It wasn’t long after we arrived that we met Teena ~ what a sweet, funny, determined young woman she turned out to be. She had been living in Al Ain for about 5 months by the time we got here. Teena is from Sri Lanka; she married quite young and has a five-year-old daughter. Her husband, Gayon, and their daughter are living with her mother back in Sri Lanka. Gayon didn’t have a job, so they decided he should come to Al Ain and see if he could find work here. At the time, Teena was living in a single room with eight other women. Eight!
! Each woman had her own little section of the room, divided by . . . a sheet 
. There was a shared kitchen, shared bathroom, shared everything; privacy was a luxury. Sooooo, Teena needed to find a bigger place for her and Gayon.
Louie helped her find a new place, which, by comparison, must have felt like a palace: one room with a double bed, a dresser and closet cupboard, a bathroom and a tiny kitchen (< about the same size as the bathroom). But it was hers! We helped move her few belongings over and she got it all fixed up for her and Gayon (pronounced Guy - on).
Finally, Gayon was able to make the journey to Al Ain. They got settled into their cozy new home and before long we decided it was time for a fun adventure.
Off we went to Jebel Hafeet, the spectacular mountain rising out of Al Ain near the Oman border. It’s one of the UAE’s most famous natural landmarks and definitely the kind of place you take someone when you want to say, “Welcome to Al Ain!”
The views were incredible and the mountain was breathtaking. Jebel Hafeet is one of those places where you can look out toward Oman and feel like you’re practically standing on the edge of two countries; although, technically, the whole mountain belongs to the UAE!
The road winds up the mountain for about 7–7.5 miles with lots of curves and spectacular viewpoints. The drive to the top of Jebel Hafeet was an adventure in itself, a winding road climbing higher and higher, with the desert stretching out below us. It took us about 45 minutes to reach the summit, but naturally, we had to stop along the way to admire the views and pretend we weren’t terrified of the drop-offs!
Once we reached the top, we grabbed our blankets and headed over to a picnic table. It was such a beautiful spot; quiet, breezy and with an unexpected bonus: cats. Lots and lots of cats. I took a special liking to the youngest one who stayed right beside us the whole time (I did not touch her, as tempting as it was). Some of the bigger cats were downright aggressive. It made me wonder, do people really bring their unwanted cats up here and just leave them? It certainly seemed like it. Whatever their story, they had clearly figured out how to survive and they knew exactly who to approach when a picnic was underway. On the way down we stopped by the Alberni Jebel Hafeet Hotel & Resort. It sits about 3,000 feet up the mountain, with beautiful views over Al Ain. We just drove around the roundabout and enjoyed the view.
Not too long after that, we got a frantic call from Teena. Gayon’s mother had been put in prison because she had been living in Dubai illegally for the past three years and finally got caught. They needed a ride to Dubai to gather the mother's things from her apartment. We couldn’t go that week, but the following week we made the trip, helped gather everything, grabbed something to eat and took pictures of the Burj Khalifa building in Dubai; which is still the tallest building in the world; it stands 2,716.5 feet tall, more than half a mile straight up! A fun comparison: Jebel Hafeet is about 4,068 feet high, so the mountain itself is considerably taller than the Burj Khalifa but the Burj just happens to be a very impressive building sitting in the desert!
Then after that we headed back home.
Things seemed to be looking up for a while. Gayon found a dishwashing job, eight hours a day, six days a week and was actually making more money than Teena, who was working 12–14 hours a day, six or seven days a week, without overtime and a smaller paycheck. In a way, this turned out to be a blessing. Teena is so mild and soft-spoken that she had never complained about her situation at work. But with Gayon working and with Sophia (a member who now also works at Grandma’s house) helping to encourage her, Teena finally talked to her boss. Between all of us, she was able to work toward a better work situation and since she was also a senior Bistro, she really should have been getting more pay for that responsibility. So, at least in that area, things were moving in a better direction.
Unfortunately, things between Teena and Gayon were not going nearly as well. His abusive and controlling tendencies began to show and it became a very difficult situation for Teena (email #10). He also couldn’t get a 'work' visa and had to make trips to Oman and Dubai to deal with paperwork. We had been helping them with groceries and rent since he arrived but we didn’t help with those 2 trips. To be honest, by then we were becoming more and more concerned for Teena and secretly (or not so secretly) hoping Gayon would go home. Eventually, Teena (who had finally come to the realization that she was taking on much more of a “mother” role with Gayon than a wife should have to) took care of everything and arranged for him to return home (and yes ~ in our growing eagerness to see him leave, we may have even helped with that airline ticket 😏).
Sometimes helping someone means knowing when to step in and sometimes it means knowing when it’s time to let them go. Somewhere along the way, Teena went from being a young woman we had just met to someone who was finding her own strength and taking some very mature steps for herself.
It has been wonderful (and painful) to watch her grow. She has started Pathways, is preparing to receive her patriarchal blessing and has accepted a calling in the Church. She has always been a strong member and faithfully pays her tithing but over the last few months we saw her become more confident, more independent and more grounded in her faith.
I think Heavenly Father had a hand in bringing Teena into our lives and maybe us into hers. We don’t always understand why people cross our paths but sometimes we get to see a little bit of the reason. Watching Teena find her strength and move forward has been a pretty special blessing for us, too.
I think of the scripture in Ether: “then will I make weak things become strong.” Maybe that is what we have been watching in Teena; not that her trials disappeared, but that through them, she has become stronger and learned to lean more fully on the Lord.
Every one of these members has faced trials and tribulations that I could hardly have imagined until I came here (and Ghana) and witnessed their lives firsthand; my single, divorced mother raised 3 kids since I was 5 and we were considered 'poor' but compared to other people in all these 2nd and 3rd world countries; I had no idea what poor really meant 🙁.
And yet, through it all, these beautiful members remain faithful and strong. They rely on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and receive comfort and strength as they continue along their journey. It is a privilege to be around them. Their faith, endurance and unwavering trust in the Lord are deeply inspiring. We love them dearly and care for each and every one of them. Their strength through adversity is a beautiful testimony of the power of faith and the enduring love of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
