Sunday, August 1, 2010

Dubai - Less than two years ago, Hamida Islam lived in a make-shift hut next to a stagnant pond in the slums of Dhaka. With no money for food and unable to find work she and her family survived by begging, or sifting rice grains from the ground of the local market place. But today, complete with glossy hair, clean clothes, a home that does not wash away in the rain and a growing grasp on the English language, Hamida is busy preparing for a new life right here in Dubai with her husband Aruna. Speaking to 7DAYS, she said: “My family and I moved from the rural area of Bangladesh to the city to get jobs. But when we arrived we could not find work. I was just 12. “When we heard about The Dhaka Project we did not hesitate to go. We felt life would somehow be brighter.” And it seems they were right. After training for several months at the beauty school opened by Dubai-based airhostess Maria Conceicao in the Dhaka suburb of Gawair, Hamida has been offered a job at Aruna beauty salon, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road. And her husband has been offered a job as a driver by a well-known tour company in the region, so they'll be able to stay together. Hamida's future employer Aruna Sokhi, who returned from Dhaka two weeks ago where she and employee Grace trained the women at the school, said: “I feel she has great potential. She is a good worker, she will do very well here. There were seven girls we trained and each was lovely. There is another girl, Sharmin, who is also very good. Her father died and one of her brothers is blind in one eye, but while her family relies on her to earn, they need to feel comfortable sending her here.” While the jobs are secured, there is still one small but important hurdle to overcome before the couple can begin their new life - their passports. Maria explained: “It has been a constant fight to make people in Dhaka believe these people have potential. I was happy just to get them a job in Dhaka, but to send them to Dubai? This has given the 65 staff at the project such a boost. We have had so many doors shut in our face. We had a vision and no-one believed it could happen - but now, slowly, it is. ”