Meals and toiletries for labourers under Ramadan programme

Iftar meals and an assortment of toiletries will be given away to thousands of labourers in the country as part of a Ramadan initiative called 'Smile on the Face'.

ABU DHABI // About 8,000 labourers will receive meals and toiletries through a Ramadan programme run by a private company.

Smile on the Face, which runs from July 4 to 25, supplies each worker with water, juice, an iftar meal and an assortment of toiletries.

“So far, we’ve reached out to 5,800 labourers at eight labour camps in Dubai,” said Uttam Kumar, 27, managing director of Tamquest Entertainment and Events in Dubai.

“It feels great to be doing this for the labourers, having witnessed first-hand their conditions at the camps.”

The initiative originally started in 2012 with two volunteers who packed and distributed the meal bags and toiletry kits before iftar on Friday evenings.

“Close to 180 [volunteers] registered with us this year,” Mr Kumar said. “We’ve got 25 to 30 volunteers at each camp. The biggest challenge is the extreme heat, but it feels great to help others.”

On Friday, the bags will be distributed to 375 workers at Al Reem labour camp, 700 in Sonapur, in Dubai, and 1,100 at the Khansaheb camp in Sharjah.

“We’ve added dal [lentil dish] to the iftar packs and are giving away more products,” Mr Kumar said. “In Sharjah, we will be distributing bed sheets to the workers.”

An iftar meal consists of chicken biryani, dal, four kinds of fruit, water, juice and biscuits. Each labourer will also receive tomato paste, a bottle of pickles, a shaving kit, a bar of soap and shampoo.

“We’re hoping to partner with a government authority to take this into a different level and on a much bigger scale,” Mr Kumar said. “We are also keen on organising more events at labour camps throughout the year.”

Volunteers will also conduct workshops in computer training and basic English at the camps on Friday.

“We’ll set up a unit at a Dubai camp with two laptops, and later expand it include other camps in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi,” he said.

Tamquest has partnered this year with Bank of Sharjah, with Dubai Investments as an associate sponsor and Kitra and Emax as co-sponsors.

Expenses for the meal bags and iftar meals were covered by other corporations.

Those who wish to sponsor a camp can email [e-mail]. For more information on the campaign visit www.facebook.com/smileontheface