A Humanitarian Gift Guide

Came across this amazing article in the NY Times full of organizations that I have grown to admire deeply. Be sure to check out the full article, I'm listing my favorites here:

Arzu (ArzuStudioHope.org) employs women in Afghanistan to make carpets for export. The women get decent wages, but their families must commit to sending children to school and to allowing women to attend literacy and health classes and receive medical help in childbirth. Rugs start at $250 and bracelets at $10, or a $20 donation pays for a water filter for a worker’s family.

Fonkoze (fonkoze.org) is a terrific poverty-fighting organization if Haiti is on your mind, nearly a year after the earthquake. A $20 gift will send a rural Haitian child to elementary school for a year, while $50 will buy a family a pregnant goat. Or $100 supports a family for 13 weeks while it starts a business.

Panzi Hospital (panzifoundation.org) treats victims of sexual violence in eastern Congo, rape capital of the world. It’s run by Dr. Denis Mukwege, who should be a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize. A $10 donation pays for transport to the hospital for a rape survivor; $100 pays for counseling and literacy and skill training for a survivor for a month.

Camfed (camfed.org), short for the Campaign for Female Education, sends girls to school in Africa and provides a broad support system for them. A $300 donation pays for a girl to attend middle school for a year in rural Zambia, and $25 sends a girl to elementary school.

Edna Hospital (ednahospital.org) is a dazzling maternity hospital in Somaliland, an area with one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Edna Adan Ismail, a Somali nurse- midwife who rose in the ranks of the World Health Organization and also served as Somaliland’s foreign minister, founded the hospital with her life’s savings and supports it with her United Nations pension. A $50 gift pays for a woman to get four prenatal visits, a hospital delivery, and one postnatal visit. Or $150 pays for a lifesaving C-section for a woman in obstructed labor.

EDUCATE THE WOMEN FOR A BETTER WORLD!

Child Rise

(start at 2:47 for "Child Rise" - this song speaks to me)

introducing my new muse: Naima Shalhoub
Naima's poignant lyrics emerge from a life of straddling cultural and national borders as an Arab-American, born in the US with familial roots in Lebanon and Sierra Leone. She has her master's degree in postcolonial anthropology focusing on gendered violence, effects of occupation in Lebanon and Palestine, and racial justice in the US. She continues to do advocacy work such as her past experiences including volunteering in refugee camps in Lebanon, Bay Area campaigns to end violence against women, and organic forming in Costa Rica. Naima is a current member member of the San Francisco based Arab Resource and Organizing Center, and also works with youth facilitating workshops on music, song-writing, and empowerment.
(taken from NaimaShalhoub.com)

OH and she plays uke, like me! well, baritone uke, so it's like the love-child of a guitar & ukulele.

Basically she does everything that I would like to ideally be doing. I don't know about the degree anymore, because I'm already almost done with undergrad, but iA everything else :)

Gaza.

In the memory of all those who died. To all those who suffer from occupation, oppression, injustice, blockade, suffocation...May the Lord be with you.

reblogged from http://farahfilasteen.tumblr.com

Hmm.

I realized that I haven't actually WRITTEN much here in awhile. This is my space and I can use it however I'd like, that's for sure, but what I want right now is some dialogue.

I need to read more.

I need delve deeper into what it means to be "humble"

I need to stop being afraid to try things I really want to do.

I need to reconnect with all my old blog friends.

I need to stop doubting myself.

"How flexible the Qur'an is, at least in minds that are not fundamentally inflexible."

I love her! some gems from this talk:

"Part of the problem I think, is that we imagine the Qur'an can be read as we usually read a book, as though we can curl up w/ it on this rainy afternoon with a bowl of popcorn within reach. As though God -and the Quran is entirely in the voice of God speaking to Muhammad(pbuh)- were just another author on the best-seller list."

on translations of the Qur'an

"the more you add, the more seems to go missing. the arabic has an incantatory, almost hypnotic quality that begs to be heard rather than read. felt more than analyzed. It wants to be chanted out loud, to sound its music on the ear, and on the tongue. So the Quran in english is sort of a shadow of itself." Sometimes I want to just read the translation, but honestly, reading the arabic aloud in addition to the translation has a soothing effect all on it's own. She continues to state that all over the Qur'an Allah (swt) has said that patience is rewarded, and thus, if we are not native arabic speakers, we should still keep at it with our translations.

What sets the Quran apart? It includes women:

"For Muslim men and women, for believing men and women, for devout men and women, for true men and women, for men and women who are patient and constant, for men and women who humble themselves, for men and women who give in charity, for men and women who fast, for men and women who guard their chastity, and for men and women who engage much in Allah’s praise, for them has Allah prepared forgiveness and great reward." (33:35)

I especially LOVE the last part about hoors. Hearing the whole swelling bosoms bit always gave me an uneasy feeling, because in a sense it seemed as if there was some sort of preference game going on here, however, we are all Allah (swt)'s creation and as Brother Ali says "these are God's fingerprints!" I like how she explained that we will be a new creation in paradise and recreated in a form uknown to us. and none of this 72 bs.

This motivated me to try harder in understanding the Qur'an, because the more I learn about it, the more subhan'Allah moments I have - and those moments can't be matched by anything else.

Peace.

And as you travel down your personal path...

Baraka Blue from Remarkable Current - I've blogged about Tyson before who is also from that label, but had no idea about BB. This is a great dua and I feel like sharing it with everyone I know - so spread it! I like that he touches upon a variety of subjects. Eloquent & sincere duas are where it's atttt.

"may your day be filled w/ love and light

may your wrongs be right

may your songs be tight

may your words give sight

may your noor shine bright

may you always be on the righteous side of the fight

may your lovers be loyal

may your soil be fertile

may your khakis stay creased

may your locks stay oiled

may your plans never get foiled

may your plot thicken

may your chicken be halal

may your style be sufficient

may your soul be free of this prison

may Allah increase you in your vision

may you find everything you been missin

may you awake for prayer before the sun has risen

when you speak may your audience listen

may you never feel trapped in the system

may you sign(?) many righteous children

who will act on Prophetic tradition

may you always have food on your plate

may you learn from every mistake

may you rise above all the hate

and may Allah increase you in your state

may you never pretend that you are what you aint

may your friends be real and never be fake

may your rent have to be never have to be late

and may your health always be great

may Allah forgive ever sin

now and forever if you falter again

and may you always stay close with your kin

and may He make all your enemies friends

may He make reality of your plans

may your present be pleasant

may you have a good end

may your heart be purified of flaws

and may you act according to the laws

that were revealed in the book of Allah

and may He catch you whenever you fall

may the One guide you to the truth

and when you doubt may He show you the proof

may you be like the ahla suf

with the wisdom of elders and energy of the youth

may He accept your prayers and your fasts

the very first to the very last

and remove obstacles you have

and may you receive everything you ask

may you never have regret for your past

and receive mercy not the wrath

and as you travel down your personal path

may you always have a reason to laugh.