Eid at Eva’s Phoenix

by Aasim Hasany

On Thursday, October 26, as part of a Community Affairs initiative, six Muslim students from UofT (5 brown guys and 1 token Arab) took their Eid celebrations to Eva’s Phoenix youth shelter (11 Ordnance road, near Bathurst and King streets). The ride to the shelter from campus was a memorable, albeit slightly uncomfortable, one as six young adults squeezed into a tiny Toyota Corrola steered by the world’s safest driver, Aasim Hasany. After arriving at 6.30pm wtih all joints intact, the six MSA’ers prayed their evening prayers along with Moussa, a staff member at Eva’s and Ali, a resident at the shelter. Following evening prayers, they were invited to share their experiences during Ramadan and Eid and explain the nature of the entire phenomenon of fasting (summarized quite expressively as ‘no eating, drinking, or hankypankying’). The discussion was primarily spearheaded by the MSA president, Shuaib Ally, who was later asked to sign autographs for his excellent presentation (joke).

Following the chit-chat was a fine traditional Arab dinner with chicken, rice, hummus, and the works, prepared wonderfully by Somethin’ 2 Talk About. The evening was drawn to an end with an award presented to the MSA for their involvement in and support of youth issues in the Greater Toronto Area.

To get involved in more initiatives such as these, please contact the MSA Community Affairs Coordinator at msa_comm@yahoo.ca.