Azza:  Muscat, Oman

This is a book for poems called Collective Thoughts.  My sister gave it to me and I have had it for 4 years.  It is special because it is a collection of poems and drawings by children who have cancer.  You can really just feel these poems when you read them, it is really wonderful and I read it everyday.

I have met the poet who put this book together.  She is an Omani volunteer and she went to Africa and India to volunteer and help children there.  I really like volunteer work so I was excited to meet her.  Last year, my colleague and I did a presentation about a volunteer project we did together.  We made a calendar of different pictures that children in the hospital made, and the profits will go back to the hospital.  The author of the book, Collective Thoughts, came to our presentation.

Now I am working on a project called “Dream Rooms” which is also for children in the hospital.  We ask them to draw pictures of how they want their room in the hospital to be.  We help them gesticulate the rooms as they want, and help them develop the psychological side.  Then we try to help make their rooms like this.

In our culture we like to help others, especially sick people.  If you see children crying and in pain, and you don’t want to help them it gives you bad feelings.  I care about cancer because some members in my family have cancer and I just want to do something for them to help them.

I think the American students have more abilities to do volunteer work because they can travel and do a lot of things without being held back by there culture or customs.  Here some of our customs prevent us from doing these things.  But it is not impossible, we can do it if we have the intention to do it.