In the daily hustle, it is easy to disappear into a little bubble of routines and life and not look at the entire perspective from the lives of people around us. However in certain circumstances, when people step back and get a glimpse, there is light and joy shared with one another to make the world a better place.
Connector spoke to Tara Shah Khan, Co-Founder and President of Magical Smiles UAE, on how she started helping people by distributing meals to running monthly events to provide support to workers.
Tara Shah Khan is a great example of someone that looks at the big picture and strives daily to make a change, and as a mother of two children, leads by example and encourages her family, as well as the people around her to give support back to workers in labour camps, and appreciate them for all the hard work and effort they put into giving back to the overall development of the community.
For Tara Shah Khan, COVID-19 in 2020 was a wake-up call, as she saw many people around her and in her family struggling to come to terms with the issues caused by the pandemic. Through all the difficulties, Tara Shah Khan set her gaze on the workers in labour camps, that were heavily affected at the time.
Many people were unable to visit their families back home and there was a lot of uncertainty. After seeing posts on Facebook of people helping labourers and wanting to do more for them, Tara Shah Khan decided to make a difference and started buying meals to provide workers with food.
Tara Shah Khan said, "When COVID-19 happened, everything went upside down and everybody got affected but people were helping each other, and I had one group on Facebook called Magical Moms. I saw there were many Facebook groups, where they were helping people with groceries and rations, especially the labourers, who were affected more. So, I started giving food to the affected families at the labour camps."
After seeing the joy from the workers on receiving the food, Tara Shah Khan wanted to make a bigger difference on a larger scale, where more people could be helped. As things were opening up in the UAE and returning to a sense of normality, Tara Shah Khan did not want to stop donating food and more volunteers joined to distribute food.
Tara Shah Khan said, "We got through to more people and we used to go and distribute the meals and the rations to the labour camps during COVID-19. Even after the pandemic, I did not want to stop and wanted to do something more."
Knowing the difference she was making in the lives of other labourers, Tara Shah Khan wanted to go through the legal route and involve the government, in an effort to be able to make the donations on a larger scale and help workers. Tara Shah Khan then established Magical Smiles UAE, along with co-founders Lokesh Mishra, Tanveer Khan, and Rakesh Kaul, all like-minded individuals working towards the same cause. After approaching the Community Development Authority (CDA), the team of four were given approval and started donating meals, alongside other volunteers, at labour camps.
Tara Shah Khan added, "We approached the CDA who were delighted to have us, and they gave us all the details that we needed, and then we legally registered with them. Now every month, we do two or three activities in the labour camps by distributing meals, especially during the festival time."
In December 2022, the team of four was recognised by the CDA for all their hard work and were given an award for the best team.
As the distribution of meals is open to anyone that would like to help out, there are many children that have also volunteered as part of the group, and are even given certificates to mark their time spent helping out. The youngest volunteer to distribute meals is Zahra Khan, Tara's youngest daughter, aged 2 years old. Tara's older daughter, Fatema Khan, aged 11 years old has also distributed meals at over 50 events.
Tara Shah Khan said, "My younger one, she's the youngest volunteer in CDA. She started volunteering from the age of two and is so happy when she is distributing water bottles, and she does not get tired. She wants to distribute during the entire event, and even when we tell her not to do it, she removes the bottles from the packet and does it herself. My older one has distributed at more than 50 events."
One key factor that motivates Tara Shah Khan, her co-founders, their families and the volunteers to keep going back and distributing meals, despite the humid weather or cooler days in the UAE, is the joy they see when workers receive their meals donated. As many are away from their families, the workers find a sense of unity among the people distributing food to them and appreciate all that help out.
Tara Shah Khan added, "They are very happy when we come with the kids and distribute meals, as one meal sometimes makes a lot of difference to their lives where they are alone, and are away from their families. So it really helps them and that is what we aim to do. We just want to spread happiness."
Although the group makes a difference by distributing meals, they also have launched various other initiatives to help low-wage workers. During the cooler months, blankets are distributed to keep workers warm as temperatures drop and a medical camp was also organised, to offer health checkups.
Tara Shah Khan said, "They are all low wages people so it really makes a difference with one meal and they can save that money. It brought them so much happiness, especially when we did a medical camp. They were very happy because it was very difficult for them in their busy lives to go and get checkups, blood tests, sugar tests and check their bone density. In December, we always distribute blankets. Some people tell us that these blankets are so nice, we will not use them and will send them to our daughters and sons. It is a very small thing that hardly makes a difference in our lives, but shows the difference it makes in their lives."
Labourers help the community in numerous ways, be it by fixing ACs or taxi drivers that take people from one place to another. Tara Shah Khan shares that the aim for all of them coming together to distribute meals is to appreciate all that workers do for people and add to their happiness saying, "People always say that you are supporting the labourers and but we are saying thank you for all that they do for us, and this is a small gesture of what we can do for you. My team always wants to concentrate on spreading happiness."
People that are looking to join in to help out by volunteering to distribute meals to workers around the UAE can reach out via the Magical Smiles Facebook page.