for those of you who aren't already aware, i am unable to drive here in doha until i have a residence permit or until mike purchases our own vehicle where i can be insured and drive on a temporary license. in the meantime, when i require transportation during the day i have a driver named haroon that i call. it is not how it sounds as many people in doha have drivers simply for the reason that the local taxi service, karwa, is so unreliable and the bus is often overcrowded with workers travelling to and from the job sites/ job camps.
this morning i had an errand to run across town so i called haroon. haroon is from india and thankfully he speaks english quite well - well enough to carry on a decent conversation and well enough to tell me that i do alot of shopping *ma'am*!! hehe...that was when we first moved into the condo and he was driving me to the mall every couple of days in order to get settled in. today however, during our car ride we chatted more. he told me how beautiful his home in kerala is and how after living in doha for 6 years he still misses his home so very much! haroon said that he must live here to earn a decent wage to support his family. of course, i assumed that his family was living here in doha with him however, that is not the case...his wife and 2 daughters (ages 4 years and 9 months) live back in india while he works to send money back home to them. this broke my heart. could you imagine living so far away from your children and only seeing them for one month a year??? apparently, this is quite common for most 'blue collar' foreign workers here in doha - they work around the clock often earning low wages while living in poor conditions. what a selfless, devoted thing to do, all in the name of family...
so next time haroon picks me up i am hoping he will bring a picture of his little ones back home...he was so excited when i asked if he had a picture to show me!!
this morning i had an errand to run across town so i called haroon. haroon is from india and thankfully he speaks english quite well - well enough to carry on a decent conversation and well enough to tell me that i do alot of shopping *ma'am*!! hehe...that was when we first moved into the condo and he was driving me to the mall every couple of days in order to get settled in. today however, during our car ride we chatted more. he told me how beautiful his home in kerala is and how after living in doha for 6 years he still misses his home so very much! haroon said that he must live here to earn a decent wage to support his family. of course, i assumed that his family was living here in doha with him however, that is not the case...his wife and 2 daughters (ages 4 years and 9 months) live back in india while he works to send money back home to them. this broke my heart. could you imagine living so far away from your children and only seeing them for one month a year??? apparently, this is quite common for most 'blue collar' foreign workers here in doha - they work around the clock often earning low wages while living in poor conditions. what a selfless, devoted thing to do, all in the name of family...
so next time haroon picks me up i am hoping he will bring a picture of his little ones back home...he was so excited when i asked if he had a picture to show me!!
1 comment:
The roads are safer in Doha, for now anyway.....
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