IMAGINE RAMADHAN…

‘Imagine Ramadhan…for families torn apart’ was a Ramadhan-campaign aiming to show the experience of a familiar month through a very different lens. Focusing on the challenges that some members of the community have, the poem was written as an easy but realistic account of what many HHUGS families experience.

Imagine a Ramadhan with Baba taken

In the shock of a dawn raid

Imagine a Ramadhan scraping by on bare essentials

No iftar parties and elaborate feasts made

Imagine a Ramadhan as your first outside your cell

Shunned, cut-off and isolated, you dwell

Imagine a Ramadhan of playground taunts and fists

No festive cheer for “those dirty terrorists”

Imagine as a mother,

you try to ignore

Young voices pleading for any Eid gifts in store

Imagine as an elderly father,

costly transport and long distance mean

Another lonely month goes without a prison visit, no beloved son seen

Imagine as a wife,

left penniless as nobody knows

Ramadhan still means unpaid bills, eviction notices and financial woes

Imagine a Ramadhan where the crescent moon up high

Can’t pierce the darkness of this abandoned household’s cry

Now imagine again… a Ramadhan which brought

Relief to a broken family through community support

Imagine a Ramadhan where her heart can heal

As she gathers with her neighbours for an Iftar meal

Imagine a Ramadhan where the elderly uncle can meet

His much-loved son in prison for a few moments, so bittersweet

Imagine a Ramadhan where he can actually stand proud

That newly released prisoner and the fresh start he’s finally allowed

Imagine a Ramadhan where the single mum can prepare a real Eid

Joy, children’s bursting hearts and souls to feed

Imagine a Ramadhan which won’t be forgotten ever

As we united to show what can be achieved together

You can find the campaign here.