DUBAI: As a thank you to healthcare workers on the frontlines fighting the coronavirus pandemic, this weekend Dubai-based fashion influencer and social media personality Ola Farahat decided to kickstart a social media initiative dedicated to medical personnel in the UAE.
Farahat explained that the initiative all started when she felt a duty to honor the healthcare workers who are risking their lives to save others. So, she decided to post a black-and-white video to show her appreciation for the men and women who make up the country’s medical cohort.
“Today’s video is to say thank you to all of our healthcare workers on the frontlines and everyone else on the frontline that’s working day and night to keep us safe,” she said in the clip. She went on to urge her 1.2 million followers to post similar thank you videos in a show of appreciation for healthcare workers.
Shortly after Farahat posted the first video, she started to receive messages from doctors. “They were happy to chat and share some stories with me. I realized they really appreciated our recognition of their hard work,” she told Arab News.
“I feel that so many of us don’t understand the extent of what these healthcare workers and front liners have to deal with,” she shared. “So many of us are just complaining about being bored and don’t really understand what some front liners have to go through,” she added, recalling the emotional viral video of a Saudi doctor who had to turn down a hug from his child upon returning home from a shift due to infection risks.
“The story really got to me. The son asked him for a hug because he missed his father and the dad has to turn it down… It made me think, ‘wow some people can’t even hug their own kids anymore’,” Farahat said.
The Palestinian beauty decided to reach out to seven other influencers from the region, including Dubai-based Rania Fawaz and Deema Al-Asadi, to take part in the campaign. The touching videos generated a lot of attention online and began to spread like wildfire on social media, with Lebanese presenter Diala Makki, Saudi influencer Hala Abdallah and Iraqi blogger Dima Al-Sheikhly all posting their own black-and-white clips honoring health workers.
“Initially I reached out to seven people to participate, but I was so happy to see others join in on their own,” said Farahat.
