rawakramblings

This week, my appetite's been increasing! Last two nights, I went to the kitchen for a bowl of koko krunch and cold milk at midnight because I was too hungry I could not sleep. Yesterday, I was already hungry for lunch at 11am and ate a whole plate of rice - usually I can only eat half portion.  By 4pm, I was hungry again.

So today, I decided to bring some supply of healthy snack to keep myself full in between meals. Other than a box of Sunmaid raisins, oatmeal cookies, breads and a box of milo drink, I also did this yummy fruit salad:

It all started with two of Mr's friend who called him up and telling him that he feels like contributing towards orphanage during the Ramadhan month.

Our group of friends, Small Changes, collected money and visited an orphanage last year during the Ramadhan month and it turned out to be a success. So this year, when Mr's friends threw the idea, I straight away thought of Small Changes - where a group of friends share the same interests in contributing to the society. We believe that "Small changes can contribute to BIG differences,"

So anyways. TWO weeks was all we had. We started emailing all in the group and added some other close friends in the mailing list. We shared posts & status on Facebook, we tweeted and retweeted, bbmed, whatapp-ed, oh my, sometimes I'm impressed with how magical the social network works!

We tried to secure a weekend, but it seems that all the orphanage we contacted were booked during weekends. We faced the same thing last year. Everyone wants to contribute to the orphanage during blessed Ramadhan month. So we managed to secure Rumah Kebajikan Baitul Hidayah on a weekday. Initially we thought of visiting their place or bringing them to a restaurant for break-fast, however it was a weekday. And not everyone can make it on time. In the end, we decided to bring them over to our house in Subang.

Abang Azri with the kids during buka puasa.

Some of the children of Rumah Kebajikan Baitul Hidayah

The children, doing a short performance. The girl carrying the Maghrib sign was the cutest!

Everyone giving kids the children duit raya.

Some of the items donated to the orphanage.

Alhamdulillah, event turned out well. We managed to collect a total of RM11k by that morning, and during the event itself, friends passed money that they managed to collect throughout the two weeks, RM2k...RM1.5k..tup tap tup tap, by the end of the evening, we managed to collect a total of RM24k! MasyaAllah. We were all surprised! We have such big-hearted Malaysians!

Different people contributed in different ways. Some brought food for the break-fast session, some donated to the total of 24k, some choose to give individual duit raya packets, some bought items requested by the orphanage like shoe rack, wall clock, mat, etc., some even contributed basic necessity like oil, sugar and rice.

Every small and big contribution counts. They have managed to make the kids happy and may they live comfortably in better beds, better houses, and eat better food, and get better education.

I was personally very very touched with how kind everyone was and how easy it was for us to get donations. Rezeki rumah anak yatim itu laaa...ataupun sebab bulan puasa.

I knew one of the reasons we achieved such high amount was because it was the blessed Ramadhan month. However my concern is whether these good deeds can be follow through to the rest of the year.
We should indeed, be good towards others, and maintain all these good characters even after the Ramadhan month.

It has been a busy busy week for us in the Zaahara team. We had a corporate order of 200 bottles as Ramadhan gifts. With the limited time and resources, we had to use all the possible way to ensure that we secure this first huge order of ours.

We even hired this cute little niece of mine. Child Labour hehe paid with a box of milo drink. "Aunty Erin..this honey goes around and around and around i can even draw while putting this in the bottle...!"  

Of course, she only did that one bottle and was off to watch Princess Bubble Gum on Astro.

The best partner to chose is when you know he/she completes the loopholes in you.

He/she can be able to lead you to be successful.

He/she believes in you and support you.

He/she constantly prays for your undertakings.

He/she doesn't complain about money.

He/she loves God Almighty more than you.

He/she can guide you to Jannah.

He/she can't live without you.

He/she misses you even a minute.

He/she wants to grow old with you.

He/she smiles at you even if you screwed he/she.

He/she is grateful to have you as a life partner.

He/she knows that the world separation  is temporary as live in heaven awaits for a glorious and sincere relationship.

He/she doesn't give false hope.

He/she is real and not fake.

It's been such a pleasure to be able to fast this year with wife and new families. A totally new feeling as compared to the previous years. I am thankful to Allah Almighty for all the kindness He has given to me.

Now I understand the difficulty in doing business. Everyone of us would love to make money and become rich. When we see someone is successful in their business, we will always envy them and wish to do business. We say it is easy. Is it really easy? Think about it and try venture into business and you'll know the dark side of it.

To dream about money is easy. To get money is not that easy. The difference between the successful and the dreamer is the ability to withstand the obstacles along the way. The risk is high when you venture into business.

1. Capital;
2. Market;
3. Competition;
4. Rules and regulations;
5. Vendor management;
6. Manpower;
7. Time management;
8. Luck;
9. Timing;
10. Discipline