was Ramadan, a time to learn appreciation for the things they had, and
to think of others who didn't have as much.
They had both been saving their money all year long. Iram, who was
seven years old, sat on her bed and dumped out her money jar. Coins
ran all over the blanket."This is a lot of money. Momma says we are
supposed to help someone. She wants us to think about how much we have
and then think of someone who doesn't have very much, and do something
nice for them," Iram said, gathering the money into a pile. "Dump out
your jar, Ahmed," she told her brother.
The coins came spilling out of his jar onto the bed. "Wow! We can do a
lot for someone with all this money," Ahmed said, smiling. "This is
such a special time of year. I'm glad we can help others."
"But we have to do it secretly, Ahmed, remember. We have to pick
someone and do something very nice without them knowing it is from us.
Who shouldwe pick?" Iram asked.
"Let's pick our neighbors, Rashid, and Fatima. I noticed that they had
holes in their shoes," Ahmed said.
"That's a good idea. We could buy some new shoes for them. They aren't
as blessed as we are. We have a lot of shoes, don't we?" Iram asked
with appreciation.
"I have three pair. You have more. Let's buy some new shoes for them,"
Ahmed said, smiling.
Iram and Ahmed found their momma. She was busy washing some dates. She
saw her children come into the kitchen. "I'm going to make some
baklawa for tonight," she said, knowing her family loved to eat that.
"Poppais at the mosque, in prayer. When he comes home, after the sun
sets, we'll have some. In the meantime, you two look like you've got
something on your minds."
"We want to help the poor. Ahmed and I have been saving our money all
year long and we want to help Rashid and Fatima, our neighbors," Iram
began.
Ahmed, with excitement,interrupted, "We want to buy them some shoes."
Momma smiled at her beautiful children. She was so proud of them.
"Aren't you hungry, Momma?" Ahmed asked. He knew she had not had
anything to eat or drink since dawn that morning.
"I'm a little bit, but that is good for me. Don't worry about me. When
you're older, you'll understand more and beable to fast too," she
explained. "Would you like me to take you to the store to buy the
shoes?" she asked.
"Would you, Momma? Is that all right?" Iram begged.
"Why of course. Let's go," she said.
They walked to the shoe store and went inside. Iram picked out a pair
ofshoes for Fatima. Ahmed picked out a pair for Rashid. They were both
so proud that they'd saved their money so they could do this to help.
Later, they went home and wrapped the shoe boxes in plain brown paper.
They waited anxiously for night to come. It would be dark and they
could deliver their gifts.
The sun began to drop behind the horizon. A little while later, Poppa
came home. He and Momma had some lentil soup, then tomato and cucumber
sandwiches. Momma called to her children, "Iram. Ahmed. Come and have
some baklawa, and some freshdates." The children came running into the
kitchen. Momma cut them a big piece.
They gobbled it down quickly as they were anxious to do their
gooddeed. "Slow down, children," Poppa urged, laughing.
It was soon dark outside.Momma had the childrengo and get the boxes
they'd wrapped so carefully. They put their coats on and walked
quietly over to Rashid and Fatima's house. Momma whispered, "All
right, children. We must be very quiet and very fast. Ahmed, you knock
on the door and then run over here, to this bush, where Iram and I
will be hiding. We'll watch as they come and find their gifts."
Iram and Ahmed giggledwith delight. Iram and Momma hid, and Ahmed
tiptoed up to the door. He put both of the boxesdown on the porch, and
knocked hard. Then he ran, and ran, and ran, as fast as he could, to
where Iram and Momma were. "Shhh," Momma whispered. "Someone opened
the door."
They watched as Rashid and Fatima came out onto the porch. "Look!
There are presents for us. Someone left them here," Rashid cried out
with excitement. He and Fatima looked around. Itwas very dark and they
couldn't see anyone. They picked up the boxes and took them inside.
After a minute or two, waiting to make sure they wouldn't be seen,
Momma, Ahmed, and Iram, snuck quietly back to their house. Ahmed
started laughing."Poppa! Poppa! We did it! We snuck up and left the
presents!"
Iram added, "They didn'tsee us, Poppa. They don't know it was us." She
was laughing too.
Momma and Poppa stood back and looked at their children. They were so
proud of them. They knew their childrenknew the real meaning of giving
and of sacrifice. The next morning, as Momma, Poppa, Iram, and Ahmed
went to their car to drive into town, they saw Rashid and Fatima
outside playing. They were both wearing theirbrand new shoes. Nobody
said a thing. Iram and Ahmed just smiled. - - ▓███▓ Translator:->
http://translate.google.com/m/ ▓███▓ - -
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