Author: Aishath Shazra

Police statistics raise questions over scale of Maldives sexual abuse

A man in his sixties was arrested in Fares-Maathoda last week on suspicion of sending inappropriate text messages to a 12 year old girl as police figures indicate that the number of sexual abuse cases being reported is on course to exceed last year’s total.

“The man had given a phone to the [12 year old] girl, and was sending inappropriate text messages to her, he was also trying to lure her places to meet up” said police spokesperson Ahmed Shiyam in regards to the Fares-Maathoda allegations.

Shiyam said that it was uncertain as yet if an actual meeting had taken place between the suspect and his alleged victim. “We are currently investigating that,” he added.

Police today also confirmed that on June 30 2011, a 33 year old man in Addu Atoll was arrested over the alleged abuse of a 17 year old girl. Shiyam declined to give any more information on this case saying investigations were continuing.

Increase in reported cases

Alongside providing details of these allegations, official police figures given to Minivan News have indicated that a total of 163 sexual abuse cases were reported last year. The same statistics also revealed that 108 sexual abuse cases had been reported up to the end of May 2011. According to these figures, 30 of these cases allegedly involved victims aged between 2 to 12 years.

The number of abuse cases being reported has caused concern among groups such as NGOs. Back in April, the Advocating Rights of Children (ARC) group issued a press release expressing concern at the rising number of child abuse cases in the country, calling on the relevant authorities to strengthen laws to protect children.

However, public and political opinion appears divided on whether there is an increase in the incidence of abuse cases or the number of allegations being reported.

“I believe abuse cases happen a lot in the Maldives, it is just that in the past it was not reported,” said Mariyam Leesha, a 35 year old mother of two, who has reported being a victim of abuse herself.

Leesha said that she believed society was now more open in talking about abuse meaning more people are reporting allegations to the police.

“When a victim is not believed, they will not talk about it anymore,” she said.

Leesha has said that she was abused by her uncle as a child, allegations that her family refused to believe at the time.

According to Leesha, the culture of shame and fear that previously hindered people from reporting sexual and child abuse has been broken to an extent, although more work was needed as a society.

“Even recently when a Maldivian film on child abuse was shown, there were people who said that it should not have been enacted,” she said. Leesha says that issues like sexual abuse need to be discussed more to encourage people to report abuse.

The Gender Ministry declined to comment when asked by Minivan News on the possible causes of the increased rate of sexual abuse cases being reported, saying there was an absence of study or research to make any conclusions.

The names of any victims mentioned in this article have been changed to protect their identity.

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The Maldives’ first ‘fair trade’ shop opens in Male’

The exotic necklaces made out of coconut shells are showcased alongside coconut shell bangles. The top shelf is filled with pieces made of wood, vases, containers and objets d’art.

In Male’ where shops with brimming shelves is the norm, ‘Athamana’ sets itself apart. This is the first fair trade shop in Maldives, filled only with products made by Maldivians.

“We wanted to create an outlet for people who do handicraft in Maldives, to enable them to get a good price for their products, and introduce the concept of fair trade here,” says Fathimath Shafeega, country manager of the NGO Live & Learn.

The NGO works on protecting and providing education on environment and promotes sustainable development with a fair trade culture. Their shop Athamana showcases traditional and new products created in Maldives.

Across the archipelago

Mixed within the range of traditional products like fine mats ‘Salavaai Kuna’ and lacquer ware, are innovative new products like virgin coconut oil and shoulder bags, and jewellary made from discarded denim items.

The virgin coconut oil produced on Filladhoo in Haa Alif Atoll is packaged in hand-woven baskets made out of screw pine leaves and comes in 50 and 120 ml bottles.

“Coconut oil is a new product that we are conducting in Filladhoo,” says Mohamed Moosa, vice-president of the island NGO ‘Ekuveringe Dhirun’ (ED).

The production of virgin coconut oil is a project in the northern islands organised by Live and Learn with funding from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and the cooperation of the local Ministry of Fisheries and Agriculture.

“We put out a notice, and from those interested we gave priority to people with low income to join this project,” says Moosa.

The team consists of 18 workers. Moosa explains that from the profit they make, 60 percent goes to the workers, while 30 percent is invested in developing the project and 10 percent is retained by ED.

“It provides a good income, and we already have two resort buyers, one of which is Bandos Island Resort.”

