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we will have to face our Creator
who will question what we did
with the blessings He bestowed.
We need to have an answer for
Him. We need to be able to look
at ourselves in the mirror every
night and feel that we tried to
make a difference that day. All of
my work is to try and follow in my
parents’ footsteps and the example
of kindness they’ve set before me
their entire lives.”
Q:
With Ramadan
approaching, why do you
feel charity is such an
important element of this
Holy month?
A) “Charity and helping others
should be an important element of
every month. The poor are poor
all year round, not only during
Ramadan. However, fasting can
provide such a powerful conduit
to the Almighty that it awakens
some people’s consciousness to a
greater degree than perhaps the
rest of the year. Fasting is such
an equalizer between rich and
poor. Everyone is looking forward
to that first sip of water at the
break of fast. People are striving
towards purity in mind, body and
soul with greater and rejuvenated
earnestness. It truly puts people in
a more empathetic frame of mind
and aids in creating bonds between
H
fellow-men. When someone in
his air-conditioned car is driving
past a laborer working in the heat,
for those hours of fasting, they
have the same thoughts on their
mind--hope for a sustaining meal
at the end of the day and a wish to
please Allah. People have the same
hopes and dreams throughout the
year but it’s during Ramadan that
people tend to feel that human
kinship even more.”
Q:
Who is your
greatest motivator?
A) “My husband. He is one of a
kind and a credit to his parents
for raising him
that way. He has
been Adopt-a-
Camp’s biggest
and most patient
supporter. The
men we help,
they themselves
are also a huge
inspiration and
motivation.
Seeing their joy
in what we do
for them, their
families and
communities is
something that
really motivates
us to keep
going.”
Q:
What is your
advice to people who
want to make a change
but don’t know how?
A) “Making a change doesn’t
require boardroom meetings
or intense thought. Just look
around you. There is always
someone whose day you
can change by reaching out
to them. It could be a friend
who needs a non-judgmental
listener, cleaners at the mall
who’d be grateful for a meal or
tip, treating the men cleaning
the sides of the road to snacks
and cold drinks, paying the
maids in our homes better
salaries. Many of us think
nothing of treating ourselves
to costly beauty treatments
but complain about increasing
the salaries of the people who
work in our homes. Every single
person can make a change. The
change can start in our own
homes and backyards. If all of
us took care of those around
us, eventually those circles of
caring would start to overlap
and the world would become a
better place...”
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May/June 2015