Tag: orphan story

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A Memory That Remains

My name is Kawthar. I visited the shrines of the Imams with my family
one year. We walked around the market and I saw a beautiful red
hairclip. It was the most beautiful thing in the shop. I asked my mum if I
could buy it — but I already knew the answer. It was 3,500 dinars — that amount could feed our entire family for a day. The following morning, when I woke up I saw the red hairclip on my pillow. I couldn’t believe it! My dad had bought it for me and I wore it everywhere. When he passed away, I stopped wearing it I was too scared it would break, and with it, my memories of him would be crushed. I’ll wear it for you today so you can take a photo — but please be careful with it. When my father died, I was 4 years old.

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Stories

Those Who Have Not Seen The Light

I run the distribution room at Al-Ayn. I serve up to 150 widowed mothers every day. Each woman takes a ticket and waits for her turn to be called to a private booth where she collects her monthly aid and is asked about the physical and mental health of her children. On this day, the distribution room was full of mothers with young babies. These mothers had lost their husbands when they were pregnant. Many of them are still very young in their early twenties even. In Arabic, children who are orphaned as fetuses are called ‘those who have not seen the light’.

They may not have met their fathers, but we will care for them till we see them shine.