In the shop alongside each product the producer’s name is displayed, giving the item a personalised touch.

Virgin coconut oil produced in Haa Alif Atoll
More to come

In the near future the shop will have lotions and soaps, made from the byproducts of coconut oil. Other items to come include chilli sauce being produced on Veymandoo in Thaa Atoll from the fiery Maldivian chillli ‘githeyo mirus.’

There are challenges in making these ventures a success.

“We have issues of transport and the fact that most communities have not been very active in production before,” explains Shafeega. As most Maldivians tend to work individually, the issue of getting them grants has also arisen, as cooperatives are being registered for grants at the Ministry of Economics. “We are working on getting grants for individuals also.”

The Athamana shop also acts as a focal point for buyers, to enable the producers to have access to the retail market. Different buyers have shown interest.

“We have some buyers including high end resorts like Soneva Fushi,” says Shafeega. The shop receives orders and helps in delivering them. A lot of effort has gone in producing the Maldivian products on display, showcased in Live and Learn’s new Athamana shop.

The participation of society and businesses will be vital to make the first fair trade shop a success, and in enable the revival of traditional Maldivian products and the promotion of new ones.

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Locals complain of being charged tourism GST

To celebrate her son’s eighth birthday, Aishath Niyasha* decided to take him and his friends to the swimming pool at Hulhule Island Hotel.

On arrival she was asked to provide a copy of her ID and told that it was a new rule of the hotel. As the kids splashed around in the pool, Niyasha ordered some juice and asked the waiter to bring her the bill for the usage of the pool as well as for the drinks.

Surprised to see Goods and Services Tax (GST) included in both bills, Niyasha told the cashier that since she was a Maldivian she should be exempt from it. His reply albeit in a joking manner was “talk to the esteemed parliamentary members, they are making us do this.”

Scenes like this are played all over the country as confusion has risen between local customers and service providers since the implementation of Tourism GST of 3.5 percent at the start of this year.

Maldivians and work permit holders voice their right to be exempt from GST, which by law is only applicable to holders of a tourist visa, while some service providers charge GST to all their customers.

Confusion

David Jones*, who has lived in Maldives for over 10 years and holds a work permit, says he is frequently asked to pay GST.

“Showing them my work permit and saying a bit forcefully that I am not obliged to pay GST works most of the time.”

He says it’s just a matter of principal, as the amount of GST at 3.5 percent is very low. He finds that most of the time the management, and the supervisory level staff in resorts and hotels are well informed and aware of how it should work. “Though seems in a lot of places the junior level staff are not well briefed.”

HIH duty manager Shafeeg says the hotel’s policy is “when a copy of the ID is provided, the client would not be charged GST.” Shafeeg says that all the staff at HIH have been informed and expressed surprise when informed of Niyasha’s poolside incident. He pointed out that HIH has a notice plastered near the cashier asking clients who are eligible to be exempt from GST to give a copy of their IDs.

Likewise Bandos Island Resort and Spa, one of the oldest resorts in Maldives, and one that is frequented by both tourists, locals and a large number of expatriates, says it follows the law to the letter.

“We do exactly as the law requires us to do, we only charge tourists GST” says Thoha Ali, Sales Manager of Bandos. “All the concerned staff has been briefed.”

Ali admits when GST was first introduced there was confusion. “We outsource our system, so it’s a ready-made programmed for billing; hence it took a while to modify it to suit the requirements.”
Niyasha, who ended up paying the GST, says she would be less bothered if she could be sure that the amount she paid is handed over to Maldives Inland Revenue Authority (MIRA) and not pocketed by the hotel.

Informing MIRA

“MIRA will audit all the establishments from time to time,” says Fathimath Rasheeda, director Tax Payer education and Facilitation at MIRA, to ensure that nobody can take advantage of the system. Since the implementation of GST at the start of the year, MIRA had collected US$7.2 million in January and US$6.6 million in February.

“We did get a lot of complaints from Maldivians, especially at the onset of the GST implementation” says Rasheeda. To counter this problem MIRA issued a notice in January informing all Maldivians and work permit holders not to pay GST, and to inform them of any establishment that does so.

“Unless the public informs us we will not be aware of which establishments charges non-tourists, as it would be impossible to tell from the bill who the customer is.”

