Son shares untold story of father’s journey filled with challenges and adventures worthy of a Hollywood thriller
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Release date: Thursday, July 18, 2024 at 6:00 AM
Now, the son of an Emirati man who left the UAE in the 1940s and spent three decades in Africa has revealed the untold story of his father’s indomitable spirit. Jumaa Ali Al Marashda, who died in 2020 aged 96, lived a life full of challenges and adventures worthy of a Hollywood thriller.
In an interview with Khaleej Times, Humaid Humaa shared stories of his father’s life as told to him by his father himself: “My father always had a fondness for the UAE and his childhood spent there. Whenever he returned, he would talk about the places he lived and how he wanted to take us on trips.”
Born before the UAE
Originally from the city of Kalba in Sharjah, Jumaa was an orphan living with his grandfather and began working in the fishing industry at the age of 18.
When he left, a united emirate was still a distant dream, the roads were unpaved, there were no cars or hospitals, houses were made of mud, and life was hard in a region that relied solely on fishing and agriculture.
Poor livelihoods forced many citizens to embark on long sea voyages abroad to trade and augment their income.
In 1942, at the start of World War II, Juma set out on foot from Kalba to Ras al Khaimah, with ambitions to make a living across regional borders in an era without modern roads or vehicles.
Sea voyage
His first journey was on a cargo ship, whose mission was to transport cargoes of coal and firewood to nearby areas before returning to Ras al-Khaimah.
On a subsequent voyage, he and his companions were tasked with transporting a cargo of oil to India, and during this voyage they encountered a severe storm and were forced to throw half of their cargo overboard to avoid danger.
Upon arriving in the Pakistani city of Karachi, they unloaded their entire cargo during the storm season.
“We had to compensate for losses incurred due to delays at sea and the loss of about half our cargo, so we turned to other trade,” Humaid said.
At Mumbai the captain decided to head to Bangalore city, famous for its trade in bricks and red earth. They safely loaded their cargo of red bricks and began their journey to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
Life in Africa
Due to calm winds, the voyage took 40 days on the open sea, during which time the sailors suffered from hunger and thirst as their supplies dwindled.
After unloading their cargo of bricks in Dar es Salaam, on the way back to India they again met with misfortune when their ship was wrecked in a storm.
Only three people, including Jumaa, survived and they were washed up on the shores of Zanzibar, Africa.
When he arrived in Zanzibar, he did not have a passport to travel freely or return to his homeland, so he decided to work in different fields. He learned the language of the locals and built strong friendships that helped him adapt to local life.
After some time in work and trade, he moved to Madagascar and settled in the city of Magenka, near the capital, Antananarivo.
In Madagascar he took up trade, worked in a variety of professions and learned French and Zanzibar Swahili.
“My father had a strong memory even in his later years. I would give him a sentence and ask him to say it in Swahili, and he could count to 100 in French and remember a lot of things,” Hamid said.
Jumaa married a local woman and had a son named Ali.
I’m coming home
For many years he followed the news of his country through British radio and one day he heard the name of a city called Kalba. He has a single sister who lives in the United Arab Emirates and during those many years he tried to correspond with her but he sent letters but got no reply and later found out that his messages did not reach her.
By the end of the 1960s, the foundations of the federation were being formed and the Emirate of Sharjah was beginning to develop administratively. One of Jumaa’s letters finally reached her sister.
“After receiving the letter, she tried her best with the help of others to obtain passports from the authorities so that her husband and son could return home,” Humaid said.
Jumaa then flew from Madagascar to Djibouti with her only son, and from there to Yemen, where she was detained for 40 days because her passport was not recognised.
He eventually traveled to Bahrain and from there took the final flight to Sharjah, returning to his homeland for the first time in 34 years. A few days after his return, he witnessed the raising of the UAE flag.