Maha Khan's teenage years were an avenue into music promotion and the start of a long voyage that would take her to the world of philanthropy.
DUBAI // Teaching and a burning ambition to help others seemed a world away for Maha Khan when she was helping organise her first concert in Abu Dhabi at the age of 16.
As a young schoolgirl who had arrived from Pakistan a decade earlier, she wanted to be part of the music scene and win favour with friends by attracting Pakistan’s answer to the Backstreet Boys to perform in the city.
Vital Signs may have been unknown to most but, to her, they were a big deal, and Ms Khan seemed destined for a career in events after organising her first concert.
Two decades later and the British Council English teacher proudly watched her project to deliver more than 10,000 iftar meals to a labour camp blossom into a flourishing aid enterprise.
“I found my way into that first concert’s organising committee to help sell tickets, that’s how it started,” she said.
“I was just a teenager and it was nice to be in the middle of something all my friends were interested in. I was asked to get involved in some bigger events but I had decided to go to America for a vacation.”
It was on that holiday with an aunt in Rhode Island, near Boston, where her love of teaching began to develop.
To keep herself busy during her six-month stay, Ms Khan, now 40, began volunteering at an elementary school.
Teachers were so impressed with her enthusiasm and passion for the job, they helped train her in the skills needed to pursue the career.
“It felt very natural and easy for me,” she said.
“I was promised a full-time position but I wanted to go home where my family was in the UAE. I walked into the Canadian School in Abu Dhabi and I had a good reference, so they gave me a job straight away. I was very lucky.
“Helping in the labour camps was something I always wanted to do. It started on a small level but has grown. People said what I wanted to do was impossible, that made me more determined.”
It started with a conversation with friends in 2013 about how they could help others during Ramadan. Ms Khan suggested feeding someone could cost as little as Dh5, so encouraged friends to donate food for snack packs for workers.
“Giving and helping others is a big part of religion, so I started spreading the word about what I wanted to do,” she said.
“Before I knew it there were volunteers who wanted to help. We collected enough food for 4,237 people in that first Ramadan and also gave away 200 t-shirts for Eid.”
At first, the volunteers were overwhelmed by the demand, as many labourers were not used to handouts and wanted to take advantage.
Instead of hot meals, Ms Khan opted for summer snack packs of fruit, crisps, chocolate and biscuits, the quality of which is the same as she would buy her own family.
With the help of a businessman in Ajman, who gives up his job for a month each year to help the Ramadan project, Ms Khan has set up a website called theholymonth.com to help develop the scheme.
This year, the team fed more than 10,000 workers in Ajman.
“At first we were bombarded by the labourers. Our cars were shaken and they were snatching the food,” said Ms Khan, who has a daughter who also helps out.
“Everyone is well fed in this country but getting something for free was a new concept for many of them. It took us a year to devise a programme that was safe for the volunteers to make sure we went to the right camps.
“The sky is the limit and now that more people know about it, we are hoping it will grow so we can take it to other labour camps around the UAE.”
nwebster@thenational.ae