Can I Convince You ?

Not that i don't need you, but this time it's more . 

Since i got the good news that there is no tumor. And as it's great news, i want to do something good for "someone". The problem is that the good i intended to do for "someone" is not available for me :(  . Thanks to the stupidity of my bank. 

So since i can not do it, i thought if i can convince you lovely people to do something good for "someone" then i did something good . Cheating, right? :) 

I like this site because what you can do is so simple and it takes just minutes to do it, but oh how much you have helped. 

The site is called  Kiva  

The site is simple and about "loans that changes lives". 

See, they are loans .

it's about normal people all around the world, who have projects they need to finance. 

"someone" who might be you or me, or we know :) 

That's what the site says 

Kiva's mission is to connect people, through lending, for the sake of alleviating poverty.

Kiva was born of the following beliefs:Kiva empowers individuals to lend to an entrepreneur across the globe. By combining microfinance with the internet, Kiva is creating a global community of people connected through lending.

• People are by nature generous, and will help others if given the opportunity to do so in a transparent, accountable way.
• The poor are highly motivated and can be very successful when given an opportunity.
• By connecting people we can create relationships beyond financial transactions, and build a global community expressing support and encouragement of one another.

Kiva promotes:

• Dignity: Kiva encourages partnership relationships as opposed to benefactor relationships. Partnership relationships are characterized by mutual dignity and respect.
• Accountability: Loans encourage more accountability than donations where repayment is not expected.
• Transparency: The Kiva website is an open platform where communication can flow freely around the world.

As of November 2009, Kiva has facilitated over $100 million in loans

you can loan individually or join a team which you can find on the community section .

It's simple, you just register, they send you an email with a verification link and then you are one of the lenders. 

You can choose the kind of people you want to lend, men or women and the sector you are interested in. You choose the one and the project or ask the site to choose for you. 

There are different kind of the amount of money you can give, but the bottom is 25 dollar. That's almost 100 Saudi Riyal . There is another charge that's called ( Donation to Kiva's Operation Costs) but it's completely optional, so you can edit it to zero . 

Can you please help "someone" ? 

Who knows you might join it one day and someone nice will help you or maybe you wont join but karma will hit you greatly :D 

why can't i do it? , i actually did it once but since all the paying are through "paypal" and my stupid bank doesn't accept that, as they told me"our sharia board doesn't accept that company" , really? interests are ok but a company that can help us give loans aren't !! . 

The other problems is that the site works only with paypal :( 

And btw, the loans do come back, 3 dollar have been returned right now to my account and i can use them again to give loan to "someone" else. 

Don't we all waste 25 dollars on shoes, bags, clothes, books ....etc that we can get rid of in seconds ?? 

But that loan wont be get rid of, it's not a waste of money , it's going to help "someone" , "someone" who can be me and you one day. 

please please help. It's never too late or too early or not the time,

 it's the right amazing time for someone, 

another lovely human being. 

It's Great News :)

Well, it's great news.

 It's not a tumor.

The test I had was for tumors markers. And there were no tumors. 

I need to read more about it, because the doctor tells me that i need to be more careful and another test is needed in about 6 months just to be sure all is right. 

What a week !! . 

i honestly pretended that everything was OK with me and that i was fine, but then i couldn't. 

At first, it was only me, my mother and sister who knew but then my mother told my two brothers and basically then the whole large family knew about it. Thankfully no body talked to me cuz honestly i didn't want to talk about it or even think about it. 

i buried my self in the silliest things, lol, movies. I kept watching one after another, just not to think. But what's wrong with movies these days, they are all about death  , lol

I may sound crazy to say this but my mind was racing and the two only things i kept thinking about is how am i going to afford to pay for treatment and who is going to my mother and sister after my death.

I thought about death for fraction of seconds, bu honestly -and this is not new-death never scares me.Not that i am this great Muslimah but i have huge faith in Allah.

The last two days were the scariest. My mother couldn't stop crying, and i didn't know how to reach to her, it was me she was crying for. Usually i am great if it's someone else she is worried about. 

