Workers go ‘old school’ with letters home for Eid
Volunteers help 200 labourers to relearn skills unused since school
The compound of a labour camp in Al Quoz, Dubai, livened up as the long summer day came to an end and the residents awaited the call to prayers to break their fasts.
After iftar and maghrib prayers, hundreds of workers sat down to complete a task they had last done decades ago in school – writing letters to their families and loved ones.
Goonj Productions, the local theatre group behind Mian,
Biwi Aur Wagah (Husband, Wife and the Wagah Border), organised a letter-writing event at Al Meher camp in Al Quoz late last week for Eid.
The theatre work is one of the first original Urdu plays performed in the UAE and is based on letters from expatriates about living away from home.
The team’s volunteers helped workers to write more than 200 letters to loved ones in more than six languages over a couple of hours.
“The last time I wrote a letter was in school,” said Farooq Ahmed, a worker from Pakistan living at the camp.
“My mother can’t read but I would write to her and then read it out to her. When she receives my letter, she will be happy to know that I am well. I speak with my family on the phone, but writing a letter is like narrating a story.”
Mr Ahmed wrote two letters, one to his mother and one to another loved one.
The team has promised to post all the letters to the recipients, wherever they may live.
“We are all expatriates and on Eid we miss our families,” said Sheherzad Kaleem, an expatriate from Pakistan and head of production at Goonj Productions.
“We share that pain with them. At this time they are possibly more lonely than anyone else. This activity provides a moment to connect and a moment of happiness.
“When writing a letter you reveal a lot more than the immediacy of technology allows. We thought it would be fun to write letters with the workers and then post these letters to their loved ones. When the families get the letters, I’m sure they would be happy.”
Volunteers at the event were well versed in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Pashto, Bengali and Tagalog.
Capt Amjadn Choudhry, proprietor of Al Meher Group that owns the labour camp, was at the iftar and said he tried not to let his employees feel lonely.
“On Eid, my family and I eat breakfast with them and then give them Eid money or gifts,” Capt Choudhry said. “We try to ensure that they are not alone on Eid as they miss their families.
“Writing letters helps you to reveal your innermost emotions and thoughts. When I was younger, I would send everyone Eid cards and letters.”
Ramesh Chand, an Indian worker at the camp, wrote letters to his parents when he moved to the UAE 17 years ago. At the event he wrote another, for the first time in 12 years.
“After so many years, I wrote to them,” Mr Chand said. “I know they will be very happy to receive the letter.”
Mohammed Ali wrote his first letter to his parents in seven years.
“I informed them that I am well here, and I pray that they are happy,” Mr Ali said. “I’m hoping that one day my salary increases and I can invite them to come here. Since I moved to Dubai I have never spent Eid at home. Eid here is not like it is at home in Pakistan.”
Suffiyan, a worker from Pakistan, wrote to tell his family that he had sent extra money for the holiday.
“Buy nice presents and clothes for Eid,” Mr Suffiyan wrote. “Is Abu OK? I hope everything is well at home. I am well here. Give my nieces and nephews lots of love. Please remember me in your prayers.” Muhammad Majid, author of
Mian, Biwi Aur Wagah, wrote eight letters narrated by workers in Punjabi and Urdu.
“Everyone says social media has brought people closer, but people still have an appetite for writing letters and want to indulge in this hobby again,” Mr Majid said.
“All the people who narrated letters to me were asking their families about how they spent the month of Ramadan and if they have prepared for Eid.
“Some people were concerned if their wives had new clothes for Eid and were worried if their parents had enough to spend on Eid. They earn and send this money home. They get happiness from the fact that their families enjoy it.”
Mohammad Mohsin, an expatriate from Bangladesh, wrote 12 letters on behalf of others as they told their stories to him. Mr Mohsin knows first-hand the power of the written word.
“This is the first time I wrote letters since I came to UAE 11 years ago,” he said. “I enjoyed the experience and reminisced about the old days. I met my wife through letters.”
For many of the workers at Al Meher camp, these were the first letters they had written in more than a decade