UAE ‘birthday fairies’ give free parties for children

  DUBAI – If Cinderella has her fairy godmother, children whose parents are struggling in the UAE this pandemic can have their birthday party, thanks to “birthday fairies” at Birthday Bliss. Since June last year, the community group made up of volunteers from various nationalities—including Filipinos, Italians, French, Britons and Lebanese—have been pooling their resources to give “the best birthday ever” to children in the UAE whose parents are not able to afford a celebration of their child’s special day. Watch the video: Birthday Bliss was born last year after expat Mika, an events planner in the Philippines, moved to Dubai with her family. Mika wanted to celebrate her daughter’s June birthday in Dubai by continuing her family’s tradition of sponsoring birthday parties for less privileged kids. “My husband told me, ‘Why don’t we just choose three families here in Dubai and give three birthdays?’ Besides, people don’t have jobs these days and they can’t afford to celebrate the children’s birthday,” Mika told Expatmedia.net. Her lone post on social media drew in scores of volunteers and sponsors happy to donate birthday cakes, food and even used toys they could repurpose as gifts. “The three birthdays we were hoping to give that June 2020 ended up becoming 32 birthdays,” said Mika, founder of Birthday Bliss. The "birthday fairies" of Birthday Bliss started by delivering cakes, balloons and gifts to homes. This August was the first time the group was able to hold a multi-birthday celebration at a hotel in Dubai as restrictions on events eased. The Birthday Bliss community now has more than 50 volunteers. One of them is long-time UAE resident, Teresa, who says it gives her “a different joy making families happy, even if we don’t know them”. Italian expat, Emanuela, said she volunteers her time by making children’s birthday cakes. “I enjoy a lot to see the kids smiling everytime we bring the gift and cake they cannot afford,” she told Expatmedia.net. Jellaine Eugenio, a BTS fan and member of the UBL group, said she and her friends volunteer their time to organize the free birthday parties in order to “give back to the community”. “We believe in its advocacy and also as inspired by the group that we are admiring, BTS. We wanted to give back to the community as well,” Eugenio told Expatmedia.net. “It’s more than a blessing. I did not expect it to be this warm. Every nationality just together. it is something beyond nature, beyond culture, beyond color. And I’m very grateful for that,” said Delma, an expat from Congo whose son was among the children given a free birthday party last August 27 at a hotel in Dubai. Birthday Bliss founder Mika said that with the help of more volunteers looking to give simple but memorable birthday joys this pandemic, the group is expanding to communities around the world. “Let’s just continue changing the world one cake and candle at a time,” she said. PIA/Expat Media
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