Too Mature….Too Soon..
My six year old daughter has already started talking about her wedding, how her cake should be, how her dress should be and who would be the groom…. She was only three when she asked me if she has a baby in her tummy. At the age of four she asked me how the baby comes into her tummy. I had to tell her that she has to wait until she has a wedding party, I don’t know if it’s the most appropriate answer but I figure that it’s better than telling a made up story like you get it from the hospital or someone put’s the baby in your tummy or I dunno…
Kids today are becoming mature so soon. There are a lot of factors involved. Most of the cartoons they watch have a lot of love and romance involved in it. Dolls like Bratz shows off a sexy figure with very luscious lips. Bratz dolls have over grown Barbie dolls since it came to market. We as parents are dressing our children in clothes that might look quite sexy on a six year old. Some children even young have bodies that might not look appropriate in a certain type of dress. But we as parents tend to say..”they are just kids”… But when they grow up we expect them cover up. But for them they have been showing off their mid riff, wearing halter necks…. We start putting lipstick and blushers on them when they are so young not knowing the image we are creating.
Children as young as seven start sending love letters to each other. They don’t even understand the concept behind it, but they feel an attraction to the opposite sex even before they have the ability or understand or to deal with such situations.
Today in Male’ most people are living in a very difficult situation. However much we want to separate our kids from us we are unable to do it. We have to sleep in the same room, and sometimes we tend to believe that the kids are asleep. But god knows how many kids might have seen their parents having sex.
Last week me and my 14year old daughter was talking about a boy whom she has crush on. I don’t want her to start dating so soon. But some of her class mates has already started and with parent’s approval. During the conversation she told me that I might have to have this conversation with “kokko” by the time she is 12. I told her that it might be even early…..Who knows since they are becoming too mature too soon….Where did all the children go??????
Friends….
Friend, a small word with a meaning so deep that its almost impossible to express it. A friend is a person who is always there for you no matter how hard times may get. They are there to share your every happiness, to care for you in your time of need. A friend is a person that will walk along side with you through every obstacle of your life and a person to catch you when you’re about to fall, a person that will try her best to keep a smile on your face.
Imagine a life without friends. Imagine having no one to share all your precious secrets with, having no one to truly understand you, no one to give you a hug when you truly need one. Imagine how it would be if you had to keep all your thoughts to yourself.
Nobody can ever be happy without friends. But one thing we should be careful about is differentiating between good and not so good friends. Would you want a friend who stabs you in the back? I would rather have a frinds who stabs me in the front. All I know is that there is no life without friends.
(An article written by my 14 year old daughter Naufa)
Care Society to Get new Premises….
Care Staff Celebrating
Last Friday night has been a very important night for us. We celebrated Care Society’s 10th Anniversary with President as the guest of honor and I had the privilege of being the Master of the Ceremony.
It was a night where a dream came true. Yes we were promised by the president that we would be given new premises during this week. We have been working for it for the past 3 or 4 years and at last we are seeing a green light. Guess what we were wondering where it would be….would it be somewhere far from where we are already located…Would it be a building? An empty land….To tell the truth it doesn’t matter. As long as we get a place to call our own. The students can have better school. Where the teachers can conduct the programmes the way it should.
When the president announced it every one hooted and clapped. I couldn’t even speak, I couldn’t stop smiling…For a few seconds there on the stage I was lost for words…My mind went blank….Still I am hearing him saying the words….
Can’t wait for a call from the President’s office, or anywhere in that matter. We are all eagerly waiting to move…To our own place……
At the end of the day hard work really pays.
Isareli Experience
- View from our room
We arrived at the Mumbai Airport early so that we could have sometime for a coffee. But we were wrong. We faced more questions and more interrogation. It took them 3 hours to get what they wanted from us. They checked every single piece in our luggage and we passed 8 check points before we boarded the plane to Tel-Aviv. One question they asked strike me. Why did we choose this route? Than did I realize why all this questions and why it has been so hard for us. During the recent terrorist attack in Mumbai one of the targets was Nareeman house which was a Jewish outreach center and Jews was one of their prime target. And we being Muslims and traveling to Israel through Mumbai grabbed their attention.
We were expecting more questions from the Israeli immigration but we were sent to the airport police. There we faced the same questions all over again. At first a guy asked us questions and he started from our family background. If any of our ancestors came from any other country and our personal telephone numbers and this time they asked us if we have travelled to any other Middle Eastern countries or if we have any intention of meeting the Palestinian authorities. We were asked to wait outside.
A lady met us again and while questioning she asked us if we are planning to visit the Al-Agsa mosque. Even though we have planned we didn’t want to say that, so I said no. She was surprised and said that after coming all the way to Isarel aren’t you going to visit the mosque? I told her we would love to but if there is going to be any complications we would rather avoid it. Then she said the mosque is the safest place for Muslims and it is very safe there.She asked us to wait outside. I asked why is this creating so much problems and she said that it is very complicated these days. And then I asked her that we being Muslims it is becoming more complicated but she did not agree to that.
After 7 hours on a flight and at 5.30 in the morning we were too tired to say anything else but to wait.
By the time we were given our passports it was 6 in the morning and we were able to leave the airport by 9 because the hotel representative who came to pick us up left thinking that we did not come on that flight.
But all the tension and frustrations was worth it. This is a beautiful city and all the people we have met so far have been very nice. Today we were given a tour of the old city of Jaffa in Tel-Aviv and it has amazing architecture and the city is very beautiful.
