Reduced working hours a blessing for fasting shepherds of the desert

Reduced working hours during the holy month of Ramadan has made life much easier for fasting shepherds and camel herders living in Qatar's remote desert areas, Qatar Tribune reported.

The working hours of herdsmen who take care of sheep and camels have been reportedly reduced to two hours during Ramadan.

An Ethiopian expatriate shepherd at Al Shahaniya desert said: "Currently, we’re working for only two hours a day. Most shepherds have been granted this privilege by their sponsors this year."

According to the new work schedule, the shepherds and other camel herders have to work one hour each in the morning and the evening taking their sheep and camels to the grazing area. The rest of the time they can simply relax in their cabins.

The herdsmen are also provided with dates, fruits, snacks and non-vegetarian foods every day by their sponsors to break their fast and suhour meals. However, for them, camel milk is a must for iftar.

Al Ameen, a Bangladeshi expatriate shepherd, said: "Our iftar meal is distributed by the sponsor himself or his family members after afternoon prayer (Asr) daily. Sometimes, we’re joined by other shepherds from nearby areas and sit either beside the shadow of a small tree or inside our cabin. We’re grateful to our sponsor for distributing food on time."

According to the herdsmen, the conventional approach of taking their animals to 'greener pastures' for grazing every morning and afternoon is gradually becoming a thing of the past and most shepherds have to depend on market supplies to feed their animals.

Musthafa Abdul Salim, who supplies animal feed in the desert areas, said that even shepherds living in deserts are informed about the labour laws.

Most of the herders' cabins have power generator to meet any emergency situation and have proper mobile phone connectivity.

They mainly belong to Sudan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal and are living like normal workers in the country with a monthly salary and routine vacations.

The herdsmen said that their life in Qatar has witnessed drastic changes in the last few years.

As the total area of desert in Qatar is comparably less considering the vast deserts of many other countries, their community in Qatar is more connected to the city life than elsewhere because of their closer proximity to Doha City.

Courtesy: Qatar-tribune.com