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[Noor]

Perhaps some of you here will have the opportunity at some time to use this service. Visit the website at http://www.takemyjunkuae.com

Dubai's 'Robin Hood' Benefits From Recession

2:55pm UK, Monday August 10, 2009
Ashish Joshi, Gulf correspondent

As the recession forces more Britons to return home from United Arab Emirates, many are donating unwanted items to groups taking from the rich and giving to the poor.

Many Britons are returning to the UK as the recession hits the Gulf states

The charity Take My Junk UAE is the idea of Faisal Khan. The 34-year-old businessman said he was so moved by the plight of the Emirates' labourers he wanted to do something positive to help.

Now Mr Khan spends 15 hours a day driving around Dubai collecting donated household junk and distributing the goods in labour camps.

Arriving at a luxury residence at the Palm development in Dubai he quickly begins filling his trailer.

The family who lives here is returning to the UK and they are not taking everything with them.

"Towels, clothing, pillows. All this stuff is not really expensive for someone who has a nice job. But this is just what we need.

"All this stuff goes very quickly when I distribute it."

The financial crisis has led to a summer exodus of Western ex-pats from Dubai.

All this stuff is not really expensive for someone who has a nice job. But this is just what we need. All this stuff goes very quickly when I distribute it.

Job losses and the economic uncertainty mean many Dubai residents are forced to downsize from larger premises to cheaper accommodation.

All of this has created a surplus of good quality junk. The service is almost unique and demand is so high that Mr Khan is forced to turn down dozens of daily requests.

French national Pauline Emaure was one of the people who managed to arrange a collection. The market researcher said the service was just what Dubai needed.

"In France we used to give to charity. It's easy to give. In Dubai I did not find it so easy. My colleague found this association and she forwarded the details to me.

"So I thought, perfect. I will go into the office now and tell everyone. It's good to give."

Another reason Mr Khan's service is proving so popular is his prompt collection service.

British ex-pat Sarah Bentley is heavily pregnant and for her mobility is an issue.

"I always have a lot of stuff to give. In my own country, I would give everything to a charitable organisation. But obviously in Dubai you don't always know where to go.

"I had found one here that you can drop stuff off to, but being nine months pregnant, dropping stuff off is a bit difficult."

The goods are distributed later that day outside a mosque in Ajman.

Dozens of labourers, mostly young men from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan swarm over the donations. Soon almost of all it disappears.

"A blanket or a pillow, shoes or whatever it is, could be something of use to them. And as you can see, they all have something in their hands.

"And I don't know if they would be able to buy this brand new. So it gives us an opportunity to take from the rich and give to the poor," Mr Khan explains as he empties out the contents of another black bin bag onto the floor.

Sonu Miah, a Bangladeshi site supervisor, tells me he has no idea where the goods have come from but says he is grateful.

His friend knows very little English. But smiling and proudly holding up an old bed sheet he says "free".

[helenl]

I know expats who tried to sell a half used bottle of dish detergent (among other things). On the occasion I first returned to my home country - things like sheets, pillows, other bedding, kitchen utensils - in short anything that might be usable (my stuff was used by one, clean person who bathed regularly and was washed prior to the donation) was given to those who could make good use of them, rather than wringing every last fil out of what I bought.

I earned good money, I spent it as I liked, if what I chose not to take home with me was useful to someone else - great.

Am I a saint, not by any stretch of the imagination, but neither am I Scrooge who wants to get blood from a stone.

These expats who are leaving are providing a "service" in that the labourers who are on the receiving end could not and often would not spend money on such "luxury" items when they could save the $$ to send home. I'm sure too that often times these types of items are passed or even sold on - contributing to an economy that can benefit in some way.

[veiledsentiments]

Another option for donating items that most of us would be embarrassed to try to sell... are the local churches...

You just really wonder about those people who try to sell a half roll of toilet paper or their old knickers...

VS

[TABING]

and half used lipsticks, half used toothpaste.

I gave a lot of stuff to St. Andrews in A.D.

[Sheikh N Bake]

This is a slightly different tangent, but then you have some Western backpackers who travel worldwide and brag about how they didn't spend more than $13 aside from their tickets. One jackass was so proud that he could bargain some poor Indian or Bangladeshi down to about 2 cents for a loaf of bread, less than cost! Then everywhere else he went he mooched off others and bragged about it when he got home. %^*$ him, I say.

But I also knew a rather famous Lonely Planet writer who, according to his drinking pals, would smuggle in his own drinks at pubs.