ABU DHABI // Canadians in the UAE celebrated their national day on Wednesday by volunteering at an iftar at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
Canada’s ambassador to the UAE, Arif Lalani, his wife and other embassy staff helped to distribute meals to 10,000 Muslims breaking their fast.
“It’s the first time we volunteered as an embassy for Ramadan,” Mr Lalani said. “We tend not to do national day receptions and we like to try to find ways to commemorate our national day by demonstrating our Canadian values and participating in the community.”
The embassy has long chosen to celebrate similar occasions by giving back to society.
“Countries here often celebrate their national days that come in the summer, in the winter,” he said.
“We have our flag day in February and we chose to support the Terry Fox Run and participate in it, so this was the same spirit for national day.
“We said, how can we participate during Ramadan as that’s when it falls, and why don’t we embrace Ramadan and show we share the same values.”
Speaking earlier yesterday, Mr Lalani, a Muslim, said he and 34 Canadians from the embassy and the Canadian business council would gather before the maghreb prayer.
“We will be escorting people to their meals and prayer area, and helping to carry some of the food back and forth,” he said. “We will also be pushing the buggies, and whatever is required, we are going to do it. Then we will have iftar with everyone else on the floor of the tent.”
At least 10,000 worshippers were expected to attend. “We wanted to be part of this great experience, so we thought it would be the easiest place to try to volunteer,” Mr Lalani said.
“Canadians are compassionate, very generous, they give to charity and they believe in different religions, so it is a chance for us to contribute and learn a bit more about the culture.”
Lilas Jabri, 49, a Canadian of Lebanese origin, was volunteering on her day off from the embassy. She said: “I am so happy to share this with the rest of the staff and the ambassador.
“It is something I believe in, to share with them the same feeling of volunteer work and spend that day in a special way, being compassionate with the rest of the people and sharing the same values. It creates a bond between us.”
Ms Jabri said she would break her fast with everyone else.
“Ramadan isn’t a resting time or a time to sleep and spend the day thinking about what we’re going to eat,” she said. “It’s a normal day where you feel that you’re really fortunate to have a ready meal all the time.
“You’re not supposed to worry about that when you work. You continue your day, you work hard and do it properly and you never blame things on fasting.”
She said the aim was to share a mutual feeling with millions of people not fortunate enough to have a ready meal.
“They have to go to work to fetch a few bites at the end of the day for them and their children,” she said. “So it’s not an excuse not to work properly.”
Last week, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper hosted an iftar at his residence for Muslim families. There are more than one million Muslims in Canada.
cmalek@thenational.ae
