IT STARTED WITH A DARE ...

What started as a challenge in the year 2008 has turned into an annual activity for me.  Oh! Oh!  I forgot to fill you in on the story.  It all started when a couple of my colleagues dared me to fast for 5 days.  I gave it a thought and said that I would do it if they gave me RM10 if I managed to complete the 5-day fast.  At the same time I came up with the idea of using the money that I had earned through fasting to buy Hari Raya clothings for 8 orphans at the Religious Complex that is run by my friend Ustaz Syed Sharim. 
Initially I started with two sponsors who were willing to give me the money but then things started to get rolling and more of my friends came forward to sponsor my effort.  After fasting for five days, I managed to collect RM428.00. 
With the money in hand, Kamariah and I brought the 8 orphans (pictured with me above) to a shop to buy their festive clothings.  There were four boys and four girls aged between 9 - 14. Of course, the RM428 was not enough and both Kamariah and I made up the difference after the purchases were made. 
Kamariah and I  felt very glad and contented to see the happy smiles of the children when they carried their new clothings back to their living quarters at the Pondok.  And now we are into our third year of helping to get contributions for buying clothes for the orphans and poor children.  Before I forget, the orphans and hardcore poor children at the Islamic Complex has increased from 8 to more than 30 this year.  Actually there are about 57 children but some of them were enrolled at the complex to learn more about their religion.  They are from middle class families.

Here are the links about how I started getting involved in helping the orphans get new Raya clothings:
http://stesmaforever.blogspot.com/2008/09/yeh-yeh-dah-dapat-puasa-5-hari-yes-i-am.html
http://stesmaforever.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-09-19T10%3A10%3A00%2B08%3A00&max-results=10
http://stesmaforever.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-09-19T10%3A10%3A00%2B08%3A00&max-results=10