save the mangroves

i have so many things to talk about my children that end up not telling any..

i hope i manage to talk about them today, so that we could cherished it when time passes by.

again and again, i'm so thankful that Allah eases our way and being in a school that is actively thinking how to make learning fun, i can never stop thanking Allah for leading our way to get the boys into Khalifah Model School. And of course, I owe the school, the principal, the teachers and ustadz for never stop making learning the khalifah way. 

Nope, am not promoting the school.. some might find the school won't fit their children, but it fit us well, alhamdullillah.

last month, the school was organizing the fund raising to save the mangroves. frankly, i was not so fascinated with the idea.. and i doubt that the boys would feel so excited as well. mangroves? we live in the city, we don't care about the mangroves and we didn't even know how what and why mangroves. 

how wrong has i been! the boys were so into this fund raising, especially aimar. 

aidan, being a typical pre-teen (mama still couldn't bear the idea that he's being a teenager.. he's only 12), was not interested on everything, nowadays. he said his classmates were selling stuff for the fund raising, but he don't feel like selling anything...

and the more i asked, the more i got it figured out.. he wanted to sell ice cream with his buddies, but some of them had it all planned out, not including him. and knowing him, as much as he would say he was ok, being the eldest in the family, i always knew it was not okay for him. and so, i talked him out. i asked him if he's going to contribute anything for the fund raising or he would just don't bother. 

"i have some cash from ayah long and duit raya. i can give some of it. mangroves has extinct. the schoold need money so we could buy some pokok and tanam. at least, the small things we can do". 

i was touched listening to his statement. and so, i started my mom's role

"you should sell something for the fund raise. let's do something cheap and sell it. i can help you and you can ask adik2 to help as well". 

and that was it. he started planning, asked me to get stuff and i could never be so proud of him when the day before the fund raising, he was all out in planning, budgeting and even trying to be as efficient he could be by planning the manpower and so on.

I was so proud of him.

The day before the sale, he was all out preparing, and he even managed to convince his siblings to help him.

The cost was only rm20 and I was proud to know that he made rm60. he took rm20, and the balance rm40 went to the charity.

he was ok.

and the week after, aimar was planning for his fund raising. at first, i thought he was just being competitive. being the middle child, his competitiveness level has always been higher as compared to his abang or his adik.

but, as usual, i was supporting him all the way.

on the other hand, his teacher did gave him an assignment to draw a poster of mangroves. aimar, being not as creative crafty as compared to aidan, was worried that he couldn't make a nice poster. aidan volunteered to help. so, they started getting the info from the internet, and aidan started to draw while aimar painted it.

o my, it was such a soothing view to see them work hand in hand, without fighting. there's something about mangroves that brought them together. aimar was very proud when his teacher picked his poster to be display on the school's main notice board.

wham bam!!! more plus point for this mangroves project!!!

...

and the story didn't stop there. aimar was soooo motivated with raising the fund for the mangroves. he was ecstatic. he wanted to sell bookmarks and went to the bookstore with me to buy nice colour papers for the bookmarks.... i was so impressed to see the outcome. and aimar wanted to sell for less than rm1.. he said his friend won't have much cash to buy expensive bookmarks. he said he could make a lot of bookmarks, sell it for rm0.50 and still raise the fund. he has always been so thoughtful!

and he also got the help from his abang and his adik... wasn't that lovely? the siblinghood bonding!ooooo

of all, i have always been so skeptical with aimar. i always think it was all about winning and competing when it comes to his motive. and that night, i was wrong. i saw his passions. 

and his science teacher was telling me how great aimar was with the bookmarks.his teacher did a demo to the class, and it took him a while where he looked, studied the folded bookmarks, and voila, there he was!!

i posted it in the FB and we had such an overwhelmed kind hearted friends of mine that was willingly donated money for his fundraising. that day alone, he collected rm300 and donated all to the charity. 

yup! he did that!

....

and on the day they went to the sire, i got two teachers texting me, sending pictures of how excited and how focused he was with the information he gained. it was not aimar at all. he never could focus on things so deep like he did. 

alhamdullillah... 

besarNya kuasa Allah... Dialah Zat yang membolak-balikkan hati sesiapapun.. 

I can always think aimar is never serious in anything.. he just couldn't as he get all fidgety..  sekejap je Allah tunjuk.. 

for whatever, doa yang baik2 untuk anak2. 

and aimar dear, mama always do pray for the best in you. ameen.