Syrian Khalid Al Shoufi, 44, has been in a coma for more than a year after suffering a severe stroke. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National
Syrian Khalid Al Shoufi, 44, has been in a coma for more than a year after suffering a severe stroke. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National
Syrian Khalid Al Shoufi, 44, has been in a coma for more than a year after suffering a severe stroke. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National
Syrian Khalid Al Shoufi, 44, has been in a coma for more than a year after suffering a severe stroke. Jeffrey E Biteng / The National

UAE Helping Hands: Mother fears she and her son will soon be homeless


  • English
  • Arabic

DUBAI // Lubna is a 38-year-old mother who fears she will soon be forced to live on the streets, along with her three-year-old son.

She lives in a rented flat paid for by a benefactor. “It’s paid for until the middle the month but then I am on the streets,” she says.

Lubna wasn’t always living with the threat of homelessness. She came to Dubai seven years ago from Syria with her husband, Khalid Al Shoufi, 44.

Her husband was hired to work for a Dubai magazine and was earning enough money to support them both. Their life was stable until her husband was forced to resign in 2015.

“Khalid was put under a lot of pressure at work and asked to give in his resignation,” she says.

Once her husband left his job, the bills starts piling in. “We had to pay our rent and we had a loan of Dh50,000, which we had paid half of.”

The couple were unable to pay their dues and evicted.

“On the same day, he booked me a ticket back to Syria in spite of the situation being very dangerous in our town.”

Lubna’s son was almost a year old.

“Khalid moved in with his friends and started looking for a job so that he could bring us back,” she says.

But a month later, Lubna received a call from a hospital. They informed her that her husband had suffered a stroke and was in a coma.

“I came back on the first plane I could get,” she says. “I am still in shock. Khalid was never ill or complained of anything.

“He called me a day before his stroke and was very happy. He said that he had found a job and would send for us soon.”

Mr Al Shoufi has been in a coma for more than a year and doctors told Lubna that the chances that he will come out of it are very low. They have no relative in the UAE or any financial support.

“I went back to Syria for a few months to collect money from friends,” she says.

Now, however, she has run out of the little she had.

“I can’t leave my husband here alone and it’s too dangerous for me to go back to Syria with my son. There is a war going on and it’s not safe for anyone.”

When the situation got to the point where she had no food to eat or a place to stay, Lubna says she thought of taking her husband to Syria.

“No hospital in Syria agreed to take him in,” she says. Her husband is on life support and will not survive without it.

In a few days, Lubna says, she will be homeless.

“I just need a roof over my head for my son and I,” she says.

Lubna has a degree in communications and says she is looking “every day” for a job.

At one point, she says, she worked rolling vine leaves to make enough to buy food.

Hisham Al Zahrani, manager of zakat and social services at Dar Al Ber, says Lubna needs help.

“Even if going back to Syria is an option, her husband is on his deathbed and has no one to support him. They have a three-year-old son who is at risk of starving,” he said.

“Dar Al Ber has supported as much as possible but they need a roof over their head and a steady income.”

• To help, call the hotline on 0502955999, or send a WhatsApp message to the same number. Donations can be made by ­depositing money in Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank account, Iban number AE9805 000 000 000 11530734 or Dubai Islamic Bank account, Iban number AE8002 4000 352 0443 1952 01.

salnuwais@thenational.ae

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

6.30pm Meydan Classic Trial US$100,000 (Turf) 1,400m

Winner Bella Fever, Dane O’Neill (jockey), Mike de Kock (trainer).

7.05pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m

Winner Woven, Harry Bentley, David Simcock.

7.40pm UAE 2000 Guineas Group Three $250,000 (Dirt) 1,600m

Winner Fore Left, William Buick, Doug O’Neill.

8.15pm Dubai Sprint Listed Handicap $175,000 (T) 1,200m

Winner Rusumaat, Dane O’Neill, Musabah Al Muhairi.

8.50pm Al Maktoum Challenge Round-2 Group Two $450,000 (D) 1,900m

Winner Benbatl, Christophe Soumillon, Saeed bin Suroor.

9.25pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,800m

Winner Art Du Val, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

10pm Handicap $135,000 (T) 1,400m

Winner Beyond Reason, William Buick, Charlie Appleby.

War and the virus
FROM%20THE%20ASHES
%3Cp%3EDirector%3A%20Khalid%20Fahad%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EStarring%3A%20Shaima%20Al%20Tayeb%2C%20Wafa%20Muhamad%2C%20Hamss%20Bandar%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3ERating%3A%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Company profile

Company: Verity

Date started: May 2021

Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif

Based: Dubai

Sector: FinTech

Size: four team members

Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000

Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors

BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES

Friday (all kick-offs UAE time)

Hertha Berlin v Union Berlin (10.30pm)

Saturday

Freiburg v Werder Bremen (5.30pm)

Paderborn v Hoffenheim (5.30pm)

Wolfsburg v Borussia Dortmund (5.30pm)

Borussia Monchengladbach v Bayer Leverkusen (5.30pm)

Bayern Munich v Eintracht Frankfurt (5.30pm)

Sunday

Schalke v Augsburg (3.30pm)

Mainz v RB Leipzig (5.30pm)

Cologne v Fortuna Dusseldorf (8pm)

 

 

WOMAN AND CHILD

Director: Saeed Roustaee

Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi

Rating: 4/5

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultants

Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

House-hunting

Top 10 locations for inquiries from US house hunters, according to Rightmove

  1. Edinburgh, Scotland 
  2. Westminster, London 
  3. Camden, London 
  4. Glasgow, Scotland 
  5. Islington, London 
  6. Kensington and Chelsea, London 
  7. Highlands, Scotland 
  8. Argyll and Bute, Scotland 
  9. Fife, Scotland 
  10. Tower Hamlets, London 

 

Company%20Profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HyveGeo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%202023%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Abdulaziz%20bin%20Redha%2C%20Dr%20Samsurin%20Welch%2C%20Eva%20Morales%20and%20Dr%20Harjit%20Singh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ECambridge%20and%20Dubai%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ENumber%20of%20employees%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%208%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESustainability%20%26amp%3B%20Environment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%24200%2C000%20plus%20undisclosed%20grant%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EVenture%20capital%20and%20government%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Read part three: the age of the electric vehicle begins

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

Stormy seas

Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.

We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice. 

Honeymoonish
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Elie%20El%20Samaan%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ENour%20Al%20Ghandour%2C%20Mahmoud%20Boushahri%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

Part three: an affection for classic cars lives on

Read part two: how climate change drove the race for an alternative 

Read part one: how cars came to the UAE

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat