Folks, this is something I’ve been brainstorming lately, and it’s about the widows and widows with children in Baghdad who have resorted to combing through garbage bins for food to feed themselves and their children. Food aid, medicines and clothing that has made its way to Baghdad is not enough. There’s not enough rice, flour, cooking oil, powdered milk and other basic ingredients to sustain life to go around. It is safe to say that some of these supplies have found their way into the hands of the greedy and the blackhearted people, and I am torn up by this. I want to cry when I read that these women who have had no other choice but to rummage for food have also become victims of rape, killing and sport and they will oftentimes fight amongst themselves to keep what they have found. It is something I think about everyday and I pray and ask for guidance from Allah for some sort of local solution. I want to help. Who among you are active in trying to get aid to these women and the children? Who is interested in doing this?

Esra'a (Bahrain)
Fatima (Saudi Arabia)
Mira (UAE)
Kawthar (Sudan)
Wameeth (Iraq)
Karim (Egypt/Lebanon)
Lord Kavi (Iran)
Adel Alhilmi (Yemen/UAE)
Yara (Kuwait)
Ibn Yousof (Afghanistan)
Vahal (Kurdistan)
Tasnim (Libya)
Ali Dahmash (Jordan)
Tamara (Syria/UAE)
Ramzy (Palestine)
Eva (Israel)
Huma Imtiaz (Pakistan)
Nadia (Tunisia)
Youssef (Morocco) 











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Anyway, tonight I talked with my brother and with the imam of Al-Fateh Mosque in Juffair about all of this. Apparently, we do have local charities here that send the donations of food, clothing, medicines and cash to Dubai before it is taken into Iraq by a private Muslim organization. That’s good, but I wanna have proof that it is actually getting into the hands that need it. I suppose the only way I am gonna know for sure is to volunteer and go up there myself with the group. Some may call me crazy, but I am not afraid. In my previous life, I spent 25 years as a career military officer and Iraq was a part of my area of responsibility towards the end of that career, so I know what I am getting into, and I do have connections still in place that will guarantee a degree of safety. Anyway, I just wanna do my part as a Muslim. I just can’t get it out of my head, since women and children have always been a soft spot for me. All of these causes and arguing about this and that and how one can trump a debate or heated argument is just so trivial and amounts to nothing in the end. If one has the time and energy to write a comment or start a thread, and there is nothing physically wrong with you, then get off your butts and find out how you can make a difference in somebody’s day in Iraq. Charity and especially charity from the heart with no expectation of getting anything back counts for everything, and one does not have to be religious to do it. Pay it forward, people. If you can’t or won’t, then bless you just the same, but in the end, the only things we are remembered for are our individual works and for things we did not do when we were in the flesh. Who knows… maybe the person you support and save from disease, starvation or death may be the person who helps you when you need it or that person may discover the cure for many of the diseases we have.