UK teachers to observe Ramazan fast to raise money and awareness

Teachers say they are fasting to connect with their Muslim students and to raise money for the food bank

CARDIFF: Three UK teachers will observe a fast during the holy month of Ramazan to raise 500 pound sterling for the city’s hungry and to raise awareness of Islam.

Teachers Andrew Bodgin, Jon Letson and Jennifer John of Celtic English Academy in Park Place will be joining their Muslim students in fasting on July 3. They will be going without food and water for 19 hours to raise money for Cardiff Foodbank.

The three teachers decided to fast after reading about how the city’s Dar Ul-Isra Mosque will feed 400 people, including homeless people, every night in Ramazan.

The school’s marketing director Shoko Morimoto will also be joining the teachers in fasting in a bid to show support to Muslim students who fast during classes.

Read: Hijab-wearing Muslim student voted best-dressed at US school

“We are doing this as a way to connect with our Muslim students and to raise money for the food bank,” teacher Andrew Bodgin said.

“Many of our international students are Muslim. By participating in the fast, we hope to show solidarity with them as well as those in our local community,” he added.

The four will go without food and water from 3am and then go to Cardiff’s Dar Ul-Isra Mosque before sunset at 9:30pm for Iftar.

“Many of our Muslim students are from the Middle East. Seeing the efforts they make to study while fasting in Ramazan, we wanted to show we empathise and want to show that there is community support within the community here when Muslims are sometimes needlessly vilified,” Andrew continued.

He further said he wanted to show that people and their culture are nothing to be afraid of.

Read: Obama to host Iftar on Friday: White House

Andrew admitted that he would find it hard to go without his morning French pastry, his morning coffee and the cake which is always in the staff room but that he is sure he can manage for a day.

Howevver, Andrew has chosen a hard year to fast since Ramazan this year falls in midsummer, which means the longest hours of daylight for fasting.

Friday, July 3, the day when the four of them will fast is also one of the days when the the Dar Ul-Isra mosque will open its doors to people of all faiths to join them for iftar.

This article originally appeared on Wales Online