Hotels in turn have complained to MIRA that customers at times do not provide the paper work that would make them exempt from paying GST. Rasheeda says “MIRA require documented proof, so it’s always better if an ID or work permit card is provided.”

This in turn leads to the question, who will do the photocopying? Some hotels and service providers seem to find it a time-consuming bother to check the ID of clients and to make exemptions for clients not to pay GST.

While some hotels complain that photocopying IDs and work permits is an unnecessary expanse, HIH staff told Niyasha “we will photocopy your ID just this once, but make sure you bring a copy with you next time.”

So it appears that the onus is on the clients to carry around photocopies of their IDs or work permits if they want to be exempt from paying GST. Given the high price of photocopying in Male’, it might be just cheaper to pay the 3.5%.

*Names changed on request.

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Coffee aesthetics: Untitled Works exhibition

Coffee tempts our taste buds, seduces us with its aromatic smell, and as an ongoing art exhibition showcases: it can also be used to heighten the aesthetic appeal of paintings.

The use of coffee as a medium for art is just one of the things that makes the paintings of Mariyam Omar unique. The other could just be the sheer ambiguity of her work, open to the interpretation of the person viewing it.

“I don’t like to title my paintings. It’s up to the viewer to find meaning in my paintings” says the 30 year-old with a charming smile. When you first ask her the question of what her paintings depict, she throws the question right back at you. She seems fascinated with the interpretation others give to her creation.

Hence the name “Untitled works”, which seems aptly suited for Omar’s first solo exhibition. The 24 paintings on display showcase her signature style, brush strokes of deep colours punctuated by snow-white figures and limbs of men and women.

The exhibition also signals a break from convention as the artwork on display comes with a price tag, giving the possibility for visitors to walk away with a painting.

An outsiders view

“It was during school that I first used coffee in my painting,” says Omar, explaining that this was where she learnt the use of different mediums. Nowadays she uses acrylic, gouache, ink and coffee for her creations.

The brush strokes in her paintings, almost seems like a reflection of the turmoil within us. The swirls, twirls and strokes of the brush could be of anger, frustration or calm and tranquillity, a mirror of our own emotions at a given time.

“I have tried to explore the void that exists in each of us,” says Omar adding that even if one tries to find out things, one is always limited to gaining an outsider’s perspective.

Maybe that explains why the figures in her paintings are so mysterious; rarely do we get to see their faces. In one, a man is almost in the process of walking out of the painting. Leaving behind the myriad background of swathes of blood red and dark colour with the muted green beneath, the only visible part of him is his torso, neck and arm.

It is the unpainted white of the canvas that gives birth to the figures and limbs in her painting. The colours that swirl all around it, forms its outline, but as Omar puts it: “It depends on your perspective, the figures could be the ones that are coloured or not.”

One of the most striking pieces and one that already has the red tag, which marks the pieces that are sold, is a woman with her back to you. Her graceful lines denotes an uncanny feeling that at the same time as you are contemplating her, she is contemplating something in front just beyond your line of vision.

An artist in Maldives

Omar is a graphic artist by profession. “It’s not possible to gain a living in Maldives by being a full time artist” is her explanation.

As well as having taken part in collective exhibitions including ‘Beyond The Tourists Eye, Issue of Identity in Maldivian Art’ ,Omar has also done art residencies in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

In day-to-day life Omar finds it difficult to make the transition from graphic artist to painting. So she gets around it by trying to take off a month each year just to concentrate on painting. Most of the work she has produced for the exhibition was done in a month.

Along the way social upheavings have also spilled onto her canvas. Two paintings on display have titles ‘Lock and Oath 1&2’, a break from her traditions. “It’s my frustration at the haste with which Maldivian judges took the controversial lifetime oath behind locked doors,” explains Omar.

Omar’s creations have moved visitors, that some have already bought her paintings. Jennifer Latheef has already snapped up one of Omar’s paintings. A first time buyer of Maldivian art piece; Latheef says the paintings spoke to her of injustice.

“Her paintings with fragmented body parts, spoke of the mind, body and soul in a fragmented world or a world that fragments people,” Latheef says.

The dozens of visitors streaming in daily would each walk away with their own interpretation. And their lies the appeal of Omar’s paintings. Her paintings move you by their undisputable visual beauty, but also seem to ask questions of you and the world around you.

“Untitled works” will be on display until the 30th of March 2011 at National Art Gallery, each working day from 9 am to 6 pm.

