DXB Unheard – Episode 5 “City Of Humanity” Bulletin

“City of Humanity”, the fifth episode of the newly released podcast and YouTube series DXB Unheard, explores how Dubai is a city deeply committed to generosity. In this episode, Kate learns about the role religion – and social responsibility – play in looking after people. As part of this, she visits the astonishing Dubai Humanitarian – the single largest humanitarian hub in the world – which, over the past 20 years, has helped more than 130 million people across 116 countries.

Hosted by broadcaster and presenter, Kate Garraway, DXB Unheard promises to uncover the hidden gems, personal triumphs, and extraordinary experiences in the cosmopolitan city of Dubai. Each of the eight episodes, which are released weekly, feature intimate interviews with remarkable individuals, where audiences can hear from Emiratis and Dubai residents who have left an indelible mark on the city.

In this episode Kate interviews:

• Jehad Abdalmaula, Logistics and Supply Chain Expert at Dubai Humanitarian, the world’s largest humanitarian hub which marks twenty years of humanitarian efforts and collaboration between global charities, UN Agencies and more.
• Clare Dalton, Head of Operations at the International Committee of the Red Cross in the UAE, one of the organisations working closely with Jehad at DXBH. She is an English expat and started her career as a Humanitarian worker with the British Red Cross.
• Kelly Harvarde, Senior Manager – Internal Communications at Majid Al Futtaim. She contributes to the Goodwill initiative, which hands out 1,500 free meals each night before Iftar in her local mosque. She is also the host of The Good Intentions Podcast.

Kate Garraway quotes

• “In this series I’m going to meet people that will open your eyes and your mind to another Dubai, the one that is unheard, to show you what this city and its residents are all about. It is a place where East meets West, where women can and do lead the way, where science is saving resources and selflessness is saving lives.”
• “‘Zakat’ stands as one of the fundamental pillars of Islam, embodying both the charitable act and a religious duty. This involves giving a portion of savings and wealth to those in greater need. ‘Sadaqah’ describes a voluntary charitable act towards others, whether through generosity, love, compassion or faith. These guiding principles – although very private – are seen more than ever at this time of Ramadan.”
• On meeting Jehad and visiting the DXBH hub: “The scale of this place is mind-blowing. Warehouse after warehouse, full of vital goods – all organised in the way to get relief as quickly as possible to where it’s needed. And right at the heart of it, as you can see with Jehad, there’s just such a personal, cultural want to do good that just drives the whole thing forward. It’s very moving to be here.”
• “Not all humanitarian efforts are on a global scale – the ethos of giving can be seen everywhere, acts of kindness in the community, particularly at Ramadan. Like this group of volunteers for the Emirates Red Crescent handing out thousands of Iftar boxes during the holy month. It’s acts like this that are replicated across the city – it’s such an example of the spirit of generosity as well as social responsibility that you’ll find when you come here to Dubai.”
• On meeting Kelly: “It was so lovely chatting to Kelly because so much in Dubai is on a massive scale […] – she’s brought it down really small to the community and she’s like so many others in Dubai doing the same thing. It’s really having an impact on her as well as the people around her, and I love the fact that she describes her life as really rich – even though, in terms of money, it’s pretty ordinary. What she gets from living here and the community and the lifestyle is worth a million pounds.”

Interviewee quotes

• Jehad Abdalmaula on Dubai Humanitarian:
  • “We are holding the biggest humanitarian stock around the world in the city. We store shelter items, medical items, security items – everything you [can] think of that is usually required when responding to emergencies. All those items are here ready to be dispatched whenever there is an emergency happening around the world.”
  • “We created this digital platform where we have all the items available, so by a few clicks, you can know where the items are, who the stock owner is, and what the quantity available is. Instead of waiting a couple of hours, maybe days, you can get this information in a couple of minutes.”
• When asked about the cost of transportation of the items, Abdalmaula said:
  • “One of our tasks is to always make sure that we use the plane to the maximum when we are dispatching any items. […] Sometimes, the cost of the transportation is even more than the cost of the items on the plane.”
  • “A few years ago, we had an airbridge in response to the Gaza crisis and we did 11 flights back and forth. Last year, we did 36 flights in response to the Pakistan crisis as well.”

• Asked why she thinks Dubai has been delivering aid quite quietly around the world, Clare Dalton said: “People don’t realise necessarily that there is all this giving that comes out of this country. I also think people are very generous but it’s something that’s quite private culturally. […] Since the set-up of the UAE, there’s been this idea that humanitarian giving is part of the culture.”
• When asked what led her to get involved in her humanitarian work, Kelly Harvarde said: “When you live in Dubai, yes you see the glamorous side of it and the skyscrapers and the incredible events, but you also realise that there’s an incredible community, and the community is really focused on giving back. It’s really part of the culture here, and Ramadan is the perfect example of this […] – it’s this incredible experience that’s all about gratitude and reflection and giving.”
• When asked what she has been doing to help the community, Harvarde said:
  • “The first thing that we did was an amazing initiative called the Ramadan Fridges. […] You take a fridge and put it outside your house, or office or school, and you fill it with snacks, juices, food, and when people are passing, they can come and take what they need from the fridge. It really captured peoples’ imaginations […]”
  • “Following Covid-19, we partnered with a local mosque and set up another project there – the local restaurant would provide meals for us, and every evening we meet, unload the meals and give just as we used to do with the fridges.”

Next week’s episode of DXB Unheard, “One Active City” (airing on Monday 17 March) will see Kate explore how sport, fitness and wellbeing run through the veins – and streets of modern Dubai.