Last week I went to a place called Mo2asaset El Zakah. It’s an area with very limited resources located off the Ring Road. Its habitants live in small brick homes, not painted and barely furnished.

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What was mainly going through my head as we entered the area was how bad I feel for the people who have to live there. I looked at the piles of waste and unfinished buildings and wondered how anybody could live this way. I felt bad for them. I felt pity. The purpose of this outreach was to speak with the most needy families in the area and come up with practical ways to help them based on their specific struggles and needs. I was expecting to hear a lot of complaints from the families we were about to visit.

What happened was the exact opposite of my expectations.

I couldn’t believe the amount of peace and satisfaction they all had. I couldn’t understand how when you ask a family of 4 or more -with a monthly income of approximately 1,000 EGP- what they need/want, their reply would be: “Nothing, we have everything we need” and “God is taking care of everything.” How is that possible? How does someone with so little resources be so satisfied with what they have and not be inclined to ask for more? How is that possible?

Some of us can spend these 1,000 EGP in the span of two hours.

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I ended up feeling bad for the rest of us. The rest of us who have a thousand times as much money and ten times less faith and satisfaction. We complain for not having the latest gadgets or the more luxurious bag or car. We feel unhappy and unsatisfied with our lives because of the smallest details, while they praise God with thankfulness for the conditions they’re living in.

I walked through the broken streets of this area and I was mesmerized by the amount of peace I felt. People were sitting in front of their homes with their family members and neighbors and they would smile at us as we pass by and beg us to come in and have tea. I don’t think I’ve ever been smiled to by strangers during my entire life in Egypt as much as I was on that day.

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Why don’t we smile at each other? Why don’t we invite people into our homes for a cup of tea? Why do we spend so much time wanting more and working for more and asking for more instead of being thankful and enjoying what we have?

Being in that place got me thinking about a lot of things. I was so humbled by their faith and thankfulness. I was ashamed for every moment of ungratefulness I felt. I was ashamed of how unappreciative of my blessings I can sometimes be.

Please take a moment to consider all of this. Let us all be as kind, as thankful and as faithful as the wonderful people I met in Mo2asaset El Zakah. They taught me things that are worth much more than I could ever hope to give them.