Laiba Eager

‘It all brought me home’

For an exchange student in Brattleboro, her first Ramadan away from home turned from melancholy to memorable

Until this year, I'd never spent even a month away from my mother. Now I had flown across the seven seas to an adventure I could never have imagined.

It would have been sufficient to experience a new family, a new school, new friends. But I never imagined that I would have an experience of Ramadan here in Brattleboro that would be so memorable.

Ramadan is a month of blessings for Muslims and a time during which we try as best we can to help those in need. In that spirit, a friend and I decided that we wanted to reach out and help prepare a special meal on the first night of Ramadan, an iftar meal particularly for the refugees from Afghanistan who have settled in our area.

One thing quickly led to another: interactions with interested teenagers from Putney, then meetings at The Works. And then - it happened!...

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