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Nine year-old raises Rf5200 for Villingilli orphanage at birthday party

As the setting sun cast a warm glow over Villingili, dozens of passengers got down from the ferry and made their way to their destination. For one little girl who was accompanied by her aunt, the ferry ride was part of an extraordinary journey she was making.

Mariyam Nishfa Faid, 9, had come to Villingili to visit the Children’s Shelter, the beneficiary of the Mf 5200 (US$404) fund that she had raised at her birthday party.

“I have books and toys, all I need really,” says a beaming Nishfa. “I have enough for now.”

Her tone, if matter of fact, seems oblivious to how astonishing her words are, in a world where the norm is for children to want more toys and more books.

Birth of an idea

Nishfa is an avid reader; her room has two shelves full of books. Her friends and family supports her interest by gifting her books.

“Mum gave me a book ‘Chicken soup for the soul for kids’ last December,” she says. A compilation of mostly true stories, a month later she would go on to read a story that would have a profound effect on her.

“It’s called ‘helping hungry kids’, a story about helping kids in need in Africa. I wanted to help so I asked my mum how I could do it.”

Her mother suggested she talk with her aunt Aiminath Naaz who had done volunteer work in Africa, “and she suggested that I could help the kids closer to home.”

Nishfa also states sweetly that since the money she raised is in Maldivian rufiyaa “it won’t go far in Africa.”

A party with a difference

Nishfa discussed with her family on how to raise funds, eventually deciding to take the opportunity of her birthday party to do so.

“I used to play football in the boys team in my school Jamaaludeen,” says Nishfa, explaining that she had to stop the sport since she broke her arm a while back. The initial idea was to have a party with a sports theme.

“We decided to do it simpler, so that nobody had to buy any jerseys. Invitees didn’t have to wear their best dress; they just had to wear a nice dress and come.”

Instead of bringing her gifts of toys and books, she asked them to bring money for the Children’s Shelter. She is immensely proud of the amount she raised and added the contents of her piggy bank to the donation. As for her party, “it was very good.”

Inspiring others

A warm welcome awaited Nishfa at the shelter, with the staff mentioning how they had heard of her on TV also. The shelter houses 54 kids up to the age of 19. The children are looked after around the clock by 25 caregivers working in shifts.

Nishfa seems a bit overwhelmed after the visit, simply stating “I loved the babies.” Her plans include visiting the orphanage with her aunt once a week if possible, to read stories to the kids. Asked if her friends shared her concerns she seems almost perplexed when she says only a few do. However she is already inspiring others who share her concerns.

Fellow Jamaaludeen student Dhiraya Hassan, 8, donated to the fund at Nishfa’s party. Her mother, Mirufath Faiz, says she was very happy with the idea of donating instead of taking toys.

“Dhiraya also has the same mind-set as Nishfa, she donated the collection of coins in her piggy bank for the Pakistan relief fund.”

Dhiraya has announced to her parents that she wants to help other kids as well, and as a first step, has borrowed the Chicken Soup book from Nishfa.

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Malaysian band plans Maldives début with ringtone releases

Its a music launch with a difference: no pop concert, album promotion or even iTunes premiere – a Malaysian rock band aims to break into the Maldivian music market through cell phone ringtones.

Pop Shuvit, the Kuala Lumpur-based band, has four successful albums to its name. Its adrenalin fuelled live performances have won it fans across Asia and the band is often touted as the continent’s leading hip hop rock outfit.

The band has followed an unusual route to stardom. Their first single ‘Skaters Anthem’ was released exclusively online, where it became an instant hit and lead to the channel ESPN licensing the song for use in their Summer X-games broadcasts.

Not content to rest on its laurels, Pop Shuvit has ambitious plans for global stardom, with tours planned in Europe and the US. Their fifth album, ‘Cherry Blossom Love Affair’, is going to be released in March.

Pop Shuvit is also making a foray into the Maldivian music scene with the imminent release of their singles as ring tones in Maldives.

Minivan News caught up with Pop Shuvit’s lead vocalist ‘Moots’ at Huvafen Fushi, to discuss the band’s interest in working with local Maldivian talent.

Aishath Shazra: What does the name Pop Shuvit stand for, and how was the band formed?

