There is a buzz in Play Street
2009-09-16
Faadiel Essop
THE month of Ramadan draws to a close and everyone is feverishly beginning their preparations for Labarang (or Eid). However, at the home of Mansoer Abrahams in Play Street, Paarl, charitable work of a different nature is initiated with a buzz of excitement and antici- pation in the air. As the meat is carefully cleaned, potatoes peeled by volunteers and young children pop in from nowhere, and several crackling fires start, one is left with a strong spiritual feeling by this remarkable display of generosity and kindness. A little later the ingredients are carefully mixed into huge 60-litre pots, with the master chef barking instructions to his “followers’’. As I sat on my chair underneath the starlit canopy, I could not help but savour the soothing ambience and pleasant atmosphere that so typically characterises the evening before the day of Eid. I notice friends, neighbours and relatives catching up with each others’ lives over huge steaming pots of akhni, an exotic Indian rice dish, and others prodding the rice mixture – all so willing to serve their Creator by helping others. This is almost akin to a rather successful ‘social human experiment’’, i.e. bonds of friendship, community-building, large dollops of generosity, the pungent aroma and colours of spices, all mixed and fused into a single pot. Where did it all begin? According to Abrahams he and a small group of friends launched this initiative three years ago. “Our religion teaches us to be concerned with the welfare of all human beings, irrespective of religious denomination, ethnicity or nationality,’’ said Abrahams. He also indicated that they are aware that a once-off plate of food does not solve the fundamental problem of poverty that is so endemic within our community, and in fact the rest of the country. However, “it is all about a gesture to our poor fellow-human beings that we care, think about them and wish to reach out to them. “This is in fact in line with the Islamic faith that strongly engenders a humanitarian spirit in its followers, especially during the month of Ramadan,’’ he said. Food preparations usually begin after the evening prayer (maghrib) and continue until the wee hours of the morning. The whole event is a wonderful social occasion, with lots of bantering between friends, interesting conversations and of course some (small) sampling of the food! The following morning (after the Eid prayer), food is distributed to various areas including Amstelhof, Chicago and Klein Nederburg. Mr Abrahams extended an invitation to members of the community to join in and help with the preparation of food and its distribution to the poor and needy of Paarl. * Prof Faadiel Essop, who compiled this supplement, is head of the Department of Physiological Sciences at the University of Stellenbosch.
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