A boy, who appealed to New Zealand's Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to allow his grandmother in Auckland to visit him in Dubai, received a heartwarming reply from the government.
Fynn Kelly, 7, and his sister have not physically seen their maternal grandmother, Robyn Mehra, for more than a year because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Despite living halfway around the world, Ms Mehra has been an integral part of their upbringing, spending large amounts of time in the UAE with the family.
“It’s been especially tough for Fynn because his grandma has been like his best friend from day one,” said his mother Surina Kelly, a New Zealand expat and a senior newsreader for the Arabian Radio Network.
“He misses her so much and there are nights where we’re putting him to bed and he’ll just start crying because he’s remembering her.”
New Zealand has enforced some of the strictest travel restrictions in the world with stringent rules dictating who can leave and enter the country. As a result, the country has reported very few new cases of Covid-19 over the past few months.
The restrictions have also meant that Ms Mehra, who is a cancer survivor, has been unable to travel to the UAE for over a year, nor have the Kellys been able to fly to New Zealand.
“One night Fynn just said, ‘It’s not fair - I want to talk to the New Zealand government and send them a video message right now,’” said Ms Kelly.
In the minute-long video, recorded on Ms Kelly's phone, a tearful Fynn says hello to Ms Ardern before saying he wants his grandmother to be vaccinated soon so she can visit the UAE again. He also expressed how much he misses her.
Ms Kelly sent the video to Ms Ardern’s publicly available email address and, four days later, received a personal reply from the government.
“Dear Fynn, I’m so sorry you haven’t been able to see your gran for a long time,” read the response from the office of the country’s Immigration Minister.
“Because New Zealand’s border is closed to almost everybody, it makes it very difficult to leave and enter the country. But the good news is that this means New Zealand is one of the best places for your gran to be in at the moment. I know she misses you a lot, but she is able to stay safe and healthy here while she waits until she can see you again.”
Ms Kelly said Fynn was over the moon when she told him about the reply.
"His whole face lit-up and he was almost in disbelief that they received his message and took the time to reply to him," she said.
“But I think he was expecting a slightly difference answer, he told me ‘wouldn’t it be cool if they said ‘Go open your front door, and granny is standing there?’”
Ms Kelly said her story highlighted the challenges children have faced since the outbreak a year ago. Whether it is learning from home, dealing with a family member who contracted Covid-19, or not being able to meet a loved one, the pandemic has been especially difficult for them.
“It's best to be honest with our children about the possibility of seeing their loved ones and lay out the facts as is,” said Zahra Poonawala, a therapist at American Wellness Centre in Dubai.
“Once you notice the child has had the opportunity to express themselves fully, you might want to dive into problem solving.”
She said parents need to find ways to help their children connect with the loved ones by setting up video calls, writing emails, and pursuing projects together simultaneously from different parts of world.
“Even having virtual birthday parties and holiday celebrations can go a long way to reduce that emotional strain for kids,” said Ms Poonawala, who specialises in child psychology.
She said it is also important to be honest about a situation, instead of lying or making up things just to keep them happy.
“As parents, our natural tendency is to try to protect our children and sometimes our need to protect causes more harm than it does good,” said Ms Poonawala.
“Parents need to be honest and share information, rather than avoid or distract. Encouraging them to talk to you by letting them know that you are available to talk to them if something is disturbing them is essential.”
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Price, base: Dh914,000
Engine: 3.8-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 600hp @ 7,500rpm
Torque: 620Nm @ 5,500rpm
Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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The Bio
Hometown: Bogota, Colombia
Favourite place to relax in UAE: the desert around Al Mleiha in Sharjah or the eastern mangroves in Abu Dhabi
The one book everyone should read: 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It will make your mind fly
Favourite documentary: Chasing Coral by Jeff Orlowski. It's a good reality check about one of the most valued ecosystems for humanity
PROFILE BOX
Company name: Overwrite.ai
Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
Based: Dubai International Financial Centre, Dubai
Sector: PropTech
Initial investment: Self-funded by founder
Funding stage: Seed funding, in talks with angel investors
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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LILO & STITCH
Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders
Director: Dean Fleischer Camp
Rating: 4.5/5
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Boston%20Strangler
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2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Brief scores:
Liverpool 3
Mane 24', Shaqiri 73', 80'
Manchester United 1
Lingard 33'
Man of the Match: Fabinho (Liverpool)
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The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
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More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Porsche Taycan Turbo specs
Engine: Two permanent-magnet synchronous AC motors
Transmission: two-speed
Power: 671hp
Torque: 1050Nm
Range: 450km
Price: Dh601,800
On sale: now
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
