Ramiza says “Thanks.”Roberta Harris — Scarborough ON
Hello kind friends. My name is Ramiza. I am 10 years old and live in a small village in my wonderful country of Bangladesh. Yesterday was the the greatest day of my life and I want to tell you all about it. A few months ago, my teacher told me that children in my class had been chosen to go to a large city 150 km away to receive a special gift. An important man in our village would arrange for us to go there on a big bus. I was excited but also nervous, because I had never been away from home. My family is very poor and my parents find it hard to give us enough food each day. At night my five brothers and sisters and I sleep in our clothes on a bare mud floor with a rag under our heads.  It was hard being patient but yesterday the big day arrived. We left school at 7 am in a big bus with two of our teachers. It was such a new experience. I was happy, but scared too. I wondered what my gift would be because I have never had a gift in my life. In fact, I have never had anything new in my whole life. Our teachers gave us some water and crackers during the trip. When we arrived, I was taken into a room just for girls. Friendly young women in beautiful saris quickly helped me out of my shabby clothes and into the most beautiful salwar kameez outfit (dress, pants and scarf) I have ever seen. Then I was led by some friendly volunteers out into the hot sun clutching my old clothes and shown where to line up to get my picture taken. I sat on a pail behind some beautiful clothes and other things spread out before us. Strange pale-skinned people were smiling at us and helping us to sit down. A tall, friendly man standing behind a black box on legs told Myna and Abdul my classmates who were sitting on pails beside me, to hasho or smile. I tried to, but I was so scared. Then they led me to a table piled high with large bags and a pale-skinned person shook my hand, smiled, gently put one of the bags on my head and said “Goodbye.” When we got back to our bus our bags were put on the roof. Soon we were on the long and bumpy way home. It was more fun going home because we finally had our treasured gifts. We arrived back home very tired.
My family helped me carry my bag through the dark to our tiny mud home. I could hardly open the bag fast enough but suddenly out came all of the beautiful things I had seen on the ground at the school. My parents and my brothers and sisters were as excited as I was. We jumped around clapping and laughing and hugging each other. Last night we used a mosquito net for the first time. I had the best sleep ever on the soft mattress and sheets. It was also the first time I had slept in pajamas and on a pillow It was a dream come true. Now you know why yesterday was the best day of my life. I am so very happy. Thank you, whoever you are, for your wonderful, wonderful gift to me. With love, Ramiza. |
