Remember this
Mami Jaan was 16 years old when she was selected for the Girl Scout Roundup, from Pakistan, and invited to attend the international gathering in Denver, CO.
The world as art
During the 30-minute car ride from my father’s Janaza (funeral) prayer to the cemetery where he would be buried, Saanya was busy writing in her journal in the back seat of the car.
Personal brand
Zayd and I were running errands to set up for a pre-prom photo opp with his friends at our house yesterday evening; just the two of us in the car, and no possible escape
Don't let them down
Principal Akbar Cook of West Side High in Newark, NJ is on a roll. Last year, he installed five washing machines and dryers in his school as a way to deal with faulty attendance
Imagine you can
Muddassar’s father died when he was 13 years old. “I don’t have that many clear memories of him,” Muddassar tells me at first, "such a traumatic loss messes with your memories
Making kindness a habit
Kazi Mannan grew up in poverty in a small village in Pakistan, without electricity or running water, one of ten kids. “Even when we were going through extreme poverty
Be strong and study
“We had a beautiful life, beautiful house, beautiful big family,” Noor tells me about her life in Syria. She, her husband and four daughters left Damascus in 2012 soon
More than half good
Shahidul and I were driving to the Al Jazeera studio for his interview with Mehdi Hasan, and it was the first quiet moment he’d had in his whirlwind 48 hour stop in Washington DC a month ago.
Share Cake
My father loved dessert, anything sweet and delicious brought him so much pleasure; I inherited his sweet tooth. Growing up, whenever there was an office birthday
Continue to Serve
Imam Magid was 17 when he was asked to join a group of people who were providing food at a refugee camp in Darfur, during the drought in Sudan in the mid-1980s.
Parro, Parro (Study, study)
Maman, my mother in law, has always shared such fond memories of her Nanna, her grandmother, so when I asked her to share a wisdom from an elder, I wasn’t surprised that it was from her Nanna
No Job Too Small
When Kokun Chacha first came to America from India, at age 24, he started working in the kitchen of a restaurant to earn some money; it was the only way he could afford
Jannat Mein Jharu (Sweep Heaven Clean)
My niece Mariya, who’s visiting from Calcutta, was making kheer as she was telling me this story. “When we were younger, Mummy and Amma (grandmother)
Sach Bolo (Speak the truth)
Zeshan B remembers coming back from Sunday School one day and his grandmother, who was visiting, asked him what he had learned. He told her whatever lesson they had covered about the Quran and Islamic teachings.
Famous People Fail!
“As soon as I arrived at Cambridge, I was convinced that I was going to fail,” my dear friend Roofi tells me over one of our weekly cups of chai. She had arrived two week
Criticism is Necessary
Dalia had come to our home recently to attend a Syrian cooking class and dinner; our new Syrian friends, for whom KindWorks had set up apartments, wanted to express their gratitude
Sprinkle Favors Generously
Growing up, I was a quiet, reserved, fairly shy girl, happier studying than socializing. I wasn’t one of the cool kids, or athletically inclined, so doing well academically became my ‘thing’.
30 Wisdoms from our Elders: Intro Video
Dear friends,Ramadan Mubarak, and welcome back to ’30 days 30 deeds’! I’m excited to be back on this journey with all of you, and particularly excited for this year’s theme
Pakistan on the Potomac
Being a cross-cultural parent in Washington can mean teaching your children the Koran — and then carpooling them to hip-hop class.
"She never met a stranger"
This is George, outside his childhood home in Mclean. His mom Evelyn lived here for 65 years, until she died last year at age 96. George wanted to donate all the furniture to the Afghan refuge