En-Route to Israel…
Park Plaza Orchid.Tel-Aviv
When we got the opportunity to attend a Disaster Mitigation workshop in Israel I was really excited and looking forward to it. Since Maldivians require a visa to enter Israel we had to get it through the Israeli Embassy in New-Delhi and luckily a Maldivian Embassy is there too. As soon as we got all the relevant documents we mailed it to New-Delhi on the 17th and the Delhi Embassy was able to submit the documents on the 22nd. Since we were leaving on the 31st and with the Christmas and New-year holidays coming in between the Maldivian Embassy had to push the Israeli authorities so that they could send it through someone who is coming to Male’ on the 27th.
I received the passports on the 27th afternoon and as soon as I opened the visa page I found Shidhatha’s picture on my passport with my name and Vice-versa. I was shocked. I just can’t imagine how some-one could afford to make such a mistake. I immediately called the Maldivian Embassy and Rishfa was sad that she didn’t check it thoroughly. She told me she would check what could be done. I told her to ask them if it could be arranged through Israeli consulate in Mumbai since we would be staying in Mumbai for a day. But later we realized that it would be the 1st Jan which is a holiday. But I told her that we could arrange to leave early if it is possible. She called back and told me that the Israeli Authorities said that it would not be possible to arrange through Mumbai and the only option is for us to send the passports or for us to go to Delhi. Since it was 27th it’s impossible to send the passports back and forth, and the only option is for us to go to Delhi. I called the airline the following morning and we were able to get a ticket via Delhi.
We left Male’ on the 30th morning to Colombo and we spent about 4 hours at the Colombo airport on transit and boarded our Delhi flight around 3pm. As I came out of the immigration I saw a girl near the immigration counter and I had a feeling that it was Rishfa from the Maldivian Embassy and something is not right since she said that she would meet us the following morning. As soon as we met her she introduced herself and said that there is a huge problem and the Israeli Authorities called her after we left Male’ and said that they are moving office today and with the systems down they cannot issue a Visa. Unbelievably they are asking us to go to Mumbai. Both of us were tired from travelling from morning and this was what we least expected.
We had no idea that while we were in Colombo Airport planning our New-year in Delhi Rishfa was in Delhi trying to contact us.
Rishfa has already checked the available flights for us to go to Mumbai and she mentioned that there are 2 flights the same night at 8.30 and 9.30 and another flight at 9am the next morning. We thought that it would be better to catch the night flight since if we wait till the next morning we might not be able to reach the consular office on time. We took our luggage and started our journey for the domestic terminal. By the time we reached the Spice jet counter it was almost 8pm. We were able to get a ticket for Mumbai.
We thanked Rishfa for everything and checked in.
By the time we reached Mumbai it was after 11.30. I found a tourism counter and asked them for a room and we were able to get a good hotel not far from the airport. Since Rishfa did not give us the address of the Israeli Consular office in Mumbai we got the address from the guys who got us the hotel.
The following morning after breakfast we started calling the Consular office number but there was no reply. But rather waiting we thought that we would follow the address we got from the Airport. After about half an hour a woman picked up the phone and when I asked about the address she asked me what it is for I had to explain from the beginning and then only she gave me the address and it is another place. Luckily we were on the right track.
Once we reached the building the security guard asked us to wait in line and somebody would come. There was an Indian guy in the front and I asked him what is this line for and he said “to go inside”.
We waited outside on the road for more than 20 minutes when someone came and send the Indian guy inside and then asked us what we are here for. When we started he said “so you are sent from Delhi, we know your case” and then told us to wait. Another guy came later checked our passports and our bags inside out. He then talked on the talkie and told us to go inside. Inside the lobby the guy we met earlier was their. He asked the same question again, and asked us if we are carrying any weapons. He checked our bags took out my camera switched it on. I told him if he wants he can keep it till we finish. But then he gave it back. He then talked on his talkie and said that he has checked the two ladies and everything seems to be fine and then we were sent upstairs.
Once upstairs we waited in front of the Consular office among security guards. Shidh was called in first. I can see two Israeli guys in a uniform. They started questioning Shidh and I saw her moving back and forth through the security gate. Once they sent her into the office they called me. When I went inside they asked why I am here for. As soon as I started one of the guys said that now we know the story and we want to do a security check. He asked me to keep the bag and remove whatever is in my pockets. He asked me to walk back and forth the security gate. I felt like a puppet. I became a bit tense and he said the gate won’t bite.
He asked me whether I am carrying any weapons or Knives or any thing that could harm soneone, what religion and when I said Muslim he asked me about Shidh. He asked about Maldives our organization and in the end one of them asked me if this is my first visit to Israel and when I said yes he told me that I would enjoy it. I told him “I hope so” and he said you surely would.
Once inside the office Shidh told me that they asked her to remove the veil and when she told not in front of them, but if they bring a woman she is ready to do it, they said ok and asked her to remove whatever is under the veil.
Everything went very smoothly in the office and the Indian lady was very nice. She told us to check the visa’s before leaving.
By the time we finished our bladders were so full that we needed a toilet badly, but we didn’t want to ask them in case it might give them a wrong impression. Who knows they might think that we are assembling our bombs inside the toilet. The funny thing is nobody checked our body. I do understand why they were so concerned, we being Muslims and with the latest terrorist attacks in Mumbai where lots of Jews were killed, and the Israelis recent attacks to Gaza, they might think we are two Muslim ladies planning a suicide attack.
The hectic day ended with a visit to the heavily guarded Taj Mahal hotel. The palace area is still closed for renovation, so we could not see that part. But we had ice cream and waffle not to mention the heavy bill we got. Later to end the day we took a cab and drove around Mumbai Bollywood city where we got to see Shahrukh, Salman , Rekha and John Abraham’s house.
Tonight we are leaving to Israel and God knows what is in store for us there.
