Needa Bahkali
The Secret Neighborhood
It was the day that I encountered a stranger that my life have changed. Three years ago in the winter of 2011, my friend and I discussed where we would go to have fun. Finally, we decided to go to the valley to have a wonderful day. We prepared all the food that we needed for our picnic, and started our journey toward Hanifa Valley, which is about 15 minutes from my home. When we arrived there, our maids started to put out our picnic stuff and prepare the place, then they started to ignite the firewood for a barbecue. We were talking, laughing and playing cards while the food was cooking. After that we started to eat our lunch. Unfortunately, there was too much food leftover. We had no idea what to do with all this extra food and we started to think about what we should do with it! We didn’t want to take this extra food with us! My friend suggested we throw it away, but I was not in agreement with her. I decided to take the food with us and go around until we found someone who needed food. Our chauffeurs and maids started to pack our things to return home.
Before going home, I decided to look around the valley. Surprisingly, we found a small housing area. This neighborhood was creepy and dark. It was a very small area and their buildings were very old. The people who lived there seemed unusual and strange. They were not wearing any shoes and their clothes were dirty and tattered. We stopped by them and gave them the food that we had. When we returned to the car, we were talking about what we had seen. We wondered why the people lived there and who took care of them. When we returned home, we went directly to the lounge and began to make a list of what they would need and what we could do to help them.
First of all, we wanted to make a survey of the area and see how many people were living there and what they needed. We had to go back to the neighborhood, but we didn’t want to go there with empty hands. Tentatively, we bought some gifts, such as toys and candies for the children. I had never been more anxious in my life when we arrived. I was frightened to get out of my car! I took a deep breath, got out and walked to there. I was so scared and I felt the butterflies in my stomach. This was my first time that I walked in by myself into a bizarre place.
We met some of them and we got the information that we want.
In our religious texts we are taught from childhood the right thing to do when we see those who are hurting. All of the main religious texts for instance the Qur’an, Bible and Torah mention how we should treat our brothers and sisters who are poor and homeless. I personally believe that whether you are religious or not, you know in your heart the right thing to do when it comes to dealing with people in need and you just have to listen to that small voice inside your heart. Our objective was to provide winter and summer clothing and hygiene materials to those poor people. Also we helped them with cooling systems and heaters, and we had to consider that not all the families can pay the electricity bills and so bought different types. Also we decided to help them during our holy month of Ramadan. We bought for them the most traditional food during Ramadan, and made sure that was sufficient to fill their needs.
We were so proud of ourselves for what we had made for them. And we promised to visit them again over and over. However, helping them was also an unexpected lesson for me. I learned how to be thankful every day. It motivated me to be a better person in this life. I learned from them how to smile and make myself happy with the little things. Also, I learned that what we used to do was waste food and now we should cook only as much as we need. Nowadays, there are still many people who do not have enough food to eat; therefore, we cannot waste the food. We must think about the blessings that we have from God like food, dress, the housing and family, health and wellness, safety and peace. A lot of people are deprived of these small things. Finally, we should thank God for what we have.
The Secret Neighborhood
It was the day that I encountered a stranger that my life have changed. Three years ago in the winter of 2011, my friend and I discussed where we would go to have fun. Finally, we decided to go to the valley to have a wonderful day. We prepared all the food that we needed for our picnic, and started our journey toward Hanifa Valley, which is about 15 minutes from my home. When we arrived there, our maids started to put out our picnic stuff and prepare the place, then they started to ignite the firewood for a barbecue. We were talking, laughing and playing cards while the food was cooking. After that we started to eat our lunch. Unfortunately, there was too much food leftover. We had no idea what to do with all this extra food and we started to think about what we should do with it! We didn’t want to take this extra food with us! My friend suggested we throw it away, but I was not in agreement with her. I decided to take the food with us and go around until we found someone who needed food. Our chauffeurs and maids started to pack our things to return home.
Before going home, I decided to look around the valley. Surprisingly, we found a small housing area. This neighborhood was creepy and dark. It was a very small area and their buildings were very old. The people who lived there seemed unusual and strange. They were not wearing any shoes and their clothes were dirty and tattered. We stopped by them and gave them the food that we had. When we returned to the car, we were talking about what we had seen. We wondered why the people lived there and who took care of them. When we returned home, we went directly to the lounge and began to make a list of what they would need and what we could do to help them.
First of all, we wanted to make a survey of the area and see how many people were living there and what they needed. We had to go back to the neighborhood, but we didn’t want to go there with empty hands. Tentatively, we bought some gifts, such as toys and candies for the children. I had never been more anxious in my life when we arrived. I was frightened to get out of my car! I took a deep breath, got out and walked to there. I was so scared and I felt the butterflies in my stomach. This was my first time that I walked in by myself into a bizarre place.
We met some of them and we got the information that we want.
In our religious texts we are taught from childhood the right thing to do when we see those who are hurting. All of the main religious texts for instance the Qur’an, Bible and Torah mention how we should treat our brothers and sisters who are poor and homeless. I personally believe that whether you are religious or not, you know in your heart the right thing to do when it comes to dealing with people in need and you just have to listen to that small voice inside your heart. Our objective was to provide winter and summer clothing and hygiene materials to those poor people. Also we helped them with cooling systems and heaters, and we had to consider that not all the families can pay the electricity bills and so bought different types. Also we decided to help them during our holy month of Ramadan. We bought for them the most traditional food during Ramadan, and made sure that was sufficient to fill their needs.
We were so proud of ourselves for what we had made for them. And we promised to visit them again over and over. However, helping them was also an unexpected lesson for me. I learned how to be thankful every day. It motivated me to be a better person in this life. I learned from them how to smile and make myself happy with the little things. Also, I learned that what we used to do was waste food and now we should cook only as much as we need. Nowadays, there are still many people who do not have enough food to eat; therefore, we cannot waste the food. We must think about the blessings that we have from God like food, dress, the housing and family, health and wellness, safety and peace. A lot of people are deprived of these small things. Finally, we should thank God for what we have.