Day 23: The Giving Card

Guest blogger: SaanyaOne of my traditions during Ramadan has been to make cards to raise money for children’s education, either for the children that I have been supporting through Pennies for Education and Health, or for SOS Children’s Villages, the Edhi foundation, Todd Shea’s CDRS, or other organizations. (http://www.thegivingcard.org)This tradition brought our family together, as Ma and I would usually make the cards, grandparents would get involved, and so would friends and family who came over for iftaar. When Zayd was younger, he would help by scooping up all the scraps in his yellow dump truck. It also brought many of my Muslim friends together. Everything from Native Deen to Miley Cyrus would play in the background as we distracted our hunger with creativity, often dancing around the basement more than anything else. UPS benefitted too, getting their Ramadan bonuses from all the packages of moon and star cards we shipped all over the world!As I go off to college, I hope the children that I began supporting nine years ago in Gujarat will have the same opportunity. I had the chance to meet them and make cards with them last summer in Ahmedabad. Being able to meet them was an incredible way to cap off a project that has been a part of my life for the past decade. As I head off to NYU, I’m not sure if I will continue to make cards, but I’m pretty sure I’ll find some other way to support my kids so they can go to college too.Day 23, Tradition 23: Making cards, educating kids