As I paid for my few groceries my kids noticed the collection tin for spare change on the counter beside the cash register. They mistakenly thought the image was of a little boy vomiting. I showed them it was actually a starving little boy eating what looked like garbage from the ground. They didn't understand. They asked why his mom or daddy didn't give him food, and if he was being naughty for eating from the dirt. Bear in mind that my kids are aged four and five. I tried to explain that he didn't have a mommy, that they have no food and no house and no toys. But their little innocent minds couldn't comprehend such a reality. 

And I'm stuck trying to decide whether to make them aware of the poverty and sadness in the world, or whether to leave them innocent.  

I at 35 am somedays derailed by guilt and depression at the thought that there are children in this world starving. If I can't understand how that could happen, how with all the waste and luxury, starving children are still a reality. How can I make my own babies understand it. 

Cos I'm sure that one of the first questions they'll ask me is why Allah didn't give him food. And again I wouldn't be able to answer.

Perhaps I should just teach them to pray. And of course teach them not to waste. And above all else, to be grateful.

And I will teach them that it is always our responsibility to help others in need any time and any where we can.

If I can have this value ingrained in my children, did I help perhaps in any way? It hardly seems like anything at all.