  I went to see the doctor this morning but the results weren't due so we had to wait till 8:30 p.m.. 

She has this wide smile on her pretty face when i entered the room ,he even cried when my mother started crying from happiness. And from that till now the phone didn't stop ringing. 

I guess i made it thanks to everyone's prayers including you my friends. 

Thanks a lot for your prayers and great wishes. AlhamduliAllah. 

Sunday Videos. Happiness is Reachable

Happiness is Reachable :)

Maids Again !!

What's the hell is wrong with Saudi women and men !! .

A women in her fifties have hit her 23 years old Indonesian maid, leaving her with a burn in the stomach- using an iron- and a scald in the head !!!. The maid is at the general hospital in Medina. 

The case has made even the Indonesian president  to ask for a quick investigation.  The woman is under arrest and the investigation is under going with two of the member of her family. 

What's wrong with these people ? What's wrong with that woman ?. She is 54 years old for god's sake, she must be wiser and calmer . 

No one deserves such horrible treatments .

NO ONE. 

And now reports say that the body of an Indonesian maid has been found in the dumpster !!

Why? just why ?

Are we this evil people who still can not see that others are also people? no matter where they come from or their "class". 

If you don't need her, then don't bring her. don't torture her, don't insult her. DON'T KILL HER.

honestly , words can not describe the whole situation. it's so sad and sick.

check the link to see a video in Indonesian about the maid Sumiati Disiksa, there are horrific photos of the young girl. 
Please if someone knows the language and can translate the whole video, i would be deeply thankful. 
http://tv.liputan6.com/main/read/3/1042434/1/sumiati_disiksa_tetangga_mulai_ketakutan

Thanks to Hajar and Farsilla for providing these translations to the video :-

Hajar wrote : ( The indonesian news were saying how most family back in indonesia wants all the domestic helper which are related to them who works in saudi to come back. They're afraid of the treatment, and fear that any of their family member would be treated as Sumiati. It said more, the Saudi and Indonesian government are treating this case seriously and Saudi promised to give justice. The indonesian news commentor said, we would see if they keep their promise. And there was a short interview between the news & sumiati, which she was asked who did the beating on her. Sumiati told, it was the female of the house (I'm not too sure i heard the other things she said, it was not clear). The news commentor also elaborated how sumiati looked like before leaving for saudi, and after weeks, her mouth are ribbed because it was cut off by the employer, and her body had been bruised and scarred. I hope i translated it okay, to those who could correct me if i said it wrong are welcome to do so) 

********************

Farsilla wrote: ( well they said they wana knw the result of the investigation of sumiati who was been tortured in saudi arabia by her employer. n also she mentioned dat the saudi gov had made a promise to investigate about this but hoping its not just only words from their mouth

when they showed a village, they said dat most of the villagers are very poor n become a fishermen, but since sumiati knew dat working in saudi she can earned more money, but after the incident her mum is really upset about it. n another lady said she didnt mind to become poor n will never become a maid in saudi arabia bcoz she doesnt want to b tortured by the employee
when her picture been showed,
only for few weeks in saudi,this beautiful lady change completely, her face has been destroyed n her lips has been ripped off (im not sure) bcoz her employee did sumthing to her, n also her employee didnt show any sympathy towards her( dats wat she described)
when a man asked her why did her employee was angry at her, she said she didnt knw (i doubt datn also other things dat she said wasnt clear so i cnt translate dat)
n da men asked whether who hit her, her employer or her employer's children, she replied him the the female employer
n they said sumiati suffered a lot n so on , n the indo gov will do anything to protect them.)

what's going on with us? 

why are we turning into this brutal society that kills the domestic workers and rarely moves !!

We are very good in telling of haram and halal but never of the good way of treating a help.

Maid should stop coming to Saudi Arabia, period. 

Read more :-

Indonesian president says body of maid with neck slashed found in-dumpster in Saudi Arabia

Indonesian president condemns Saudi torture of maid

This stupid ad is about an exchange
a 1991 car for a "new" Indian or Sri Lankan maid .

the idea that such an ad can be posted on a local newspaper is beyond ..."i can not even find the words".

