Kwiq members along with 25 domestic workers and community leaders
Doha: Kerala Women's Initiative Qatar (KWIQ) celebrated the South Indian state Kerala's most popular festival, Onam, at Ideal Indian School on October 14, 2022 in association with Media Pen. The event titled "Onnichoronam" (celebrating Onam together) was dedicated to the Keralite women engaged in domestic work in Qatar. Twenty-five female domestic workers were invited as special guests to the function with KWIQ's members and family.
The main highlights of the event were the traditional Ona Sadhya (traditional feast) served in banana leaf, cultural performances by KWIQ's members along with mesmerizing on the spot dancing and singing by the domestic workers.
P N Baburajan, ICC President, was the Chief Guest of the evening. Vinod Nair, ICBF President, was the Guest Of Honour. During the function, as part of honouring the domestic workers,
KWIQ's President, Zareena Ahad, handed over their application forms and one-time premium to Vinod Nair to enroll them in the insurance scheme facilitated by ICBF.
In addition to this, as a token of appreciation for the hard work and sacrifices these women endure, KWIQ also managed to give them a bag full of gifts. "In 19 years of my stay in Qatar, this is the first time I stood on a stage with a mic and sang a song," said one of the workers.
"KWIQ's main objective in conducting this programme for these domestic workers was to recognise and appreciate this section of the community who are otherwise forgotten. We have succeeded in giving them a day of happiness and they sincerely thanked us for remembering them, especially on this festive occasion when they are miles away from their families and hometown. We take this opportunity to thank all our sponsors whose invaluable contributions lead to the successful execution of this programme." said Zareena Ahad, KWIQ President.
"It's matter of pride for us to have collaborated with KWIQ for such a blessed programme wherein the lesser privileged women working within our community were given an avenue such as this to feel closer to home," said Binu Kumar, Media Pen, General Manager.
A P Manikandan, Former ICC President, Shahnavas Bava, KBF President, K K Usman, FOK President, Sabith Saheer, ICBF General Secretary, Ziad Usman, Former ICBF President, and Loka Kerala Sabha representative Abdul Raoof Kondoty also were present at the event.