Moots: ‘Pop Shuvit’ is a skateboarding trick also known as a kick flip 360° where you flip the board under your feet and it does a 360° flip. The band has been together for 10 years now, but we have known each other for over 15 years since we were in high school. We each started out in the music industry with various bands and groups until we got together and started Pop Shuvit. We have been a solid unit ever since.

AS: The band’s gamble in releasing the first single Skaters Anthem exclusively on the internet paid off. How did the idea come about and were you expecting this success?

M: This was the time before MySpace and when the internet was still in its infant stages. We knew the internet would be the next step in the evolution of music marketing and being tech geeks ourselves, we were one of the first few bands in Asia that had a full fledged website and actively used the net to market our music to the kids. It was then only natural that we gave our fans first access to the song. Before we knew it, the song started circulating the net and ESPN came knocking and the rest they say is history.

AS: Despite establishing a good fan base in countries such as Japan, Thailand and Singapore, Pop Shuvit is still a relatively unknown band in Maldives, are you hoping to change it with the release of your singles as ring tones?

M: We want to share our music with the whole world! Maldives, Sri Lanka and India seemed to have been the only countries to have eluded us thus far but we hope to change that. I think the Maldivians are going dig the Shuvit sound and we have to come down for a show in the near future to rock the islands!

We are also looking to collaborate with local artists and we are thinking of shooting one of our songs in your beautiful islands.

AS: With whom are you collaborating on the ring tones and is Pop Shuvit going to do a performance in Maldives to promote it?

M: We have linked up with Sri Lankan based Maharaja Entertainment who then signed on our music as ring tones with Dhiraagu. We definitely hope to head down as soon as things come together for us and play a few shows here. We have also linked up with Per AQUUM in terms of DJ sets at their resorts and we hope to have a full band gig there soon.

AS: Do you think it’s necessary for a music band in Asia to sing in English to break into the global stage or do you think language and culture pose no barrier in music?

M: Music is universal and our story is proof of that. We broke Japan, a market that does not speak English or Bahasa Malaysian as their first language, but they understand the language of music. I think if beautiful music is made, it will get noticed regardless of the language.

AS: How is your holiday so far at Huvafen Fushi and are you open to doing a performance on your next visit?

M: Name the time, date and place and we will be there to rock it. I am amazed at the beauty of the Maldives and had an awesome time at Huvafen Fushi. It was breathtaking and this will not be my last visit to the island. I’m hoping to come back again for both work and play.

Pop Shuvit’s website is http://popshuvitmusic.com/wordpress/

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Hulhumale taxi drivers protest introduction of MTCC ‘express’ taxis

Taxi drivers and those have applied for taxi licenses demonstrated in front of the Hulhumale Development Corporation (HDC) today.

The crowd of 25 held placards condemning the decision by HDC to allow the Maldives Transport and Contracting Company taxi’s to offer transfers from Hulhumale to the Hulhule Airport island.

The demonstration lasted for an hour and a half, before the drivers were called into a meeting with the management of HDC.

The Issue

Ahmed Riza, who has been driving a taxi in Hulhumale for the last four years, asks “Why should a company be allowed to provide transport to Hulhule, while the taxi drivers who are working here is not allowed to provide that service?”

The demonstraters main point of contention was as of last week, the MTCC has been operating vehicles from Hulhumale to the Hulhule airport, while local taxi drivers are not permitted to do so. They say this will result in a loss of income for them.

“Before they were just operating the cars with just the company name, but now they have taxi boards, and it says ‘express service’.”

Riza reasons that since Hulhumale and the Hulhule airport is connected by a causeway, taxi drivers like him should be allowed to transfer people to the airport.

“There are people here who have applied for licenses for driving taxis, but instead HDC has gone ahead and given taxi boards to a company.”

Riza says the cars, which are used for the transfers, are even providing trips internally in Hulhumale and depriving the taxi drivers of business.

“The other day I caught a car taking a sack of coconuts, and the driver said it was his personal trip.”

The fact that MTCC is using cars is another factor that Riza and his co-workers are not happy about.

A previous service provided Maldives Airport Company Limited (MACL) used buses.

Providing a service

“MTCC only provides transfers for passengers and their luggage from Hulhumale to the terminal of choice at the airport,” says Hawwa Huzeyma, Head of the Transport Department of MTCC.

She says the company does not provide taxi services internally in Hulhumale. MTCC is the company that provides transfers to the airport for Male residents, and she says they are providing that service to Hulhumale residents now.

