Spotlight on Inspiring Emirati Women: Mama Nadia and the Home She Built

Hourani is marking Emirati Women’s Month by sharing the stories of Emirati women whose work has shaped their communities. In the first conversation, Sunita Singh-Dalal, Partner and Head of Private Wealth and Family Offices, spoke with Dr. Nadia Al Sayegh, founder of Senses Residential and Day Care for Special Needs.

Across the UAE, Dr. Nadia is widely known as “Mama Nadia”. When asked how she prefers to be addressed, she says that she chose the name herself, as it reflects the responsibility she took on and it makes her happy to carry it.

Her career spans more than 43 years, 20 of them with the Ministry of Social Affairs and the rest with Senses Residential and Day Care for Special Needs, which she founded in 2004.

What follows is not only a story about care. It is a study in how an organization is built so that its purpose survives growth, scrutiny and, one day, its founder.

Key Takeaways from the Conversation

1. She did not set out to build a center. She set out to build something that lasts. “My goal was not only to build the center, but to build a sustainable institution, with strong values, professional systems, and a new generation of people who believe in the same mission.” The need she saw at the ministry was not for more therapy hours. Families were exhausted, some were facing serious difficulties and some children just needed a safe and stable home that simply did not exist. “For me, it became impossible to see this need and just walk away.”
2. Growth never comes at the cost of purpose. “Growth never comes at the cost of human purpose. At Senses, the person always comes first.” She does not measure the organization by its buildings or by the number of children registered. “I am not looking for numbers of registrations, or how many files I have. How many lives did I save? How much change did I make for these children?”
3. Systems protect the organization. Values protect its soul. “I always remind my team that we are not simply doing a job. We are carrying a big amaanat, a trust. The system should protect this organization, but our values protect our soul.” In practice, that means employing qualified professionals and making decisions as a group rather than having them made by one person, because a single decision can affect a child for life. It also means we need cameras, safety systems, properly qualified therapists, a valid trade license and full compliance with national rules, because courts, police, hospitals, human rights bodies and women’s associations bring cases to Senses and we must be in a position to accept them. Staff are kept current through workshops, courses and exchanges with other centers.”
4. Trust is slow to build and becomes the institution’s strongest asset. “When they call me and trust me, whether the police, the Community Development Authority or the hospitals, and say to me “…we have a child, could you kindly accept this child at Senses?”  that makes me feel I have reached my goal.” Dr. Nadia frames that trust as a debt repaid, rather than a reputation earned. “This country built Nadia. I grew up in this lovely place, I graduated here. How can I meaningfully repay this debt to my country? I can return it through what I do for these children.
5.  A culture is proven when it is tested. Senses spent a year and eight months in lockdown during the pandemic, with more than 500 people inside each center and only four team members working externally to bring in food and medication. Parents and members of Dr. Nadia’s staff left their own families to stay with the children and take care of them. “I told them, ‘I cannot promise you a salary’. They said, Mama Nadia, we will not leave you. We will not leave the kids.” This, she tells us, is her legacy: “I am sure that when I leave this place, there is a group of people behind me. They will not leave, because they did not leave me during Corona.”
6. Care for the team is how you care for the children. “I work for the staff, and the staff work for these children.” She is direct about why. Everyone carries their own difficulties, and none of it should reach the children. Her job, as she sees it, is to make sure her team feels supported enough to bring nothing but positive energy into the building.

Her definition of legacy

Asked what she wants her leadership to leave behind, her answer was one word: quality.

“We should not stop where we are. To be unique, to give as much as you can, you have to keep improving yourself, running after quality, and asking others what they need from me, because I am in a position of helping.”

She goes on to emphasize that “a legacy is not what we achieve for ourselves, but what continues to serve others after we leave. I hope Senses will continue to be a home of love, dignity and opportunity for people of determination, for many generations to come.”

Her message for Emirati Women’s Month

“I would tell every young Emirati woman: do not wait until you feel completely ready. Start with what you have and where you are. We don’t need a title, a position or great resources to make a difference. What you need is a clear purpose, strong values, patience, and the courage to take the first step.”

She added that change does not happen overnight. It grows through commitment, compassion and constant work. She also spoke of the support behind Emirati women, expressing her gratitude to the UAE’s leadership and to Her Highness Sheikha Fatima bint Mubarak, Mother of the Nation, and of the responsibility that comes with it. “The country has trusted us and has given us a lot of opportunities.”

For her, the shift from a day to a month carries meaning. “It does not mean that we are just passing the time. We have to think about yesterday, and about what we will do tomorrow.”

At Senses, the month is marked with gatherings and activities that bring Emirati and non-Emirati women into the center to share their journeys with the team and spend time with the children.

A reflection from Sunita Singh-Dalal

“What you inspire me to do, and what I hope young Emirati women and all women who read this are inspired to do, is to continue to strive for excellence. You are not defeated by any hurdles that come your way. You look beyond them to execute your vision, to stay true to your purpose, and to lead with such conviction that you inspire others to follow. What you do, Mama Nadia, touches a life. You touch a family. You touch a community.”

An invitation

Dr. Nadia’s closing thought was not about Senses. It was an invitation.

“I invite any woman, Emirati or not, who would like to come and spend a day with us at Senses, rather than spending the day at the gym, to come and join us at least once a month. Come and see. Give them one hour of your time full of happiness.”

She asks nothing specific of visitors beyond showing up as themselves. “I always tell the volunteers, don’t come and ask me what I should do. Come and see what you are fond of, what you would like to do for these children. They will love it, because they will know that you came to them, for them.”

Anyone who would like to take up the invitation can contact Senses Residential and Day Care for Special Needs directly to arrange a visit.

Twenty-two years on, Senses is not a project that depends on one person. It has a structure, a team and a standard that its founder expects to outlast her, which is exactly what she set out to build.

Those are the same questions that families and founders bring to our Private Wealth and Family Offices practice: what holds, who carries it, and what remains.

Our sincere and heartfelt gratitude goes to Dr. Nadia Al Sayegh, not only for her time spent speaking with us during Emirati Women’s Month, but also for the candor she brought to the conversation and the inspiration that she leaves us with!

A second conversation will follow.