Hi Everyone!

Today is a special day for our muslim friends around the world.

Eid ul-Fitr is the Islamic holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. In the Philippines, the day is a national holiday in recognition of the importance of the event to our Muslim citizens. Fitr means “to break” and symbolizes the breaking of the fasting period and of all sinful habits.

On the day of celebration, a typical Muslim family gets up very early and attends special prayers in mosques and in large open areas, stadiums, or arenas. The prayer is generally short, and is followed by a khutba (sermon by the Imam). The festivities start after the prayer with visits to the homes of friends and relatives and thanking the Creator for all blessings. The first Eid was celebrated in 624 CE by the Prophet Muhammad with his companions and relatives after the victory of the Battle of Badr.

 After a full month of Ramadan, a religious tradition of surrender and obedience to Allah where adult Muslims observe the difficult fasting from dawn-to-dusk fast, Eid ul-Fitr is indeed an important and joyful event with great religious significance. Muslims dress in holiday attire. After attending the special congregational prayer in the morning, worshippers greet and embrace each other in the spirit of peace, love, and brotherhood.

Eid ul-Fitr is a day of forgiveness, moral victory and peace, of congregation, fellowship, brotherhood, and unity. Muslims are not only celebrating the end of fasting, but are also thanking God for the help and strength that He gave them throughout the previous month to help them practice self-control.

Here in the Philippines, with a majority Christian population, we have recognized Eid ul-Fitr as a regular holiday by virtue of Republic Act No. 9177 and signed on November 13, 2002. The law was enacted in deference to the Filipino Muslim community and to promote peace among major religions in the Philippines. The first public holiday was set on December 6, 2002. This year, the holiday is set for Wednesday, October 1, 2008.

Eid ul-Fitr is a time to come together as a community and to renew friendship and family ties. It is a time for peace as all Muslims in the world to devote the day to prayers for peace and well-being. We join our Muslim friends in these prayers. May the peace of the One God be felt throughout the land.

EĪd mubārak (Blessed Eid)!

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Technorati Tags: Allah, Eid ul-Fitr, Muslim Community, Philippine Holiday, Ramadan

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Hi Everyone!

Today is my big day!

First, I would like to celebrate the milestone that we have reached at DJ’s World with our 100th posting today. It has been very hard, as a 4 year old child, to take on a project as large as this on a day-to-day basis. Without the help and support of my Mama and Dada and my older brother and my older sisters, I would not have been able to do this. I find that it can be very hard at times and I must be honest that there have been times I wanted to quit. But in the end, I continued to try and do my best.

Many say that when you reach your 100th posting, you have reached a point of maturity in blogging. You are consider a “full member” of the blogging community. I hope that I have earned that right to be a full member. I know in the future that there will be times that I won’t want to post and my Mama said that it is okay to go a day or two not posting. She said everyone needs a rest every now and then.

I promise that I will do my best to explore new areas of learning and interest so that my friends can share my life and the world around me. I, further, promise to try very hard to promote good relations and better understanding with children and their parents from all countries around the world.

The next milestone to celebrate is my decision to give up my binkee.

Mama and Dada have been talking for months with me about me “losing” my binkee. Until now, I wasn’t ready to make this big change in my life. Last week, I promised Mama and Dada that I would make a big effort to start the process to give up my binkee. I have started that process by not using my binkee during the day. That has been hard already as I like my binkee when I am playing my video games and when I take an afternoon nap. We decided that when I feel I need it to go to sleep at night, it will be alright but then Mama will remove it once I go to sleep. We feel that I will be over the binkee in a month.

You will notice that we have changed the DJ’s World Header and Footer picture and, also, the posting pictures will now show me without the binkee. I am really proud that I am reaching this point in my growing up time! I want to prepare for my future next year when I start school.

