Keeping Hope and Faith

The thought of labourers in the Middle East conjures up images of
heavy, manual work…but is the life of a labourer here only that?

It is said that life is what one makes of it and that happiness is a state of mind. Quite right, but does that still hold when one is a labourer working eight hours a day lifting unimaginably heavy loads around one’s workplace – the warehouse –

far away from one’s family? Add to that, a shrinking salary that isn’t keeping up with the rising cost of living and there’s less and less to send back home each month? It’s still not so bad, say the main characters of this story.

Nadeem Ahmad is 22 and has been in Dubai for almost a year now. Working as a labourer at Al Rais Logistics in Jebel Ali, he has to do anything and everything around the warehouse. He’s a happy-go-lucky young man from Karachi, in Pakistan, where he ran his own electrical store before deciding to come to the UAE on a visit visa. After applying for a few positions, he got this opportunity and took it because the company treats its employees far better than many others. He’s shopped around so he knows.

Ahmad says he’s very happy doing what he does because he likes the people he works with and is happy with how he’s treated, too. Work is basically assisting the forklift operator, besides other routine tasks such as lifting containers, loading and unloading materials and helping his colleagues. There are days when he has nothing to do in the warehouse at all. So, he says, life’s good and although he’s all alone here in Dubai, he tries his best not to miss his family too much. Back home in Karachi, he has a small house where his parents and brothers and sisters stay. He calls them every Friday.

Budgeting is very important for Ahmad. “Costs are increasing,” he says, “and one has to be careful.” But as he is still unmarried, his priority is himself and not sending money back home. Having said that, he admits to sending half of his income to his parents each month!

What is a typical day for him like? Well, like many others, his workday is from 9am to 6pm with an hour-long lunch break in the afternoon. Weekends are spent renting and watching movies and basically just staying in his room, which he shares with a few of his friends.

Ahmad hasn’t seen much of Dubai as he doesn’t know anyone outside of his work and he feels getting around places in Dubai is a problem and is expensive too. He’s careful about how he spends his money as he has to have enough to eat and also keep a little extra for emergencies.

Allan Jazmin, 28, from the Philippines is not as upbeat as his colleague, Nadeem. Perhaps, the fact that he has just returned from a two-month vacation has something to do with his mood. Everyone knows what it is like going back to work after a blissful 60 days away from it!

Jazmin is a qualified seaman but the lack of opportunities in his field of choice in his home country and family responsibilities made him to come to the UAE and try his luck and lucky he was, he says. When he got this job three years ago, a few of his friends who were also here on visit visas looking for employment were not as fortunate as him. “It’s not about doing something of your choice but making the best of the choices available to you at any given time,” he says.

Jazmin’s work day is no different from that of any other labourer and involves arranging the correct documents to receive cargo, working the racks of materials, loading, unloading and lifting heavy materials, but he chooses to look at all the experiences as stepping stones that will come in handy for better opportunities in the future. And although he’s satisfied with his pay for now, he’s hopeful that he will get an increment sooner rather than later.

For Jazmin, family is his foremost priority. He sends about a third of his income back home to his wife who looks after their oneyear- old son and his aging parents. Talking about his family makes him feel good and reminds him of the precious days he spent with them…days that came after a year of hard work and that flew by too soon, he adds philosophically.

For now, weekends and free time are difficult for him having just returned from home, but ordinarily Jazmin’s weekends are spent with his cousins with whom he shares his accommodation. He likes to stay in most of the time as he feels going out is problematic. “It’s expensive, difficult and basically a hassle.”

Also, he feels he is here for a purpose which is to save as much money as he can for his family so he likes to focus on that and stay out of trouble by staying in. He likes to eat well and so cooks for himself as he finds it difficult to get food that suits his taste and is within his budget.