastated the country that same year and caused the collapse of her family home, she was unable to travel back.
“Seeing these children today makes me very emotional but I am so thankful they are spending time with us,” she told Khaleej Times just before sitting down with the children.
Recognising the importance of fostering empathy in children, and in the true spirit of Ramadan, the toddlers from Kids World Nursery celebrated the Iftar with 10 other blue-collar female workers alongside Tamang.
The children, aged four and below, helped prepare a fruit salad for the women and made more than 100 sandwiches for the Iftar, before coming together to share the meal with them.
Speaking about her own children, Tamang said it was “so difficult” to be away from them, but said she is doing it to secure a better future for her family.
“I didn’t have an education, that’s why I’m in this position. Living away from my family is hard but I want to make sure my kids go to school.”
Like many brave migrant women who leave their own families to make a living abroad, the children at Kids World Nursery nursery wanted to honour their selflessness and spend time with them. For mother-oftwo Lakpa Dolma (also from Nepal), the experience was one to treasure.
“If I top up my phone with Dh20, I get to call my children two times a week for 15 minutes. Tonight when I leave, I will call them and tell them about my evening with these children.”
Admitting that the toddlers’ presence made her miss her own children even more, Dolma said it felt really good seeing the kids, but she did get emotional when it came to sitting down with them.
“I haven’t seen my children for one year. They are staying in a hostel in Nepal and the next time I see them will be in two years. This Iftar has been a blessing for us mothers.” Not only were the workers — from Nepal, India and Sri Lanka — treated with sandwiches and fruit salads, they also enjoyed a host of delicacies from the children’s home countries including Scotland, Pakistan, Canada Egypt, Syria and Zimbabwe.
From biryani to kebabs, and baklava to honey cake, the children also handed out goodie bags to the working mothers, which included shampoo, cleaning supplies, rice and clothes.
The gesture left Sri Lanka-born Priyanka Roshani “overjoyed and overwhelmed”.
“These children have made my day bright. Seeing them makes me miss my children but it also makes me so happy,” she said.
With a 15-year-old girl and a 9-year-old boy living back in Negombo with her mother and husband, she said she will be going to see them in September.
“I haven’t seen my children for two years but I will be going for a two month visit very soon. When I see my children I will just hug them forever,” a smiling Roshani said.
One of the primary pillars of the educational programme at Kids World Nursery is based on empathy. Research has also shown that empathy is one of the main keys to all positive social interactions and Lovita Tariq, director of the nurseries, said: “It is our responsibility to not simply teach children, but to encourage them to learn through their own experiences”.