A Canadian-Pakistani millionaire living in Dubai recently spent 33 days on the streets in an attempt to understand the plight of the migrants workers, The National, a government-owned daily in Abu Dhabi, reported.
Arif Mirza, 39, who has been living in Dubai for three years, is a highly successful entrepreneur who has an array of online ventures, is a life coach and motivational speaker, and has companies in six countries. According to The National, Mirza was “moved” by the labourers’ experiences in the UAE and wanted a first-hand experience of their lifestyle.
He had been living as a migrant worker, sharing rooms with around 12 men for this experience.
He said he met a Pakistani man in Healthcare City, a health service providing centre in Dubai, who had not eaten for three days.
“He approached me asking me for money. He had tears in his eyes,” he told The National. Then he met a young Pakistani boy who was collecting scrap to sell it for money.
"There are so many stories like these in Dubai. But to help people like this and understand what they go through, I needed to live their life and so I took to the streets," he said.
Mirza’s 33-day mission began on May 6 when he left his apartment in Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world and Dubai’s masterpiece to work as a manual labourer with the aim to leave under Dh1,000 ($272) for a month.
He survived on money he earned by buying and selling used junk, working on building sites in the scorching hear, often for as long as 12 hours at a time, and by taking up welding and painting jobs in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
"There are people living in Dubai on half of that and sending Dh500 ($136) a month home to their families. When you have to, you can do – it's actually not that hard," he said, adding that he had secretly filmed some of his work.
"A lot of people didn't want to be filmed. They were afraid they would be sent back to their own countries or busted by the authorities."
Moving from the riches to rags for a month not only opened his eyes to some of the illegal businesses that is involved in these works, but also made him realise how happy the migrant population was even in the condition they were living and working in.
"They have no money but they have such big hearts," he says. "They shared everything with me," he said, adding they were also a source of emotional support from him.
Mirza still keeps in touch with many of the people he met. He plans to start a mobile application, called Mobile Aid, which will enable people to donate money to people who are struggling.
Though he is a millionaire today, Mirza’s background tells story similar to his 33 day stay. When he grew up in Canada, his family struggled with his father being a taxi driver. Mirza has six siblings and he grew up with a series of part-time jobs which included working behind the counter or washing dishes in restaurants. He still remains very close to his family and credits his brother Rocky for his support.
To showcase his experience and bring to light the plight of migrant labourers, Mirza also produced a 45-minute documentary “Streets of Gold”.
