The UAE today, is one of the most sought after destinations, not only for tourism but also for international migration. People from different parts of the world, largely from developing economies come to this part of the world to look for lucrative job opportunities to better their standards of living in their home countries.
While expats benefit from the better salaries offered to them as compared to their home countries, the UAE has also largely benefited from the valuable contribution made by these expats to this booming country. The expats, especially the unskilled or blue collar workers have tirelessly worked towards building the spectacular infrastructure that UAE proudly flaunts.
Since May 1st is observed as International Workers’ Day, we at Xpress Money decided to dedicate the whole month of May in celebration and recognition of these unsung heroes of UAE – the blue collar workers. To pay tribute to them we launched targeted initiatives aimed at health, well-being and happiness, under our CSR platform H.O.P.E. (Helping Our People and Environment).
We designed a month-long celebration of blue-collar workers under the ‘Heroes’ theme in line with the UAE leadership’s commitment of expressing gratitude for the blue-collar workers’ contribution to national prosperity.
‘Heroes’ was a three-part initiative running throughout the month of May 2016. We commenced on Labour Day where we partnered with Dubai’s Community Development Authority (CDA) to distribute thank you notes as a form of direct acknowledgement to the labourers in the country.
Perhaps for the first time among remittance companies, Xpress Money has taken Yoga, the acknowledged Indian discipline of wellness that helps harmonize the mind and body, to migrant workers. We chalked out a programme of Siddha Samadhi Yoga (SSY) – also known as the Science of Silence Yoga – across various labour camps in the UAE and Xpress Money along with the SSY team conducted these programs on weekends and sometimes on weekdays – after the working hours of the labourers.
And finally, as a culmination of our ‘Heroes’ campaign, we organised a day-long event for over 14,000 workers at Dubai Industrial Park, where they not only benefitted from free health checks but also enjoyed a day of entertainment, sports and a marathon.
‘Heroes’ was designed with two goals in mind: to say thank you to our blue-collar brethren while also showing our appreciation by improving their quality of life. We created a campaign that combines health checks, entertainment, marathons, social activities and relaxing activities like yoga. Dubai has recently become a global pioneer by launching its Happiness Index, and Xpress Money wants to help keep up the happiness quotient amongst the labourers.
