VIDEO: COVID-19 crisis has turned this Pak expat's life upside down

Sohaila Ahmed, Staff Reporter

The breakout of COVID-19 has affected the social life of many families all over the world. It not only has killed thousands but has also ruined the lives of many beyond imaginations.

Its impact has left broken families, depressed people and has turned lives of millions upside down.

Nobody knows it better than Muhammad Aslam Ghulam, a 44-year-old Pakistani who is also a diabetic patient.

Ghulam lost his job, house in Pakistan and is now living on charity during this pandemic period and he now just waiting for some divine help to start his life afresh.

“I have been working in the UAE for 13 years as a newspaper hawker, and once coronavirus spread all over the world, I lost my job and house and am now living by the money that others give me,” Aslam said.

The soul breadwinner is now unable to provide for his family, who live in Pakistan and find it hard to get food or pay for school fees under existing conditions.

He has a wife, 17-year-old daughter, and three sons aged 15, 13, and 6.

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The travelling restrictions which are now put by many countries had also prevented Aslam from visiting Pakistan for three continuous years.

“Heavy rain and flood struck my area in Pakistan and we lost our house; my family had to move to a rental apartment but I’m not able to pay its rent until now and they might be evacuated any moment,” Aslam revealed.

Many of Aslam’s friends in the UAE have provided help with food and money since he lost his only income, and he is now on a massive job hunt in order to get his life together as soon as possible.

He commented, “I hope that Allah would give me a second chance to start over, and I have no doubt that the UAE community would provide help after hearing my story.”