UAE’s spirit of Ramadan: The fridge that thaws a million hearts [video]

Water coolers stationed outside villas in many areas of Dubai is a common sight for the UAE residents.

Ramadan fridge-sharing, however, is a concept that has captured the imagination of the people during the fasting month this year.

By placing her spare refrigerator on her front yard and stocking it with food items for those in need, Sumayyah Sayed, an Australian expat living in Dubai’s Springs community, is among those who have initiated the Ramadan sharing fridge programme this year.

While not a novel concept, the simple idea of making food and drink easily accessible to the blue-collared workers has spread across the UAE this year, thanks to word-of-mouth and social media.

A mother-of-two, Sumayyah says that the concept of sharing fridges has been around for quite a while but never to this effect.

"It has unified everyone, brought communities closer, broke down barriers and built friendships."

So, what inspired her to start this initiative? "To show my children how to share. Telling them verbally is one thing, but exercising it sends a stronger message" she says.

"At the same time, seeing gardeners and workers work out in the harsh sun, I wanted to be able to do something to make it a little easier."

Sumayyah also started a Facebook page, Ramadan/Sharing Fridges in the UAE, to spread the word. "I started the Ramadan/Sharing Fridges on Facebook thinking to myself, even if we hit 100 members, I'll be happy.

"Before I knew it, we had thousands of members."

As of this morning (Wednesday, June 22), there are 19,583 members on the Facebook page. Subsequently, location-specific pages and closed/public groups have been created on Facebook by volunteers.

After Sumayyah kick-started her campaign, her friends and neighbours joined in to keep the fridge filled with both hot and cold food items. Some of her posse of friends and neighbours who have been with her on this tremendous journey include: "Nadia Sarie, who has been with me from the very beginning; Alison Vickery; Fikra Yel (who had a Ramadan fridge for 3 years before) and Sophie Desplaces," says Sumayyah.

Once the word started spreading, refrigerators were soon installed in different areas of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah and Ajman and anonymous volunteers have been keeping them stocked with food and drinks.

Click here for Ramadan fridge locations.

"We have about 90 fridges and each one feeds an average of 100 workers a day. That's almost 10,000 workers. It just goes to show that every one fridge counts. It makes a difference," Sumayyah says.

UAE residents from all walks of life have joined the initiative on a voluntary basis. Fridge managers keep a close eye on the food stock in the fridges and whenever stocks run low, requests go out on social media channels asking people to restock the fridges.

AM (name withheld on request), who works with a global consultancy firm in Dubai, has been stocking up the Ramadan fridge near her residence on a daily basis in Bur Dubai.

She says: "I always distribute food during Ramadan. But, these fridges have made it more convenient for me to reach out to the workers. So, I just help stock the fridge for Suhoor."

"I'm so humbled by the support and love from everyone and their generosity that keeps this initiative going. They don't realise, but it's all the community effort that has come together," adds an overwhelmed Sumayyah.

There seems to be a sense of satisfaction underlying Sumayyah's words when she speaks about her family's contribution to this campaign.

"My husband is very supportive of it and so proud. My two sons love it. My 4-year-old, Zalaand, understands the purpose so well. He explained it to my mum the other day and I was so surprised.

"My two-year-old, Sahil, likes to put things in the fridge."

So, after having come so far on this journey in her sharing campaign in the very first year and achieved her personal goal, what plans does Sumayyah have for the future and the campaign?

"Some of us would love to continue it, even if it's just to stock water and cold drinks/juices/laban."

Images courtesy ‘Ramadan/Sharing Fridges in the UAE’ Facebook page

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