-= 30 IFTARS in 30 DAYS =-

I succeded in my project, I was able to serve more than 30 iftars in 26 days :) I will leave you with less words and more pictures. Thank you and enjoy! <3

“I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefor that I an do, or any kindness that I an show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall no pass this way again.”

-Ettiene De Grellet

Bless the soul of Ms. Al Kuwaiti. She has helped and inspired my last two days of iftar service and this is the least of what I could do for her.

There is just so much to say but let me start off by explaining the time gap between each post and let me just say HOW FREAKING FRUSTRATING this internet issue is. Thank God I finally got thru..after several hours of trying again.

I managed to serve 8 times on my second to the last day, which meant I only have 6 services to go.

It was quite uplifting what she did because I was completely down and so demotivated by so many things, as I mentioned in my previous posts.

Since I’m on my last days of project I just wanted to acknowledge everyone who has put an effort into getting my hopes up about helping me and being all “go! go! go!” for the project.

Now, one thing should be clear I don’t have a problem with anyone personally, in fact  the ones who spoke with exhuberant enthusiasm are the ones that encouraged me to go on with it in the first place, well part of the encouragment at least.

But what bothered me,and don’t huff and puff now just because I’m verbalizing it although I know alot  of you agree, is that alot of people talk the talk but never walk the walk.

Which is alright since I know this is a voluntary thing, I wouldn’t want you to serve out of your orifice as an obligation, it won’t be right and it isn’t right. Plus I’m sure everyone who didn’t come thru their word had a better or good reason not too. I’m glad that’s finally out in the open.

Now for those who silently helped me once, or twice. Know that I honestly cannot thank you enough, every time I go thru these images I think of each of you, your kind emails, your supporting words and your patience.

As my final days are up I hope you all enjoyed this journey with me, felt what I felt and hopefully are looking forward to another project or two.

Speaking of project, please have a look at my next one about THE BOX APPEAL.

More about the upcoming project in the next post, if you are interested please drop me a line.

Til then, enjoy the close up images I managed to capture during my few days of service.

Being able to go around to a different part of town was quite exciting, i felt as if the faces I met were expecting me and knew what was coming to them.

Maybe because no one stopped me from taking their picture, which was a pleasant change, although I had someone say no to the food because the mosque was already providing.

I even had one guy tell me that he was waiting for food so he can contribute something to the “feast” at the mosque. Although I am rephrasing it :)

I am going to miss the expressions and verbal and grammar bridge that I have to cross everytime I go out for this.

Someone asked me what will I not miss, haha that is quite easy to answer, the humidity messing up with my lenses. Although as I mentioned it did help me out with some  of my images.

Inshallah the people I have come across will remember the kindness that was passed on to them and will pay it forward. As Sana B. always says Kindness, pass it on.

So these past few days I was dealt with an emotional blow of a card. I was extrememly demotivated, uninspired and sad. Let me just say that whoever planned on taking the spirit away from me and this project succeeded but only for those few days.

I’m back and I’m here to finish what I started, all thanks to one special lady Ms. Salha Al Kuwaiti. Unknown to her was my lack of movement and yet she came out of no where, the answer to my prayers, and gave me the push I needed to finish.

I had some roadblocks along the way but I think that was only another form of “test”, even though every blow hurt I managed to get back on top and finish what I started, even if it is at the last minute.

I will take my time now to tell you a little bit about why I spent those days crawled up under my covers and sobbing like a little girl who lost her fave doll. It all started with negative feedbacks from individuals, you would think the closer the person is to you the better they would encourage you to continue even if its not for their sake but for yours.

This project was never about the media hype,if you even call the recent coverage “hype”, nor was it about the religion and not even about money. It doesn’t mean just because I am not a muslim I can’t be doing something good for them under the false pre-tense of say,maybe they won’t do the same for other religion anyway? Or that I’m doing it because “you knew” the media was going to cover such a story, and I certainly haven’t been doing this for the money, since I don’t solicitate.

The audacity for one to come and judge my project, I understand that there are lots of scams, lots of manipulative people out there, but no one has the right to judge me only because I am not one of you. It is sad and very frustrating.

Anyway, now that I’m done ranting and expressing myself, please note that all opinions and statements here are by yours truly unless quoted otherwise, I will continue on with the last two days.

Speaking of two days I completely mis-calculated my project, even though I know I said 30 iftars in 30 days, I am happy to say I have managed to serve 30+ iftars in only 26 days.

Thanks for stopping by :) <3

“To start blindly with a statement is a sign of arrogance and narrow-mindedness, and will lead to conflict. To start blindly with a question is a sign of uncertainty and honesty, and will lead to wisdom.”

