Joyride To Jannah -Food Caravan: 3rd Trip!

Even though it had been a very stormy week, Sunday dawned clear and bright, perfect for our last Ramadan food caravan. Due to the generosity of our donors and volunteers, we were ready with over 2,200 rice meals/bread and drinks of juice and water. To cover more area, we decided to split up with 4 cars going on a Manila route, and 4 cars in QC. This time we were also joined by several non-muslim friends and a few journalists fromrappler.com who were curious to see what actual Muslims do.

Diary Entry #5
Appearances can be deceiving. We hesitated stopping beside this teenager who had a sling bag across his chest. He was not dirty, and he walked with purpose and a quiet dignity. But he was carrying plastic bags with water bottles, what we were now adept at identifying as “kalakal” (trash pickings to sell). We stopped. As soon as our brother handed him food, we were shocked when he immediately sat on the grass and let go of everything he was holding. He started eating right there. He said he had run away from home and couldn’t go back. It was hard to understand much else because of the food in his mouth. We looked in his bag and found a change of clothes. Probably everything he owned. What could have happened to this young boy that he would prefer this life?

Diary Entry #6
I think the hardest thing for me to see were the mothers on the street. Two ladies particularly stand out in my mind. There was the young mother in manila who kept repeating - thank you, thank you thank you, almost in tears as she started feeding her little daughter. She said she had been looking for something (anything) to feed her child. Then, there was the very old lady, who slept beside the wall in Central Ave. with a young sturdy looking man. I wondered why he didn’t try to look for food or work. She said he was her son, and “may problema sa pag-iisip” (i.e. was not of sound mind). She looks after him, even if she is old and frail and he is young and strong. At that moment, I felt intensely afraid of what would happen to him should this old woman inevitably pass away. I was reminded that the love of mothers is incomparable. It doesn’t matter how old or young, or what social class they belong to. In a heartbeat, they would willingly go hungry so that their child can eat.

Alhamdulillah we were given this chance to reach out to other people in need. We want to thank everyone who donated, volunteered, shared our posts and made du'aa for this cause. May Allah accept this from us and count it among our deeds. But in shaa Allah, even after Ramadan, we can continue the spirit of charity, sharing to others in whatever capacity we have. After all, the Lord of Ramadan is still the same as the Lord for the rest of the year.

Source: NEW MUSLIM CARE PHILIPPINES

Photo credits:

Pat
Crizel
Mira
Wendy
Jovet
Benjo
Andro