Bambo Diaby explained that he hopes he can help the local Muslim community – and that they in turn can return that support – as he again gave up his time to support Preston North End Community and Education Trust’s [PNECET] Ramadan project last week.
PNECET is delivering a month-long initiative throughout April to support local Muslim residents, who are fasting during Ramadan, by providing free biryani, dates and water, three nights a week across three different locations in Preston.
A highlight of the celebrations came just shy of a fortnight ago when the club and PNECET together held an event at Deepdale which invited Muslim supporters and residents to spend their evening and break their fast together at Preston North End.
Fasting – which is to abstain from eating or drinking - occurs from sunrise to sunset every evening during Ramadan and the act of breaking that fast is the first time a Muslim will eat or drink since before sunrise or perhaps even the previous evening.
As a practising Muslim himself, it’s something Bambo can relate to – having broken his fast, for example, while on the bench for the Lancashire derby against Blackpool earlier this month – with the sun setting at approximately 8pm that evening.
After joining with the deliveries of free food on the first night of the initiative at the start of April, Bambo was back at Deepdale again to attend the Break Your Fast event by meeting and praying with fans and breaking his fast alongside them.
He said: “For me it’s very special to come back and to meet my Muslim brothers and sisters. I enjoy it a lot, I enjoy it with them, to share my experiences with Ramadan and everything on the pitch, my experience with the club. I’m very excited and happy to do it again.
“For me it’s very important because it’s an opportunity to explain the way you live in the football when you are a Muslim and for them to know how you feel on the pitch. They try to help you, to support more, and that’s what I want. The Muslim community are helping me to do that, they are doing very excellent, I’m very happy with that and very proud of that.
“I want them to understand that, to help us, and I want to help them as well to explain my situation. I want to see them here in Deepdale helping us, helping me, and helping all the Muslim community.”
🌙 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙠...@BamboDiabyDiaby joined us at Deepdale for our Break Your Fast event, which saw more than 350 Muslim supporters joining us inside the stadium to break their fast together! 🤍
— Preston North End Community and Education Trust (@pnecommunity) April 20, 2022
Read more ➡️ https://t.co/t5fi3Kwa6o#PNECET #PNEFC pic.twitter.com/lCCOrrHIA8
For more information about PNECET’s Ramadan project, please email mohammed@pne.com.