Lastly, I would like to update you on the progress of DJ’s Store. We have had some problems centering around Darwin who you know is my art creator. He has had some personal problems that have kept him away from DJ’s World. We hope that he will be able to return soon but if that is not possible, Dada is making some back-up plans so that we will be able to go forward with the store. We will keep you posted on it’s progress.

So, I want to thank all of you for your continuing support and your visits. If I had one wish it would be that my visitors started posting comments. Please take the extra few minutes and leave a comment.

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Technorati Tags: 100th Posting, Binkee, blogging, Celebration, DJ's Store, Learning

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Hi Everyone!

Well, tomorrow is a very big day for me and DJ’s World. It will be my 100th posting and some people say that when a blog survives to it’s 100th posting that it is no longer new but a lasting part of the blogging community. It has been very hard, at times, for me to write on different subjects. Of course, all of you know that without my Mama and Dada helping me, I wouldn’t be able to do this at all.

I hope that I will be able to keep finding interesting subjects to learn and write about. For me, personally, it is not that hard as I am learning everything for the first time and I am really interested in everything. The hard part is deciding what will be interesting for my friends that visit from so many places around the world. I hope that I will be able to live up to all of your expectations.

So, tomorrow will be a big announcement concerning my life. I hope that all of you will visit me.

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Technorati Tags: announcement, blogging, learning new things

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Hi Everyone!

Today is a special day.

Today is the birthday of my “yaya” (nanny). Rita has been with me since the day I was born. She has been just like an ” Ate” (big sister) who has taken care of me day after day. She has help me learn things like my “ABCs” and counting my numbers. She has help me take my naps in the afternoon and she has taken me for walks outside. When Mama is working, Ate Rita plays games with me and helps me draw pictures.

I must admit that I have had to teach Ate Rita how to play video games but that is because I learned how to do those things from my big brother.

Ate Rita is really a good and kind person and she is very much a member of our family. She can never take the place of Mama but she is really like my oldest sister.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ATE RITA! I love you.

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Technorati Tags: birthday, nanny, Rita, yaya

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Hi Everyone!

Today is National Heroes’ Day (Araw ng mga Bayani) which is a public holiday in the Philippines on the 4th Monday of August each year.The Philippines, on this day, commemorates the “Cry of Pugad Lawin” by Filipino revolutionaries called the Katipunan led by its leader (Supremo) Andres Bonifacio.This was the beginning of the end for the Spanish occupation of the Philippines.

The Philippines, like all countries of the world, has had many heroes in its history. That got me to thinking about the definition of a hero. I ask Mama “what is a hero?” and she said that we will start by looking up the definition of the word. Webster’s Dictionary states: “a man distinguished by exceptional courage and nobility and strength.”

Mama told me that this definition is not quite correct as it doesn’t truly define what a hero is. Mama said upon closer examination, many more different qualities than just the above mentioned become apparent upon reflection.. Courage, honesty, bravery, selflessness, and the will to try are just a few of the overlooked qualities of a hero.

Mama said there is another type of hero that almost no one is aware of. In the poorest areas of the country live people who have little resources or opportunities. All their lives they’ve expected to work hard and expected little or no success in life. Some individuals living in poverty with a strong determination to succeed work hard all of their lives with the single goal of rising up from their surroundings and circumstances to build a better life for themselves and their family; they are heroes. There are over 11 million Filipino Overseas Workers working in countries all around the world. They provide over 20% of the Gross National Income each and every year. They sacrifice there lives to provide much needed income to their families here in the Philippines. We call them our “modern day heroes.”

Mama said that everyone can be a hero each and everyday. She said that when we live our lives with the idea that we are here to help each other in every way possible we are heroes. When we help a older person across the street or give up our seat on a bus for an older person; we are a hero. When we help our friends with their homework when they are sick and can not attend school; we are heroes. I think that you get the idea. Mama said God teaches us that simple acts of kindness makes us better persons and that is really what being a hero is all about…being the best we can.

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Technorati Tags: heroes, National Heroes' Day, Philippine History, values

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