Abu Dhabi // Ahmed Al Kaabi weeps with frustration every time he is turned down for a job.
His mother, Umm Ali, weeps with him.
“It breaks my heart that my grown son is sitting helpless at home,” she says.
Ahmed, 23, from Al Ain, has known he has epilepsy since he was 18. He has been on medication since then and has gone for as long as two years without a seizure, but that cuts no ice with prospective employers.
“Medication controls the seizures but for employers it’s that you’re taking medication in the first place that means you are not suitable,” he says.
After being released from the military because of his epilepsy, Ahmed initially found a Dh5,000-a-month job with Saaed, the private company that handles minor traffic accidents.
It lasted only four months. He was assigned to patrols but asked to be moved to another post, even though his doctor had authorised him to drive.
“I was worried about having an episode while driving, so I told my supervisors that I wanted to remain at Saaed but could they put me in another department because I had epilepsy. They said it was not a problem and they put me in operations.”
Saaed gave Ahmed a job taking calls and reports. After a few months, he had a seizure.
“I was alone in the office and exhausted because all the workload was put on me. I was alone taking all the calls and it was the end of the day. As I was leaving the office, I had a seizure.
“Management found out and said I was to hand in the company property and receive my allowance and leave.
“I got angry, honestly. I didn’t harm anyone and nothing was affected. I had finished my job and was leaving the office.”
Ahmed went to court to file a case against Saaed.
“I specifically asked the judge if I would be reinstated and he said no. All I would get was any money I was owed. This was because I was fired during my probation period.”
Saaed, like the military, say they dismissed Ahmed because “his medical condition was not suitable for the nature of the job”.
“They told me they were afraid I would break the computer,” he says.
Ahmed and his wife and two children live with his parents. They sleep in one room because there is not enough space in the house, and he cannot apply for a government housing grant because he is unemployed.
“Every time Ahmed comes back after being rejected from a job he starts crying and talking of committing suicide,” his mother says. “I start crying next to him.
“Ahmed says if he commits suicide then at least he will be less of a burden on me and his father. He think his children will benefit more out of his death than if he stayed alive. If they are orphans they will at least receive welfare.
“Ahmed doesn’t understand that he is not a burden. We love him and will take care of him and his wife and children. I’m only worried that, if we die, who will take care of him?”
His mother has applied for social welfare on his behalf, but Ahmed says: “I’d rather work than take welfare. I’m young and I want to work.”
Every medical report he has says he is fit for office work, but the documents are a double-edged sword. Because doctors say he can work he is not eligible for social service support, but because of his condition no company will hire him.
The Emirates Red Crescent gave him Dh3,000 during Ramadan, and he used the money to buy a small printer to make stickers for henna designs. This earns him a few hundred dirhams during Eid.
He is completing his education at the Higher Colleges of Technology and applying for jobs.
“I’ll take anything. I applied at the police and swore to them that I’d take a job as a cleaner, just as long as I have a job. But I can’t be fired from a job every time I get a seizure.”
salnuwais@thenational.ae
