A Filipina has been named the UAE’s best nanny, at a first-of-its-kind award ceremony held in the country on Saturday, November 18.
“This is really an unexpected blessing,” Gulf News quoted 29-year-old Lorina Bunio as saying.
She broke into tears as she walked up to the stage, and held 15-month-old Alexandra in one arm while receiving her trophy, the report said.
“I think I give 100 percent of my best and honesty in my work,” Bunio, who also won Dh5,000 in prize money, reportedly said, adding that she plans to send it all home to her family.
Two runners-up received cash prizes of Dh2,500 and Dh1,250 at the ceremony, said the news portal.
Both are also Filipina. “This is just an award, but the love, the support and the trust that they give to me [is enough],” said Danalyn Acuriza, 40, first runner-up, who looks after two boys.
Besma Abas, 48, second runner up, has served as a nanny for eight years to an Emirati family. “I’m very happy that they appreciate me. I didn’t expect that I would win,” she was quoted as saying.
The three winners were among 200 nannies nominated by their sponsor families. Over the past month, 108,000 people had voted for the nannies on the organizer’s Facebook page, said the news portal.
To select the winner, the top ten who won the most votes were interviewed — along with their employer — by a three-member judging panel.
The judges were two veteran British nannies, and a UAE-based dietician. One of the nannies, Stella Reid, is known for her role in taming unruly children on US reality television series Nanny 911.
Nannies were judged for their ability to provide a caring, safe environment, to teach children healthy eating, and how they supported their learning, reported Gulf News.
Held by Rise, a Dubai start-up that seeks to help domestic workers, the competition is the first in the country focused on nannies, the report said.
Rise claims to be the world’s first wealth management platform aimed at helping Gulf-based migrants save money and learn.
The start-up boss said that the award aims to help those whose efforts never get lauded at the city’s countless canapes-and-caviar competition ceremonies.
“People that work so hard, that are so integral to our part of life, need to be recognized,” she was quoted as saying by the news portal.