Friday Good Reads ( 11/19/2010)

Blogs:-

- A Saudi doctor is at Mina right now and she is reporting from there about My Hajii Mission Dairies 2010.

- Becky posted about the BBC's List of 100 Books.Go through them and check what have you read and what will read next.

- ( in Arabic) Sad pictures of the first attack on the church in Iraq.

 على هامش عملية كنيسة سيدة النجاة بالكرادة - صور

- I would say the same about Muslims and Islam as my friend Susanne said about Christinaity in Why I Struggle with Christianity. 

Women's issues :-

- I can not begin to understand the trauma a rape victim might be in if cross examined by her rapist.Don't Want to Be Interrogated by Your Rapist? Then You Have No Case. 

- When are we going to love our bodies and be proud of our different sizes no matter what ? . Why I Love Being a Size 12.

- Want to know how it's not easy to report a sexual harassment or talk about it ?  Read Women Must Speak Out NOW About Sexual Harassment

- One of the most disturbing news i have ever read . 10-year-old gives birth in southern Spain.

- Are we hurting our children by allowing them to be different at early ages, or shall we let them be who they prefer ? . Mother sparks child welfare debate after posting picture of her 'gay' five-year-old in fancy dress on the internet

-Sex Trafficking in the Middle East .  An awful story of one young Iraqi girl. Kidnapping, Tribal Reprisal Upend Iraqi Woman's Life.

Photography:-

-If you love small animales, then these gorgeous pictures are for you . Cutest Book Ever: ZoonBorns Internet Craze Moves to Print.

-Family. If you have been blessed with a great one then you are one of the luckiest. Steve Mccurry  post beautiful pictures of Family, Nature's Masterpiece. 

-Ten month after the Earthquake in Haiti, Cholera has hit the devastated island. Scenes From The Cholera Outbreak. Be advised they are not pretty pictures.

- Amazing pictures of animal migration in Great Migration.

- The world is looking at Mecca these days. The World Comes to Mecca.

- A breath taking pictures of North American Indian in Captured: North American Indian Photographs by Edward Curtis.

- When Pictures Makes History. 

Religious:-

- Can worshipers be divided according to their wealth? . Maybe not in the worshiping place but definitely else where.  Mecca goes upmarket but commercialism unnerves some. 

Miscellaneous:- 

-Have you ever read about people finding money stolen from their account while their card is never been stolen. Maybe some thieves have hacked the ATM ?. Here is 5 Ways to Spot a Hacked ATM.

-I think i have huge fear of pain in general. i am not sure if it turns into a phobia or not, but luckily my fear is not one of the 10 Strange Phobias.

-A 10-year Census of Marine Life has come to a conclusion on Oct.1. Read more here.

- don't let the article How Humanitarian Aid Prolongs Wars stops you from helping. Read it and if you decided not to help again , then help individual people instead of big organization or start helping your community and the poor people in your city. And it may another opportunity to call for peace everywhere no matter how silly this sound.

- It is considered an insult to point your feet (particularly the soles) at another person or to display them in any way, for example, by resting with your feet up. And i can confirm that. So you may need to read 13 Examples of Good and Bad Manners Around the World.

- A Heart warming story . Britain's only polar bear who spent 13 years without a friend finally has company. 

- What are the 5 secret for a long life ? . Britain oldest man only remembers four of them. 'There are five ways to live long - but I can only remember four' - UK's oldest man celebrates his 108th birthday.

- Only fathers can show this kind of love . Father Vows to Run 100 Marathons in 140 Days.

-I love learning languages and i do believe that another language is another life. Here is why learning a language is way better than translating. Translation Mishaps and Learning Languages. 

- Don't be fooled by appearances. Sometimes a gift is actually a curse.  The grandmother, 61, with the smooth face of a 40-year-old... due to collagen skin disorder.

