Emirati tells how she moved on from abuse and homelessness



ABU DHABI // "Maryam" was married at 15, and a single mother a year later after leaving her abusive husband.

While still a teenager she was left without a roof over her head when her mother illegally sold the family home and moved abroad with the proceeds. Jobless, homeless, without a penny to her name and denied state aid by a legal technicality, Maryam was in despair.

The depths to which she fell are a stark reminder of the cracks in society through which anyone can fall, even members of established Emirati families, and how the best-intentioned state-support system cannot save everyone.

At no point, however, did she lose her pride or her dignity - and her fight to rejoin mainstream society is a tribute to the human spirit.

Maryam, a strikingly beautiful woman of 26, was born to a Lebanese mother and an Emirati father 25 years older than his wife.

As a child, her life was never easy. Her parents' relationship was often stormy, and things took a further turn for the worse when Maryam was 13 and her father developed diabetes. He suffered a stroke that left him unable to move and the family dependent on his retirement salary.

By the age of 15 Maryam was betrothed to a man in his forties. At first, she welcomed this. Her mother had taken her out of school at the age of 10 and she hoped married life would mean returning to education.

But the marriage was short-lived and without joy. The couple did not attend a wedding ceremony or share a house. Maryam's husband used to visit her at her father's house, where he abused her.

Forty days after the marriage, a court ruled that he should divorce Maryam because of the violence he had inflicted. "The effects of the beatings showed in the medical examination," the court's divorce document reads. "His beating for her has exceeded the slight beating limit … a severe beating, without a clear reason for it.

"There is nothing that permits him to beat her this way, which had left marks on her body and exceeded the permitted disciplinary limit."

Divorcing her husband was a brave step for Maryam to take, as she was pregnant with his daughter. The decision left her a single mother at the age of 16.

A year later Maryam's father died. And a year after that, the rest of her world fell apart.

"One day I went back to the house and found my things outside," she says. "A stranger told me that my mother had sold him the house for Dh430,000."

Maryam then discovered her mother had left the country three days earlier.

"I was suddenly homeless with Dh500 only in my pocket." She was also forced to surrender the custody of her daughter to her ex-husband.

In desperation, she called a driver who used to work for her father and he agreed to let her sleep in his car.

Then Maryam took on a series of menial jobs at cafes, many of which paid only food and board. She was fired from one job after she refused to go out with a customer.

"If I found something to eat, I ate, and if not then nothing," she says. "I was only guaranteed somewhere to sleep at night."

All the jobs she worked at had one thing in common - they never lasted.

She took to sleeping in the park opposite the Chamber of Commerce in Abu Dhabi and was forced to collect food from the rubbish bins.

"I would spend the days going around cafes looking for a job, and go to the petrol station to use the bathroom and wash up," Maryam says.

At night, after the police patrols left, she and some Asian women went to sleep in the park.

"I used to sleep between their bodies so we could protect each other," Maryam says. "They also taught me how to get food.

"We would wait until people brought takeaway food to the park, and after they placed the leftovers in the trash, we would run to divide what they left and eat it. That was our lunch.

"Two years and 50 days I spent without any shelter or income. Many blamed me, saying a woman with such beauty could live a different life, but I couldn't do that to myself."

Now at her lowest point, Maryam decided to fight for her father's house - the home that should have been hers all along.

The home was a type of public housing offered by the Government, which cannot be legally sold or rented.

By selling it illegally, her mother did not just deny Maryam a place to live - she also denied her the ability to prove she was homeless.

During her long stay in the park Maryam had sought the support of aid organisations for Emiratis, but found she was ineligible because her father's house was still registered under the family's name and she was listed as his heir. Legally, she already had a home, even if in practice it belonged to someone else.

It was not until a chance encounter at a jobs fair that things started looking up. A man with a similar family name to Maryam's managed to find her a job with the chamber of commerce. But her luck was not to last.

Her new circumstances enabled her to apply for a Dh450,000 loan, but her naivety meant she was easy to fool. After one ill-fated business venture she was sent to jail for two months.

Homeless again, she called her lawyer's paralegal, who took pity on her and agreed to pay her rent.

And that's when she knew her luck had changed.

Two weeks ago the highest court, the Court of Cassation, ruled that she had a right to her father's house and that it should never have been sold in the first place.

Now, after 11 years of hell, Maryam can see light at the end of her particular tunnel. Her troubles may not be entirely over - the court also ruled that she must repay the Dh430,000 her mother took for the house, and she has other debts - but she is no longer facing them alone.

The family home is now incontestably hers, the paralegal who helped her is now her husband, and the couple have a one-month-old son. There will be no more sleeping in the park, no more scrabbling in bins for food.

"I'm much more comfortable now," she says. "I have my husband and son by my side."

