ABU DHABI // Assembling cars from scrap metal, designing lights for shanty homes and roasting coffee are not everyday activities for most young Emiratis – but one group happily got their hands dirty during a trip to the Philippines.
Their experiences are detailed in the second episode of Beyond Borders, a six-part documentary series detailing the life-changing journey of six UAE nationals, three men and three women.
After touching down in Manila, the volunteers immediately began learning lessons on entrepreneurship, ingenuity and resourcefulness as they visited factories and small businesses.
The travellers were greeted warmly at their first stop by their middle-class Filipino host families, who live in houses that are a fraction of the size of the Emiratis’ homes – one host family of eight lives in a house a little larger than that of a regulation racquetball court.
The families and visitors quickly hit it off, exchanging stories, music and even dances at dinner.
After picking up a few hip-hop moves from one of the young sons of the host family, Mohammed Al Ameri, 18, and the other two Emirati men used decorative bamboo sticks to show and teach the Filipinos a traditional Emirati dance.
Following a night in modest accommodations, the group was taken to a factory that designs and assembles the vehicle that is their main method of transport around Manila, the Jeepney. It is the most popular means of public transport in the country.
The volunteers were shown how United States military jeeps left over from the Second World War were modified to accommodate the needs of the Filipino public.
The Emiratis then got their hands dirty assembling and decorating one of the vehicles.
Ahmed Al Ghurair, 19, was impressed at the resourcefulness of the factory.
“Rather than relying on ready-made parts, they bring scrap metal and mould it into shapes they use.”
Tasneem Alnaqbi, 23, who studies mechanical engineering, said she was amazed at how the factory did not just put parts together but also made them. “I thought, ‘If they can do this then we can do it too’.”
Their Jeepney delivered them to the doorstep of the brains behind the Litre of Light project, Illac Diaz, who came up with an ingenious design for lighting underprivileged houses.
With a plastic bottle, sheet metal, bleach and water, he created a device to provide natural light during the day to those living in metal shacks without windows.
“We always thought that ideas had to be big to make an impact, but today we learnt that a small idea can change peoples lives for many years,” said Mariam Al Kuwaiti, 17.
Showing them the concept, Mr Diaz put the six to work and had them create a Litre of Light on their own.
The next lesson the participants received was in entrepreneurship when they visited App Labs, a technology business that has grown rapidly from humble beginnings.
“We started with two people in 2011 and now we have more than 400 employees,” said the managing director, Ian Atienza.
When asking about the name of the company, Ms Alnaqbi found that the employees of the company, which creates apps for web and mobile games, saw themselves as scientists who developed and created ideas.
The six then brainstormed to come up with ideas for apps that could be used in the UAE.
“This experience showed us that in technology, big achievements can happen with just one or two people, not 20 or 30 or a big team,” said Salem Al Marar.
The episode closes at a small coffee-roasting business started by a Filipino couple from their home.
The husband, Basil Reyes, designed a roaster that runs on gas and can be taken out to the provinces where electricity sources are unreliable.
“I knew little of roasting before I started and learnt everything on the internet,” he said.
The curious volunteers worked through the entire chain of the business – selecting, roasting, packaging and even selling the coffee to customers.
They even got to sample Civet coffee, the most expensive in the world, selling for Dh2,200 a kilogram.
“It comes from an animal in the mongoose family that eats the sweetest and ripest coffee berries at night,” said Vie Reyes.
“After it goes through the animal’s digestive system, the bean is collected on the other side.”
Although she drank it, Ms Alnaqbi was reeling inside.
“I said it was good, but inside I was shaking at the thought.”
Beyond Borders airs every Friday on MBC1 at 2pm, with reruns on Saturdays at 6.30am.
tsubaihi@thenational.ae