Human Rights:-

-Another sad story of torture and abuse for an  Indonesian woman in Saudi Arabia. Indonesian president condemns Saudi torture of maid. 

-The stupidity of some Saudi judges is being comprehension. Saudi Arabia: Journalist Sentenced to Public Lashing.  

Arabic Articles :-

متى تقوم وزارة العدل باصدار قرار حاسم  بمنع هذه الصفقات  هذا ماتتسائل عنه أميرة كشغري بمقالتها عن زواج القاصرات تحرير قاصرة ام تحرير مجتمع

نحن بحاجة إلى علماء بهداهم نهتدي، يحسم رأيهم جدل المتجادلين، لديهم الكلمة الفصل ولكن دون كهنوت وإقصاء لرأي مجتهد، ولكن عندما يتحول العلماء إلى "كتاب" يبدون وجهة نظر في قضايا اجتماعية حمالة أوجه، تختلف قيمها بين ثقافة وأخرى، وبيئة وبيئة، قضايا لا يمكن حسمها بجملة "هذا حرام" بل إن العلماء أنفسهم لا يحرمونها إلا بعد عملية التفافية طويلة بنثر جملة من الاحتمالات أمام بوابة سد الذرائع فحينها يكون التحريم ليس للفعل نفسه بل لنتائجه المحتملة، حينها سنواجه مشكلة حادة، مجتمعا وحكومة، نحتاج للعلماء وليتهم يتكاملون مع الفريق. بعضا ممن جاء في مقالة جميلة لجمال خاشقجي بعنوان الحاجة الى العلماء

Thursday Word: Judgement

Are You a Feminist?

Why do some terms faces with huge refusal and hostility in the world in general but specially in our Islamic and Arabic worlds. Is it a religious reason? or are we this scared to accept something probably new to us ? 

words like feminist and secular are way overrated, i guess. 

What do you think ? 

are you a feminist? do you really know what it means? what do you think it means? 

usually a feminist is looked at in our Arab world as a woman who act like a man by having a loud voice, smoking, telling vulgar jokes, fighting with men and is against religion. 

What do you think feminist mean ? 

Are you one ?

I like to believe that i am a feminist, i actually i guess i am one. 

Why? let me tell you  ...

First, the political definition of feminism is " a movements aimed at establishing and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women".  Now someone else may don't agree with that based on what they believe or taught to believe. But that's not good, because we supposed to have a mind of ourselves and to think for ourselves. 

So i do believe and fight as much as i can even with my limited resources and means for the rights of women.

And i do believe that i am -as a woman- is equal to man whomever this man might be. I was created to worship Allah and help building Earth like every other man. 

My body says that i can have babies, but that doesn't mean i am less than a man because of that. And doesn't mean that those who can not have babies or don't want to have babies should stay at home because the majority is . Doesn't have a baby doesn't make you or me less woman. It's a choice. Some men don't want to be fathers or can not have them and that's OK. 

A certain man's body says that he is stronger than me but that doesn't mean he has to work and i can not because of that . Other men are weaker than me and what about older men or ill ones, shouldn't they work or should they stay at home because of that? and what does that makes them ? or of them ?  

We are born equally and if someone is good in taking some verses- from the Quran- out of context it doesn't mean that they are right. Women as much as men can read clearly and interpret the Holy Quran, nothing says that only men can do that. 

Women work and fight during the time of the prophet and he didn't ask them to stay at home. Neither do his caliphs. 

I can write endlessly about this and will do so next time. But to summarize it all, being a feminist is not wrong.

I am one, and i don't tell vulgar jokes , i hate smoking ,i used to like casual clothes but now mainly my clothes are so nice and elegant, i have a loud voice but i am very good in keeping it low. 

I am a woman who believes that women are underrated and that they deserve better chances and equal opportunities. Actually we don't deserve, this is not  a charity thing. These are our rights which taken by us in the name of weakness and religion wrongfully. 

If you are a women or a man who fights and believes in the equal rights of men and women , then you are a feminist. Don't be afraid or comment angrily, think for yourself.