During the height of the government’s sterilization drive, a Filipina community leader sent off a distress call on Facebook about some 177 daily wage earners – mostly Bangladeshis, Nepalis and Pakistanis – on no-work-no-pay and living in one building in Abu Dhabi and in dire need of food.
Mj Maria Lami-in, part of the admin team for a private Abu Dhabi-based FB group of 57,000 members, knew the task was gargantuan and had to be done in an organized manner by first identifying how many occupants were in each room so that appropriate food relief effort can be executed.
The group, Abu Dhabi Q&A, is one of the most directly interactive expat Facebook groups and has the biggest reach in the capital city.
Her post caught the attention of a group co-member, Aamer Al Yafei, a young civic-minded Emirati chemical engineer, who then also did a shout-out to his own group, UAE Relief Initiative.
“When he saw my post, he made a private WhatsApp. Aamer coordinated with me as an individual. I pulled in my OFWGME team for manpower.
Soon, food relief came pouring in and Lami-in, who also is advisor for the Overseas Filipino Workers Global Movement for Empowerment (OFWGME), mobilized all interested individual for operation. Sheryl Palacios Manalo, also a community volunteer with OFWGME, and popularly known as Inday Sheryl, likewise joined in the collective efforts.
“All manpower activities, sorting and coordinating was from my side with help sa manpower team nating OFWGME members. Sa kanila, willingness and genrosity pag sagot sa need ng bulk food within 3 or 4 days,” Lami-in said.
She said the distressed workers have been staying in their rooms for weeks with no work and dwindling to zero income and thus no food. The building owner, she added, was generous to understand their rental needs but food and hunger was another matter. There were about 18 flats with affected occupants identified in the building which was along Electra Street
The Daily Bread 