-Scott Watson

Back on track but only for one iftar. The humidity worked in my favor today, it gave my images an interesting feel to it so that makes me a happy camper :)

The place we went to had a very welcoming feel to it, which is a nice change from all the La! Mamnouh! replies i’ve been getting :P

They even asked me to eat with them, this happened a few times, although I’m almost 100% sure that they were simply being polite.

Either way, it was nice to be greeted again with smiles and yes’s to my photo requests. :)

“Everyone smiles in the same language.“ 

-Author Unknown

This entry is just an “FYI” type of thing. I was sick and unavailable and it was also the start of a very long week. Hope everyone is enjoying their last days of Ramadan.

<3

So again I managed to serve one day but again I wasn’t allowed to shoot anyone’s face, nor the mosque, but I managed to steal a corner shot.

I remember it was really hot I think I actually experienced a bit of heat stroke. Hopefully the next following days will not be as horrid as this.

But I remember how ill I felt after a while. Bed ridden and exhausted was the only type of emotions I felt the next coming days. Since I was unable to do anything I will be simply posting what I experienced the following week.

Say hello kitty :) Thanks anyway for still taking some time to read. Hope you are all well.

“The rest of courage comes when we are in the minority. The test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority.”

-Rakph W. Sockman

Today I managed to serve the guy that collects cans from the garbage bins, but again he wouldn’t let me take his picture.

Although he was really happy to recieve the food he said “My friend, not take picture,sorry ah?” Someone also asked me why do you bother taking your camera out then?

As tedious as this may be, I answered that it is simply to be ready for anything. I’m not too satisfied with what I’m posting today but I hope it will suffice for now. Thanks for reading once again.

“Whatever satisfies the soul is truth.”

-Walt Whitman

Today I didn’t do any service due to the absence of food. But this only gave me the chance to contemplate as usual. Everyone knows that during Ramadan there are a few great things that we will all miss,for those familiar with it at least. So I decided to write a little list of those certain things we will miss.

• Empty roads between 6-8pm.
• Short working hours.
• The luxury of sleeping during the day.
• The luxury of sleeping really late at night.
• Meals at 3 A.M.
• Late night out being the norm.
• The smell of shisha coming from every direction in town.
• Iftar tents.
• The daily luxury and ability of seeing and spending an entire meal with the entire family.
• Group dinners is a normal practice for an entire month.

This is just to name a few that I and people I know will really miss, although there is still alot to look forward too even after Ramadan. What will you miss when Ramadan ends?

” The temple of our purest thoughts is silence. “

-Anon

So I admit I was a bit lazy on this day but it was about time I gave my “natoor” something for the Ramadan period.

Although they didn’t allow me to take their picture, assuming that furious nodding of head and smiling meant no, I managed to take pictures of the food itself. :)

Thanks again to Hamoodi Rahman for the food. This won’t phase me, Im just glad I was able to do service at least once for this day.

“Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.”

-Oprah Winfrey

Thanks to Ms. Shannon Wylie, the Features Editor of AhlanLive.com for putting up an article about my work and being extremely patient about the whole issue as well.

“Abu Dhabi resident, Angeli Castillo, has been living in the Emirate for 25 years and this Ramadan she’s set out to make a difference to her community. The freelance photographer and writer has set up the charity project, 30 Iftars in 30 Days, which is designed to aid those less fortunate during the Holy Month. Ahlan! Live’s Shannon Wylie spoke to Angeli to find out all about the iftar initiative.

“The response to my project has been quite overwhelming,” said the 25-year-old. The not for profit project has seen the Angeli serve “ten iftars so far with a couple of suhoor’s as well”, to those people living in the Abu Dhabi area. “I only have 20 more to go,” she continued. “But thankfully a lot of friends and volunteers help me out so it is not as hard as you’d think.”

“Most of the food I get are donations from the Muslim and non-Muslim community that want to help out, but there are days where I buy water, fruits, dates, biscuits and Arabic flat bread myself.” Once Angeli has the food she heads out ready to serve up at sunset. “There is no specific area I target. I basically get the food and go to a mosque or shop that has less fortunate people waiting to break their iftar.”

Want to help out? Contact Angeli if you have food to donate or you want to volunteer your time.

INFO: For more information visit http://30iftars30days.tumblr.com/ or to help out email Angeli at askabout3030@gmail.com.”

It was quite surprising and pretty amazing at the same time for them to take interest in my project. Thanks to everyone once again who has been supporting me since day one. I really must say that I can never thank you enough.

“      For better or worse, our future will be determined in large part by our dreams and the struggle to make them real.”

-Anon