ABU DHABI // Clutching her youngest son's shoulder like a walking stick, LA limps, back bowed, as her abaya drags on the floor after her. She wears a niqab, only her eyes showing.
She is not so old but, after years of suffering, the 46-year-old struggles physically.
Orphaned before she was 10, LA was given away in marriage at a young age.
An unhappy union left her divorced and barely able to provide for herself or her five children.
"I was still playing, I didn't know anything about marriage," she says.
Although the court ordered her former husband to pay alimony, he earns only Dh3,000 a month and has another wife. LA was left relying on the help of "kind strangers".
Her children, she says, came with their own burdens.
The eldest, a boy, was abused and is now suicidal. Medical records show that psychiatrists have concluded he is depressed.
"He says he is just a burden on me and no one cares about us, so he might as well be dead," she says.
The eldest girl appears to be overweight but doctors say she, too, is psychologically scarred by neglect.
"She doesn't eat, the doctor said it was all psychological."
After bouncing from one home to another, with an unstable source of income, hope came in the form of Red Crescent staff.
After speaking to several charities, Red Crescent was one of the first to respond, LA says.
Life now - thanks to Dh3,000 a month in food aid - is a little more comfortable. Years-long unpaid grocery bills are slowly being paid off. But life is still far from easy.
"I rely on my children to take care of me, but who will take care of them?" she says.
Ramadan is the one month when she knows help is not far away.
As many seek to find needy families to provide them with iftar meals, the Red Crescent steps up its efforts.
Ramadan is a good time to remind those more fortunate of "our situation", she says.
osalem@thenational.ae
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
If you go
The flights
There are various ways of getting to the southern Serengeti in Tanzania from the UAE. The exact route and airstrip depends on your overall trip itinerary and which camp you’re staying at.
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Kilimanjaro International Airport from Dh1,350 return, including taxes; this can be followed by a short flight from Kilimanjaro to the Serengeti with Coastal Aviation from about US$700 (Dh2,500) return, including taxes. Kenya Airways, Emirates and Etihad offer flights via Nairobi or Dar es Salaam.
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SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6