Emirati volunteers become Dubai’s street cleaners for a day

DUBAI // A group of 15 Emirati volunteers got down and dirty to learn first hand from street cleaners about how hard their days can be and break stereotypes that young nationals are spoilt.

Dressed in orange overalls, the group, all in their 20s, collected rubbish with Dubai Municipality cleaners to mark Labour Day, celebrated today.

“We gathered at the meeting point in Bur Dubai at 3am,” said Heba bin Redha, 25, a security and fraud risk manager at a private bank.

“We met the cleaners and were assigned to streets. Two volunteers went with a cleaner, who was our mentor. We were so excited that we started cleaning randomly and that is when we realised that the job was just not about collecting trash from the roads,” said Ms Redha, who is a volunteer at Al Nashama UAE, an organisation established in 2009 to improve community welfare.

“Their jobs require patience, paying attention to detail, organisation and time-management skills. They work on a strategy to keep Dubai’s roads clean. We start from the main roads so people go out to clean streets and then they move into neighbourhoods.”

Ms Redha said the team had come up with the initiative because they wanted to try something “out of the box and extraordinary”.

“The aim was to live their life and to look at life through their eyes.”

She said the initiative would also tell people that young Emiratis appreciated and respected the painstaking efforts of municipal cleaners.

“We want to change the stereotypes people have of young Emiratis that we are spoilt and get what we want. We are humble, we respect and welcome everyone. We appreciate the mix we have,” Ms Redha said.

“It also taught us how crucial their task is. Everyone knows that people look down on cleaners for the jobs they do. We have to appreciate them more. These men behind the scenes are the reason why Dubai is considered one of the cleanest cities in the region.”

Essa Al Bedwawy, the team leader, said: “The aim of this initiative is to allow our community to see beyond the orange suits and take that extra step.”

The group’s work was documented in a seven-minute film called Through their Eyes. It will be launched on You Tube on today.

pkannan@thenational.ae