As well as the efforts of the Dubai Economic Development Department, who have put in place controls aimed at regulating worker’s rights and standards of living, one charity that aims to bolster this process by extending assistance at grass roots level, is Helping Hands. Thanks to the dedication of its founders, Elle and Roger Trow to bettering the lives of those in need, amazing improvements are being made. “We give a helping hand and there are no strings attached. It does not matter to us where the person is from, what his religion or beliefs are. If he or she is needy and we have it, we give it.” By collecting and providing care packages that include food and basic requirements such as bedding and toiletries, Helping Hands is a lifeline to those in Dubai struggling to survive. The charity can also help labourers break the crippling cycle of debt, which is endemic, since many workers have borrowed large amounts to get to the Gulf in the first place.
Helping Hands started in 2006 when Elle and Roger visited a labour camp to deliver food parcels and, shocked by what they saw, immediately realised the enormity of the problem. By raising awareness in the community, they received an encouraging response: “There are many people with the same caring hearts who help and support us with amazing loyalty and generosity in giving us all the material requirements we need. In effect, we are a channel for all of those people here who tell us that Dubai has been good to them, and who have wanted to 'give back' to society but did not know how to go about it until we came along and enabled them to do just that”, she says. Being first and foremost humanitarians, Helping Hands targets the lowest paid migrant workers; “the most exploited, the most disrespected, the most underprivileged: the invisible, the disposable and neglected members of society. We touch the lives of human beings some people don’t even know exist”.
Roger and Elle moved to Dubai in 2001 after having lived in Bahrain for 20 years, where they also were involved in charity work. Since Helping Hands was established they have visited the camps once a month, delivering nutritionally balanced food packs, which include items such as rice, tinned fish, tea bags and milk, directly into the hands of the poorest labourers. By January 2007 the generosity they encountered was so great that they started to carry weekly Friday collections in the car park of the Mall of the Emirates (level two, zones A to F between 11am and 12pm) which enables people to donate food, blankets and clothes directly to those most in need. The charity has now evolved to assist house-maids who have fled their homes due to appalling treatment. These young women are often severely traumatised, grossly over-worked and victims of mental, physical and sometimes sexual abuse.
The evolution of Helping Hands is a testimony to the generosity of many in Dubai and makes a genuine difference to the most vulnerable members of society, not only by providing them with basic needs such as food, but also by restoring a degree of human dignity. “We have had some tough times and it is very time consuming, but we never lose motivation or feel like giving up because we know the burdens of the people we are helping far exceed our own. The atmosphere when we go into a camp is joyous and being able to help truly needy people is, for us, a blessing”, Elle concludes.