Although it is slightly hard to notice, the glamour and skyscrapers of the city of Dubai owe its magnificence to a bunch of people who are often forgotten. The group of workers who work hard day in and day out under the persistent sun of the place we can no more call a desert. Clad in fluorescents and adorned by numerous beads of sweat, these people populate in large numbers. They come from almost all the South Asian and African countries looking to touch dreams that are perhaps very much out of their reach.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is where we come in.

SmartLife is an NPO/NGO that was envisaged a few years ago, by some key members. Despite the infancy interims of age, we are supported today by many – ranging from business school alumni, heads of many Financial/ Advertising/ FMCG/ GIS organizations, etc.

Our basic aim and objective, therefore, is your average blue collar worker. His/her development and overall benefit is what we consider our priority. Whether that’s by setting them up with free English language lessons every week or by providing mentoring, even occasional trips outside the labour camps. We consider it a small and satisfying way of helping the blue collared workers take a step out of their routine and realise their true potential.

Communicating the idea, and spreading the message is an essential and therefore primary goal. We’ve had full page ads/articles in local newspapers, magazines, TV stations, and been on air several times. We have also made use of social media to communicate our cause and attract sufficient support for the same.

We invite organizations, and like-minded professionals to contribute in developing this idea and offering a part of their resources to help source this venture. In this regard, we plan to conduct ideation camps that will see various ideas being exchanged. The various project teams will then ensure that these ideas are tested out and inculcated into the operations of SmartLife.

It is to be noted that we work in full adherence with the law of the land and are registered with the Community Development Authority of Dubai.

Finally, as we sign off, we would like to remind anyone reading this that we are not just making their lives a little better, a little more comfortable, slightly more empowered. But, we are also richly rewarding ourselves as a community. This might be through a positive action, a mere handshake or just in the peace that comes from knowing that we made difference in someone’s life.