“We were asked by Maldives Airport Company limited (MACL) to provide that service, which they had been providing before.”

The company uses both buses and cars for their express service.

Deputy Managing Director of HDC Suhail Ahmed says some concerned taxi drivers met with him a week ago.

“They were asking to be given permission to provide transfers to the airport, I told them that I will discuss it with MACL and give them an answer today.”

MACL does not provide free access to Hulhule Airport and only authorised vehicles are allowed in.

“For security reasons and because there is such high traffic at the airport MACL has restricted access to the airport and I conveyed this to the demonstrators,” he said.

At the moment 14 taxis are licensed to operate in Hulhumale, and the demonstrators have asked for an increase.

“After discussing it with them, we have agreed to that and next week we will be announcing it,” Suhail said.

The number of the increase has not been decided yet, as the taxi drivers themselves can’t decide on a number, he added.

Suhail says the HDC had to give taxi boards to MTCC vehicles, as “problems arise” if they provide transfers without the board.

“MACL has given permission for the MTCC to do the transfers as that would be easier, but we will be discussing the issue raised by the taxi drivers when the head of MACL returns to Male’ next week.”

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US Ambassador opens American Centre in new National Library building

United States Ambassador to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, Patricia Butenis, opened the new American Centre in the National Library Building on October 28.

The centre had previously been called the American Corner and was located in the National Library since May 2004, serving as a resource centre for the public on all things American.

In her speech, Ambassador Butenis highlighted the services offered at the new American Centre, explaining that when when the national library moved in July, “we felt the time was right to rename our facility in order to more accurately represent our growing ties with the people and the government of Maldives.”

The upgraded American Center appears part of a wider effort by the American government to engage with the Maldives. The United States marked its Fourth of July independence day for the first time in the Maldives with a function at Holiday Inn.

Butenis said it had been her desire to enhance and enlarge the role of the American Corner ever since she took on her role as Ambassador for Maldives and Sri Lanka over a year ago.

“We had some dispute with Washington over what to call it, since this is not a consulate,” she said.

Shafeea Shakir, who was worked in the National Library for the past 10 years, has been appointed the coordinator of American Center taking over from Thifla Umar. “We would like to encourage more people to use the resources at the center, as there is so much on offer like audio and videos,” she said.

The center offers free internet access, information about United States via a large collection of DVDs, and an online research database. The center also offers students the chance to participate in ‘Dyn Ed’, a computer based English learning programme. The center further offers events like public readings, films, lectures by various speakers and workshops and exhibits.

Among the speakers who visited Maldives earlier in the year was Imam Khalid Lathif, chaplin of the New York Police Department. Lathif gave talks on ‘Human rights under Islam’ and ‘Women’s rights in Islam’ in the American corner during August.

Ambassador Butenis said a number of Americans would visit Maldives in the coming months and hold discussions at the center. Imam Khalid Lathif is among them, and will return to the Maldives in December along with Dr Richard Navarro, an expert on higher education, who will stay in the Maldives for nine months on a Fulbright fellowship.

“We are also increasing the number of Digital Video Conferences (DVC) with individuals from United States. Experts from Harvard and Yale will present lectures sharing their expertise across nine time zones with American center participants in Male.’ Ambassador Butenis added the lectures would be interactive, as participants will get a chance to ask questions.

DVC had been used recently to conduct a professional development-training programme for National library employees with the Director of the American Centre in Colombo.

Ambassador Butenis said she hoped the technology would prove a useful resource for Maldivian civil society to collaborate with their counterparts in the United States.

An inter library loan programme with the American Center in Male and American Corners in Sri Lanka is also in the pipeline.

“This will increase the selection of books and journals available to Maldivian patrons by over 4,000 titles- a collection that continues to grow each year,” said Ambassador Butenis

Ambassador Butenis ended her speech highlighting the similarities between the two countries.

“Our two countries, half a world apart in distance share much in common. In many ways, your own path to democracy mirrors ours. We have a lot to learn from each other, and the American Center will facilitate further communication and collaboration between the people of the Maldives and the United States.”

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Dialysis patient and life skills trainer vows “to fight to the last moment”

“I was in shock, didn’t even know how to cry,” says Abdullah Musthaq, 33, of the fateful day in May when he was told that both his kidneys had failed.

