Celebrating Eid al-Adha Through Service and Shared Humanity

June 10, 2025

Helping people we know is easy.
Writing letters to people we know, preparing gifts for people we know — that’s easy.
Maybe we even receive gifts, congratulations, and kind words from them in return.

But what about reaching out to someone we don’t know?
What kind of feeling is that?

It was the kind of day — a project day — when we truly felt that.
Felt it deep in our bones.
And I was there, too.

I wrote letters — together with my own children — for children I didn’t know, children without a mother or a father.
Some of them may never know who wrote to them.
Some may never write back.
But that didn’t matter.
What mattered was the sincerity, the effort, and the invisible thread that connected hearts.

It was a beautiful day — a day when Americans, Turks, Kazakhs, Kyrgyz people, and so many others came together to help.
A day when people from different nations and different faiths prepared heartfelt gifts for strangers they had never met.
No one asked for anything in return.
There was no expectation, only intention.

It was a day of shared humanity.

We were there with people of all ages — toddlers just learning to walk, elementary school kids, high schoolers, university students, and even retirees.
From all walks of life, from different races, countries, languages, faiths, and generations — yet we all stood on the same ground, in the same spirit: to help, to share, to give.

And that, I believe, is the meaning of a true celebration.
To realize that whether we know someone or not, whether we speak the same language or not, we still have the ability to touch someone’s heart and bring them comfort.

Isn’t that the real discovery?

A person may cross oceans and explore continents, but if they haven’t discovered the hearts of others — the kindness, the connection, the shared human experience — then what are they really carrying home in their bag?

True discovery is not only about geography.
It’s about empathy.
And on that day, in that shared space, we all discovered something far greater than distance or difference: we discovered each other.