Aftermath for GAFYW Annual Event...

Sorry Asma seems we didn't transfer the post to the new quarter...
But there is good info and vedios if you Google: Announcing winners of the Ghada Award for Young Writers.
Third Contest.
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Nonwinners' contributions:

Yusra was first winner of the First Award Contest, and one of the ten winners
of the Second Award Contest..
Her writing reflects a well developed talent which needs the final touches to
the introduction of the stylish writer!


My deep love and affection towards children
(Yusra A Abdelaziz Abdelmoneim)
Topic: A personal series of experiences and encounters that relate to children and attempt to appreciate the value of children in our lives and why is it that we hear the term that children are God’s blessing so often?

I’ve always loved children and babies. I remember as a child my favourite dolls were those baby shaped ones that you’d have to nurture and take care of as it was a real life baby. I’d bathe the dolls, pretend to feed them and ‘’breast feed’’ them. Baseline is: I’ve loved children ever since I can remember.
But as I grew older, I started to realise that not all babies and children were being physically taken care of as I presumed. Some children were literally being abandoned on the streets as babies, some were left to die and some taken to orphanages. I became aware of all this after a short visit to the Mygoma orphanage that left me in tears, that hit me hard and led me into accepting the undeniable reality that many thousands of children are faced with. Alhamdoulilah, for a safety net programme such as Mygoma and the other few orphanages across Sudan, but all they really do is succeed in providing a shelter, because at the end of the day a majority of the children are likely to grow into economically unproductive and psychiatrically impaired adults, mainly due to the negligence of their biological so-called “parents”. I personally don’t want to speak of them negatively because God knows which circumstances they were facing that led to them taking such a heartless and selfish decision and as humans no one is entitled to point a finger and make an assertive judgement concerning anybody because God is our only true judge because God judges on what He knows to be true, and since when has God placed any of us in a position to judge other people’s lives and decisions.
However, I was very fortunate to get to know a woman (no names mentioned), as I was studying abroad who adopted a blind child from the Mygoma orphanage, nurtured him and took care of him as her own. I was blown away, I was very lucky to meet the two of them, and she taught me a very valuable lesson in life and that is: how a not-so-simple act of charity that very few in this world can carry out can turn a person’s life upside down and transform it into a much better one. In the words of Ghandi: To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand ######### bowing in prayer.
Furthermore, while I was studying in the UK I volunteered at an after school play club, it was an inclusion project that consisted of mostly disabled children, that suffered from autism, ADHD (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), asperger syndrome and down-syndrome. I had to attend a four week induction course that taught me all about children who suffered from either of the four disabilities. I had to attend sessions where there would be young adults who would describe their lives from their perspective and how suffering from either of the four illnesses affected their lives. It literally shocked me how everything that they’d experienced, down to their five senses felt different. That experience taught me not to take ANYTHING in life for granted and to be grateful each and every day with your life that you have because there’s somebody out there that would love to switch places with you in a heartbeat. Sometimes a lot of us just tend to forget how blessed we are, then God gives you a little reminder and you know you are just where you were to meant to be.
Even during my summer vacation I felt the urge to be around children, so I took the initiative and took up the role of volunteer at Unity High School as an assistant for reception class. That experience taught me that children are the only people that can bring you to the brink of insanity and you will still love them the next day and that there is no brighter light than the smile of a child. But, what really grabbed my attention during this experience was this one child who was so disciplined that i realised that the best thing a parent can do for their child is to teach and pass onto them good morals and integrity. This child had so much respect for everyone around him and he spoke with such maturity that didn’t seem to match his age. That got me thinking how I’d end up raising my own children, and that thought both seemed to frighten and excite me. I remember during my first few weeks at the school a lot of the parents would stick around and spy on their kids through the windows and I kept thinking to myself “ what is wrong with those parents, why are they so attached”, I couldn’t seem to relate and I don’t now either, seeing as I have no children and don’t intend on having any anytime soon, but I felt like I got a taste of what it felt for them to leave their children for just a few hours when I had to say my goodbyes to the kids. I was so devastated, I cried my eyes out because I knew I wouldn’t be seeing them anytime soon and notice how I had only known those children for almost a month! Children are most definitely a precious gift from God to cherish.
So the moral of this short story regarding my past experiences with children is that regardless of whether the children are orphanaged, come from privileged backgrounds or are disabled, they are entitled to be unconditionally loved both physically and emotionally and deserve to be showered with tender loving care.

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