The tears did come, and with it concern about his four year old daughter. “I thought of who would take care of her after I’m gone, who would help her achieve things in life.”

These thoughts are no longer what preoccupy Musthaq. “The first day when I got the news was the only day when my mind vacillated, between hope and despair.”

Dressed in a black shirt, sitting in his modest sitting room, Musthaq is the epitome of an upbeat person. He is often asked how he manages to stay so positive in the face of such adversity. “I decided that I will do all it takes to get better, that I would fight until the last moment.”

Mustfaq at a training session

Using educational skills

Musthaq credits his educational skill and his area of work for his positive attitude. He is a trainer of life skills: “I teach people parenting skills, on how to have a positive attitude and build confidence.”

The news that he was at the last stage of renal disease came as a surprise to him. On his way to India on a personal trip, he experienced swollen feet and was diagnosed at KIM’s hospital. “The doctors in India told me that I would have had symptoms before.”

The symptoms were there, feeling tired, swelling feet, nausea but the kidney problem was not diagnosed. Musthaq would rather not dwell on that.

“I am at peace, I am thankful to God that I am a beneficial person to the society and that I can contribute positively.”

Since the age of 12 Musthaq has been in the education field; as a student he gave tuition to younger kids, and later he took up teaching professionally at the age of 22. He also works as a counselor at AMDC clinic.

His teachings has touched many among them Zaeema Mohamed. “My life had changed dramatically for the better since I took part in Musthaq’s workshops,” says Zaeema who took part in a parenting skills and leadership skills workshops. “I feel it’s my duty to help him now.”

Zaeema volunteers with 19 students and friends in helping to raise money for Musthaq’s treatment.

Hope for survival

Musthaq’s only hope of survival is a kidney transplant. The costs for the transplant, including the stay in Sri Lanka, is US$45,000, but volunteers have already raised 53 percent of the amount from a generous public.

Musthaq’s wife says she couldn’t have faced the situation at all if it had been her. “He is very brave; even the dialysis is painful process.”

Dialysis is a thrice weekly thing for Musthaq. Two needles are inserted to his arm, one into a vein and another into an artery. Musthaq doesn’t numb his arm as the doctor says that it’s better to do it that way.

He often gives pep talks to other patients on dialysis if they seem distressed. “I try to give them hope, ask them to fight.”

“Musthaq has used his education and the knowledge he uses in his training on himself, that’s why he is able to be a fighter and stay positive, with strength God gives him,” says Hussain Abdullah ‘Kendhoo’, coordinator of the ‘Help Musthaq’ movement, and his friend.

Kendhoo worked as a fellow teacher with Musthaq in the 90’s. He lost touch with Musthaq and says he bumped into Musthaq upon his return from studies abroad and found out about his illness.

“I can’t give financial help, so I thought this was one way I could help out.”

Kendhoo floated the idea of a voluntary team. With their wives in tow, Kendhoo and Musthaq had the initial meeting with friend’s and students who wanted to volunteer. Now the team meets every night that Musthaq is not on dialysis.

“We don’t have any administrative costs, each volunteer pays for their own phone calls and any other expenses, whatever we raise is kept for Musthaq’s treatment.”

The team sells badges and T-shirts, but their main aim is workshops to improve people’s lives.

Musthaq and Kendhoo both wanted to link the activities to education. “I want to impart the knowledge I have, for the donations” says Musthaq, adding that he would like people to be able to deal with life’s hardships in a good way. “If people accept that in life anything could happen, that you might fall ill, if that acceptance is there you will be more ready to face whatever hurdles that come your way in a positive fashion.”

Kendhoo says Mushtaq’s attitude is impressive, “If we have a headache most of us would skip work. Musthaq in his condition still works as a counselor, and you have to have inner strength to do that.”

A professional accountant, Kendhoo plans to get a local firm to do an audit of the money they have raised. “We will publish everything on our website so that the public won’t lose trust in movements like these, because there are others that still need help.”

Next on Musthaq’s agenda is just that. “Once I get better I would like to start an association to help the dozens of patients who are in the same situation as me.”

A seminar on ‘Ulitmate successful living’ by Ahmed Musthaq will take place on Saturday October 23 at Dharubaaruge from 20:30pm to 22:30pm. Seminar will be conducted in Dhivehi. For tickets and information please call 797 7353 or 998 6244.

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