The biog

Name: Timothy Husband

Nationality: New Zealand

Education: Degree in zoology at The University of Sydney

Favourite book: Lemurs of Madagascar by Russell A Mittermeier

Favourite music: Billy Joel

Weekends and holidays: Talking about animals or visiting his farm in Australia

SPECS
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%202-litre%20direct%20injection%20turbo%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%207-speed%20automatic%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20261hp%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20400Nm%20%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3A%20From%20Dh134%2C999%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
MATCH INFO

Juventus 1 (Dybala 45')

Lazio 3 (Alberto 16', Lulic 73', Cataldi 90 4')

Red card: Rodrigo Bentancur (Juventus)

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JAPANESE GRAND PRIX INFO

Schedule (All times UAE)
First practice: Friday, 5-6.30am
Second practice: Friday, 9-10.30am
Third practice: Saturday, 7-8am
Qualifying: Saturday, 10-11am
Race: Sunday, 9am-midday 

Race venue: Suzuka International Racing Course
Circuit Length: 5.807km
Number of Laps: 53
Watch live: beIN Sports HD

Game Changer

Director: Shankar 

Stars: Ram Charan, Kiara Advani, Anjali, S J Suryah, Jayaram

Rating: 2/5

The%20specs
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEngine%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E3.6-litre%2C%20V6%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETransmission%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eeight-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPower%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E285hp%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ETorque%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E353Nm%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDh159%2C900%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EOn%20sale%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Enow%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Cryopreservation: A timeline
  1. Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
  2. Ovarian tissue surgically removed
  3. Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
  4. Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
  5. Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
Fixtures

Sunday, December 8, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – UAE v USA

Monday, December 9, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – USA v Scotland

Wednesday, December 11, Sharjah Cricket Stadium – UAE v Scotland

Thursday, December 12, ICC Academy, Dubai – UAE v USA

Saturday, December 14, ICC Academy, Dubai – USA v Scotland

Sunday, December 15, ICC Academy, Dubai – UAE v Scotland

Note: All matches start at 10am, admission is free

UAE jiu-jitsu squad

Men: Hamad Nawad and Khalid Al Balushi (56kg), Omar Al Fadhli and Saeed Al Mazroui (62kg), Taleb Al Kirbi and Humaid Al Kaabi (69kg), Mohammed Al Qubaisi and Saud Al Hammadi (70kg), Khalfan Belhol and Mohammad Haitham Radhi (85kg), Faisal Al Ketbi and Zayed Al Kaabi (94kg)

Women: Wadima Al Yafei and Mahra Al Hanaei (49kg), Bashayer Al Matrooshi and Hessa Al Shamsi (62kg)

Guide to intelligent investing
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Xpanceo

Started: 2018

Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov

Based: Dubai, UAE

Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality

Funding: $40 million

Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)

Some of Darwish's last words

"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008

His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.

The bio

Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.

Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.

Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.

Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Power: 510hp at 9,000rpm
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Price: From Dh801,800
Other must-tries

Tomato and walnut salad

A lesson in simple, seasonal eating. Wedges of tomato, chunks of cucumber, thinly sliced red onion, coriander or parsley leaves, and perhaps some fresh dill are drizzled with a crushed walnut and garlic dressing. Do consider yourself warned: if you eat this salad in Georgia during the summer months, the tomatoes will be so ripe and flavourful that every tomato you eat from that day forth will taste lacklustre in comparison.

Badrijani nigvzit

A delicious vegetarian snack or starter. It consists of thinly sliced, fried then cooled aubergine smothered with a thick and creamy walnut sauce and folded or rolled. Take note, even though it seems like you should be able to pick these morsels up with your hands, they’re not as durable as they look. A knife and fork is the way to go.

Pkhali

This healthy little dish (a nice antidote to the khachapuri) is usually made with steamed then chopped cabbage, spinach, beetroot or green beans, combined with walnuts, garlic and herbs to make a vegetable pâté or paste. The mix is then often formed into rounds, chilled in the fridge and topped with pomegranate seeds before being served.

Emergency

Director: Kangana Ranaut

Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry 

Rating: 2/5

Paatal Lok season two

Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy 

Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong

Rating: 4.5/5

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Race card:

6.30pm: Maiden; Dh165,000; 2,000m

7.05pm: Handicap; Dh165,000; 2,200m

7.40pm: Conditions; Dh240,000; 1,600m

8.15pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 2,000m

8.50pm: The Garhoud Sprint Listed; Dh265,000; 1,200m

9.25pm: Handicap; Dh170,000; 1,600m

10pm: Handicap; Dh190,000; 1,400m

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Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club race card

5pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic (PA) Prestige; Dh110,000; 1,400m
5.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic (PA) Prestige; Dh110,000; 1,400m
6pm: Maiden (PA); Dh80,000; 1,600m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship (PA) Listed; Dh180,000; 1,600m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap; Dh70,000; 2,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (PA); Dh100,000; 2,400m

Other workplace saving schemes
  • The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
  • Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
  • National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
  • In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
  • Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.

Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic

John Zubrzycki, Hurst Publishers

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