Cape Town’s homeless will share Ramadan festivities with the local Muslim community

Pippa Hudson chats with Gasant Abarder, co-organizer of ‘Boeberaand under the bridge’.

• Ramadan is the holiest month in the Islamic calendar.

• Muslims observe the month by fasting from dawn to dusk.

• Boeber is a sweet and creamy milk drink, flavored with cardamom and cinnamon and thickened with vermicelli and sago.

Muslims around the world are currently honoring the holy month of Ramadan.

It is a month in which followers of the religion are required to abstain from eating and drinking during the day. Beyond that, it is also a time of charitable giving where believers are encouraged to spend not only their money but also their time in acts of charity for the less fortunate.

This coming Sunday marks the halfway point of Ramadan. In Cape Town, this traditionally means locals celebrate breaking their fast by enjoying a hot bowl of boeber, a traditional Cape Malay sweet milk drink, made with vermicelli, sago, sugar and flavored with cardamom, cinnamon stick, and rose water.

Colloquially, the night is called Boeberaand.

A group of people decided to share this opportunity with some of the less fortunate in town. So they organized a mass iftar with homeless people.

They dubbed the event, Boeberaand under the bridgewhere they will serve boeber and other food to people who live under the Ebenezer Street Bridge, Green Point.

Locals are encouraged to volunteer to help serve food as well as spend time with those less fortunate.

Salaam and hello everyone. Calling on all Capetonians to spend an hour or two spending time in the company of precarious housing. We don’t need dues. Only your time so we can make the homeless feel part of our city ❤️🙏🏾 #BoeberUnderTheBridge pic.twitter.com/L7V10SiUDs

—Gasant Abarder (@GasantAbarder) April 14, 2022

RELATED: What Your Muslim Friends Want You to Know About Ramadan

It’s not really about feeding them, but about making them feel special and part of the city.

Gasant Abarder – Co-Organizer of Boebera and Below Deck

Mobilizing is about getting that community spirit and showing the homeless in our city that they belong.

Gasant Abarder – Co-Organizer of Boebera and Below Deck

We want you to spend an hour or two saying hello to a homeless person…the kind of people we pass by the traffic lights and don’t even look at.

Gasant Abarder – Co-Organizer of Boebera and Below Deck

Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the interview.

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