Interview with Herworld by Aneesa A

Been spending time/working/volunteering for Rumah Nur Salam with the kids is great and a fruitful event. All thanks to Dina Zaman for getting me into this NGO organization. This is something that I have wanted to do for a long while. And I've meeting great interesting people in KL, they are all so passionate about what they do for the kids and a street angel indeed.  They may not dress as colorful/flamboyant as the people of the industry that I am in. But, their life are full of colors which something money can't buy or have, only they can experience it. To me, that is incredible....I still have so much to learn from them.

Join me If you have time to spare for the kids....

EVERY CHILD MATTERS!

Thich Nhat Hanh

People usually consider walking on water or in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize: a blue sky, white clouds, green leaves, the black, curious eyes of a child — our own two eyes. All is a miracle.

Quote form Mother Teresa

Peole are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered; forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives: Be kind anyway. What you spend years creating others could destroy overnight: Create anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway. The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. Give the best you have, and it may never be enough: Give your best anyway. In the final analysis, it is between you and God: it was never between you and them anyway.

Art....

To communicate something of what I feel about what we do as artists, as musicians and as human beings. The sun will not fall down from the sky if there are no more [artists]. The world can and will go on without us but I have to think that we have made this world a better place. That we have left it richer, wiser than had we not chosen the way of art. The older I get, the less I know but I am certain that what we do matters. You must know what you want to do in life, you must decide, for we cannot do everything. Do not think [art] is an easy career. IT is a lifetime’s work; it does not stop here. What matters is that you use whatever you have learned wisely. – Maria Callas

Malaikat-malaikat perjalananku. (Angels on my path) by Petra Gimbad

It's been a crazy few days, and contrary to what many say - I don't think that one should use the poor to feel better about oneself. There are reasons to feel blessed, but Lord, let's not turn the disadvantaged into token meditation tools.



The reason why I can feel refreshed is because of two kids, who make me reflect on how God can exist in foresaken places. There's something about seeing a place through the eyes of a child. Not all, but some children just have that light and it's always an honour to know and be loved by some of them.



My little street angels.



Yesterday, I offered to take a couple of children home after buka puasa (open fast) since it was dark and I was at the centre anyway. The older refused and her younger brother piped up shyly, "Aku nak kakak ikut kita balik." (I want older sister to follow us home)



So I did. It was a short walk and an absolutely joyful one, with their high-pitched voices lighting the way. We passed a mentally ill man waving a sheaf of blank white papers at oncoming cars on the road, and a mamak (stall) flanked by a transgendered sex worker and female sex workers. That corner, on some nights, is a popular joint for the lower income European sex worker circuit.



After we passed the man, the older asked, "Kakak tak takut ke? Jalan ni tak selamat." (Isn't older sister scared? These streets aren't safe.)



"Engkau pula tiap-tiap hari jalan jalan ni - tak selamat ke? Takkan budak nak jalan kakak tak berani pulak." (You walk these streets daily - aren't you scared? If you kids can walk, surely there's no reason for me to be scared)



They asked me where I lived and I told them. "Oo, jauh - tak perlu ikut kita. Nanti kak balik lambat." (Oo, that's far - you don't have to follow us. Or you'll reach home late.)



I laughed and told them it's ok, as long as they get home safe.



The teen turned to the child sibling and explained, "Biar lambat, asal selamat." (Better late than never.) I wondered whether I should tell them it's drink and drive wisdom.



They waved and looked back after they cross the road to their home. They wanted to see if I was watching, and I am so glad I was.



I went home and told mum how moved I was that they were so concerned for my safety, when this was behaviour I took for granted as a child. I thought that this is how adults SHOULD treat me.



These kids, from a lower-income household in a red light district, were so incredibly sweet and sensitive to my safety, an adult.



One of the kids just waved at me from my office window and asked if I got home safe.



I told her I did.

A romantic note from a friend.....

That first kiss. The shock of something right.

Bodies melting, renewing. Discovering the familiar for the first time.

Falling asleep by your side, because I could.

Sounds and taste. Your hair mingled with mine.

Sniffing my fingers in the aftermath. The smell of you on my hands.

The scent of you during long plane rides. The goodbyes before the goodbye.

How I miss you now. You used to drive me in the moonlight, to our
secret space where we would hike in the dark.

I miss that stone house. You promised we would return, and we never did.

But that house lingers in my body. The memory of the cold wind and you.

The soft kisses in the dark. The smell of the ground rising. The scent
of soil in your hair.

Kissing you in a yellow dress. Aching now.

My hands are empty with longing. The smell and taste of you lingers.

My interview for Marie Claire

A note from an angle, Petra.

To laugh often and much,
To win the respect of intelligent people
And the affection of children,
To earn the appreciation of honest critics
And endure the betrayal of false friends,
To appreciate beauty,
To find the best in others,
To leave the world a bit better,
Whether by a healthy child, a garden patch,
Or a redeemed social condition,
To know that even one life has breathed
Better because you have lived,
This is to have succeeded.

Success by Ralph Waldo Emerson