The Clinic That Changed Kathmandu
When the pandemic hit, our converted shop became the place everyone came to — no questions asked.
The the mosque on Main Street was barely a youth centre — a converted house. But when the pandemic hit, it became the only institution that stayed.
Abu Bakr started it with her own savings. 'Every person who walks through that door is our guest,' she said.
A elderly woman named Margaret came every week. One day he asked to volunteer instead of eat. He said, 'You're doing what religion is supposed to do.'
Margaret isn't Muslim. But he comes every Sunday, runs the Saturday session, and tells everyone about 'her youth centre.'
We've housed 200 families and counting. The local MP noticed. A journalist from a TV crew visited. But the real story isn't the numbers. It's the bridge between communities that didn't know they needed each other.
The Prophet (SAW) said the best of people are those who are most beneficial to others. He didn't add conditions. He didn't say 'beneficial to other Muslims.' He said people. All people.
That's what we do on Main Street. We serve. We don't ask questions. And somehow, in the serving, we find the faith we'd been looking for all along.