Brazilians rally round to feed the needy

Mrs Barbosa regularly cooks meals for the maintenance staff and street sweepers around her apartment complex in Khalifa City.

Cynthia Barbosa has reached out to her friends on social media to finance and cook meals for workers in Abu Dhabi. Lee Hoagland / The National

ABU DHABI // When Cynthia Rogner Barbosa lived in Brazil, she was used to hungry homeless people knocking on her front door asking for food.

Like most Brazilians who opened their doors to the less fortunate, Mrs Barbosa would pack a meal, usually made up of the staple rice and beans with chicken or beef, and hand it to the visitor at her front steps.

Now that Mrs Barbosa lives in Abu Dhabi, she is continuing the tradition of helping strangers in need. The married mother of two regularly cooks meals for the maintenance staff and street sweepers around her apartment complex in Khalifa City.

Mrs Barbosa also likes to occasionally treat the women who work at her nail salon to a hot, homemade meal.

“I love to cook,” Mrs Barbosa said. “I could stand in this kitchen all day stirring up different dishes.”

Last month, the 35-year-old decided to take on a more ambitious challenge. Instead of feeding 10 or 20 neighbourhood labourers and manicurists, Mrs Barbosa set her sights on feeding more than 100. She appealed to her fellow Brazilians on social media for support.

“I’m grateful for being able to help these people. It’s a way for me to thank God for my beautiful family, my work, my life and many other good things I’ve been able to accomplish in life,” Mrs Barbosa told the 1,295 members of the group.

“This time, I’d like to make meals for the men that work at night and the men who clean the streets. Since there are many – more or less 100 or 150 – I need help.”

Within minutes Mrs Barbosa was inundated with messages from willing Brazilians eager to join her quest. Some offered to donate money, but Mrs Barbosa turned down all such offers, accepting only donations of ingredients for the meals, bottled water, milk, fresh fruit, or volunteers willing to offer their time and skills.

Thiago Higino, a 30-year-old jiu-jitsu instructor who has been living in the UAE for four months, was among the first to express his support and offer to join the project.

“I feel privileged to be able to help,” said Mr Higino, who donated 160 bottles of water to the cause. “Whenever there is a project like this, I like to get involved because I find it very gratifying. These small gestures have big payoffs.

“I didn’t end world hunger, I didn’t save a life, but we did something good.”

Mr Higino praised the initiative, saying it was a fine way to showcase the goodwill of Brazilians in Abu Dhabi.

“Brazilians are a very supportive, charitable people,” Mr Higino said.

Elizangela Portugal, who has lived in Abu Dhabi for about three years, was among the six women to join Mrs Barbosa the morning of the delivery. The women diced vegetables used to cook three large pots of ratatouille, which was poured over a bed of white rice. The meals were packed in small, aluminium foil takeaway containers, which were packed in a plastic bag along with plastic utensils, napkins, bottled water, milk and fruit.

Shortly after sundown on Tuesday, four of the women hit the streets and delivered about 120 packed dinners to labourers they came across sweeping the streets or watering plants. They did not finish until after 1am, Mrs Portugal said.

“It was very emotional,” she said. “All we had to do was show the packed bags and say it was food and they would come running. It was incredible. You could see that they were so happy, so happy with a simple plate of food.”