Sometimes the best measure of a [sameness] projects goodness is the buzz everyone is on after it has finished. Even though we were exhausted, sweaty, and ready for a nap, the excitement levels after our first proper We’ve Got Your Back adventure were pretty high.

First though, a quick explanation of We’ve Got Your Back (WGYB) …it’s about providing an opportunity for Dubai taxi drivers to be seen and appreciated, and equally for the community to connect and engage with them beyond their role as a taxi driver.

And what does this look like? It looks like the [sameness] project team and Dubai fitness professionals spending time with taxi drivers and providing them with a free booklet of detailed stretches/exercises they can perform to combat the physical stresses of sitting stationary for long periods of time, while promoting long-term physical health and emotional well-being. The drivers work really hard, putting in long hours, quite often for 7 days a week and we love having the opportunity to engage with them as individuals, capturing their hopes and dreams, and creating a moment of [sameness] that focuses on them personally, beyond their occupation.

We’ve Got Your Back has been developed with the awesome team at FitnessLink (check them out!) and it was so many levels of goodness having FitnessLink founder, UAE’s fittest man & Adidas Brand Ambassador Grant Goes join us for our first adventure getting WGYB out to drivers.

Having Grant giving one-on-one health and fitness advice to the drivers and being able to show them the stretches personally was very cool, and besides the crazy hot heat, we had such a good time laughing, stretching, and rehydrating with drivers on their morning break.

As well as the WGYB booklet we also managed to get some cold water from our Water for Workers project into the drivers hands (it was 42 degrees Celsius : HOT) and each driver we spent time with got a cool, old school looking polaroid picture of themselves as a little memory.

You can check out our FACEBOOK PAGE for more snaps from the day, or follow us on Instagram -@thesamenessproject – and see all of the other bits and pieces we get up too (and what we eat).

We also want to give a massive shout out to Heena from Down To Earth Dubai for coming along and helping us translate, it made a huge difference to the project!