Students return books to help family

By Elizabeth Leffall
The Collegian

Twin sisters and nursing students Zakiyyah and Khadijah Abdul-Mateen said they would do anything to get their family to Fresno and Oakland from New Orleans, so they did.

“Since we both have the same major, we decided to return one set of books and copy our labs,” Khadijah said. “Along with a portion of our financial aid, and an emergency loan, we used the book money to buy airplane tickets online.”

Mary Abdul-Mateen, the twins’ mother, welcomed the first relative to her home in Oakland Saturday morning. She said she is so proud of her children, and cried for several days because her family was calling to come home and she didn’t have the money.

“My brother called me and said ‘I’m so hungry.’ I cried because I couldn’t do anything to help but pray. I called the Red Cross but they couldn’t help me unless I could prove they were my kin,” she said. “It was so hard because they don’t have any ID or papers so I couldn’t prove it.”

Abdul-Mateen said “when the girls heard me, they said ‘don’t cry mom, we’ll get them here.’ Since then they’ve spearheaded the whole thing.”

The twins said it was the least they could do.

“My parents have a family of six and are paying for three of us in college,” Khadijah said. “My brother and sister and I decided that since mom and dad were paying for us at Fresno State and my brother at UC Berkeley, we would pay for our other family members,” Zakiyyah said.

Although many family members have made contact, Zakiyyah said some family members on her father’s side are still missing. “We don’t even know how many of them there are,” she said.

Family members in California were responsible for reuniting a cousin and uncle stranded on the same bridge in New Orleans.

“We kept getting text messages from both of them individually saying they were on the bridge and that they were alone,” Zakiyyah said. “We texted them back and told them they were on the same bridge. Hours later they texted us back that they found each other.”

As a result of their sacrifice, these Louisiana natives welcomed two of their cousins to Fresno this morning at the train station.

The twins said they are preparing to house as many family members as they can in their small two-bedroom apartment in Fresno.

“Whatever is ours is theirs,” Zakiyyah said. “For as long as it takes.”

Since Friday the twins have received $60 toward their effort, and hope to receive enough money to purchase five more tickets. The most inexpensive ticket online, from New Orleans to Los Angeles, costs the sisters more than $400.

To donate to the Abdul-Mateen family, please call (510) 435-9623.