For most of us, fasting in the holy month of Ramadhan is about obeying and serving Allah and becoming a patient person, but also about experiencing the hardship of being hungry and thirsty so that we may empathize with those who experience hunger and want on a daily basis. For poor mo’mins, it is more difficult to fast in obedience and service of their creator because they do not have the solace of looking forward to the tasty and nutritious meal awaiting them at Eftar.  Instead, fathers and mothers worry how to provide their families with a simple, but at least sufficient meal at the end of a long day of fasting.

Saja Na’eemi is a 21-year-old Iraqi refugee from a poor family. Her father works as an office clerk and one of her sisters is a teacher at a school for refugee children. The table below shows Saja’s family members:

Zahra, Zoghra and Maryam, aged 23, 20 and 18 years, lost their father five years ago. They, their mother and 16-year-old Nargis, who attends high school, had to depend on their brother Mohammad, who is married and whose income as a labourer is insufficient to provide for two families.

Zainab Kenani is a 20-year-old Iraqi refugee from a destitute family. Her father left the family many years ago. Her mother is a housewife and the small family survives on assistance offered by relatives.