UAE Portrait of a Nation: The single mother whose hard work is paying off

Maazza Almagthob is a divorcee and mother of two whose determination shows that single parents are more than equal to the high standards the UAE asks of its residents.

Maazza Almagthob took the pragmatic view that divorce was a chapter in her life that led to another. Delores Johnson / The National

ABU DHABI // Being a single mother is challenging in the best of circumstances and Maazza Almagthob makes many sacrifices to give the best start to her two boys she can.

Ms Almagthob, 42, was seven when she moved to the UAE. She arrived with her Egyptian mother, who had recently separated from her Sudanese father, and whom to this day she calls her “best friend”.

“Being raised by a single mum, she was more than a friend and a mother,” says Ms Almagthob, whose mother lives with her and her two sons, Saif, 14, and Nawwaf, 16, in Abu Dhabi.

It is this relationship which has very much shaped the relationship she has with her own children.

For family and financial reasons, she was not able to go to university.

“I always had a dream that no matter what and when, I would complete my studies,” she said. “I could either wait for a man to marry me so I could study, go out and work, or work to support my study.”

She fiercely pursued that dream, although it was postponed when she married an Emirati man at age 24, and two years later had her first son, Nawwaf.

Her decision to divorce six years later – her boys then two and four years old – was not met well by the community around her, but the reasons to leave were far stronger than those to stay, she says.

“I could either be tough and stand for myself and my family or I could be a victim,” she says.

She said she wanted nothing to stand in the way of supporting her boys.

“Being a divorced lady in Arabic society isn’t easy. There was no support around me,” she says.

“I didn’t feel the divorce was something negative. It was the closure of one chapter and the opening of another.”

She moved from Ras Al Khaimah to Sharjah, working at a bank, for a fresh start. Over the coming years, she moved from banking to event management while juggling shift work and raising her children.

When she found herself working from 7am to 11pm, she realised that something had to give.

“I noticed the behavioural change in the boys and that’s when I knew I couldn’t continue,” she says.

She changed jobs again before moving to Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, where she is today. There, after years of hard work, financial challenges and social stigma, she finally got the break she needed.

This year, she joined the patient experience team and was invited to be a speaker at the Patient Experience Summit in the US – an opportunity that took her far from her comfort zone.

“It’s the best career chance I’ve had in my life,” she says.

Her years of career experience and determination have allowed her to start a master’s degree in business administration course at Manchester Business School, after years of saving and dreaming.

After two-and-a-half years, she has less than one more year to complete.

Her son, Saif, is inspired by his mother.

“I’m not ashamed to tell anyone my mum is divorced because I’m proud of her,” he says. “She raises us to believe you can achieve your dream. She never quits and she raised us to never go without.”​