The number of The number of porridge bowlsporridge bowls

Suma Al-Senawi

On one cool autumn day, Aya went to the park to play.

She found her friends: Ahmed, Diego, Elena and John,

already out there skipping on the lawn.

They were her neighborhood friends for as long as she can remember,

way back, when she moved there one December.

What does Aya and her friends do in the Park?

In the park they ride their bikes; they play on the slide and fly their kites

In the park they enjoy the outside; they have a good time and let it be their guide

But all this playing takes a lot of work,they get hungry and decide to lurk.

Diego says:

and Ahmed follows:

Aya says:

I am hungr

y

Me too!

Ok, let’s go for some porridge

stew. The stew is called Harrissa and my

mom says it’s very good for you!

So the team decides, to Aya’s house they will ride,

excited about the stew.

Aya explains that is the Islamic Eid and that is why her mom has brewed.

So the team starts counting how many bowls are they going to need?

What if there isn’t enough, it will be very sad indeed.

=

They start to count by naming themselves one by one

Ahmed plus Diego equals a number

that isn’t none

That number is TWO, because that is ONE PLUS ONE!

+ =

+ =

Now John and Elena count themselves by adding one plus one,

they also get TWO, because that is how it is done.

+ =

+ =

Now there are two and two, so what do they do?

They add them together and get FOUR, because that is true. + =

+ =

Who is left to add to this equation? Aya is left to add without any

persuasion…

They are four hungry people and they add one more,

so they end up with FIVE, because that is ONE plus FOUR.

+ =

+ =

So Elena asks the team:

Will they still get FIVE always and forever?

Boys + Girls =

Let’s add the boys and

girls together…

There are TWO girls and THREE boys,

so what does that add to?

TWO plus THREE is also FIVE, how about that point of view?

+ =

+=

Now they know how many bowls of stew they need to divide,

So they start moving faster on the bikes that they ride.

=

On their way John asks what is Eid? Ahmed explains that it’s an Islamic holiday

like Christmas and Christmas Eve. Eid =

In Islam we have two Eids, one big and one small.

The small one is the one we are celebrating today with you all.

It is called Eid Al-Fatir and it happens after Ramadan, Islams celebrate for three days

from morning until dawn.

Aya adds that Ramadan is the month in which adults fast, to feel the hunger of the

poor and be thankful for the past.

The team arrives at Aya’s house ready to eat;

Aya says to her mom, please, we need five porridge bowls to heat.

The team is full and happy as they finish up their bowls

They all thank Aya’s mom like all good little souls.

THE END!