From Aid to Action: Supporting Our Sisters in Somalia

Following Muslim Charity’s hugely successful “Supporting Our Sisters” 7-City UK Tour which ended a fortnight ago, our teams and partners on the ground around the world have wasted no time in getting all the generous aid funded by our friends and donors in the UK to action in countries that we are working in.

Rizwan Hussain (from Islam Channel) with beneficiaries of the new borehole in Faradero, Somaliland

Currently, Muslim Charity’s UK team is visiting Somalia and Northern Kenya where we have recently completed the construction of two new boreholes; one in Baidoa (South Somalia) and the other in Somaliland (Northern Somalia). Our UK team along with Brother Rizwan Hussain (from Islam Channel) are on the ground in Somalia visiting various projects. The team visited the Faradero Borehole yesterday and photos of the visit are included at the bottom of this news report. The new borehole is the third borehole to be completed in Somalia which was generously funded by Muslim Charity’s UK donors and particularly viewers of Islam Channel during our Ramadan TV Appeals held last year in July. The borehole will provide 100,000 litres of water on a regular basis to thousands of beneficiaries as far wide as 50 kilometres’ radius from the borehole location.

The team also yesterday visited the graduation and handing over ceremonies of a livelihood generation initiative of Muslim Charity whereby women are taught the skills of sewing and once their learning is complete, brand new sewing machines are handed over to them along with material to get them started on their new means of income generation. This was an important element of our Supporting Our Sisters campaign.

Over the coming days, Brother Rizwan Hussain and the rest of the MC team will be visiting other projects of Muslim Charity in South Somalia and North Kenya including the handing over of incubators to hospitals, renovation of schools for children, a mobile health unit that has been set up and is running in Northern Somalia, Pre-Ramadan Food Distributions as well as other projects.

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Photos of the first day of Rizwan Hussain (Islam Channel) and the MC Team visit which is ongoing in Somalia/Kenya:

Beneficiaries, many of whom may have walked many miles to this location, fill up their containers at Muslim Charity’s newly constructed borehole in Faradero, Somaliland (Northern Somalia) which pumps out 100,000 litres of water several times a day. Alhamdulillah.

Rizwan Hussain (from Islam Channel) helps local beneficaries fill up their water containers with fresh and safe drinkable water pumped out by the new borehole in Faradero, Somaliland (Northern Somalia).

Rizwan Hussain and Muslim Charity’s team hand over Food Packages to local needy families ahead of the upcoming month of Ramadan.

A woman who comes from a household that has no male breadwinner and who is a beneficiary of a Pre-Ramadan Food Package Distribution. Muslim Charity’s teams on the ground have identified the most needy families and particularly female-headed households and regularly provide them assistance especially during the month of Ramadan which can be very difficult for these families. Rice, flour, cooking oil, dates and other necessary items are included in such assistance to the poor and vulnerable.

One of the important elements of Muslim Charity’s Supporting Our Sisters campaign is about providing income generation means to female-headed households. Here, in Burao (Somaliland, Northern Somalia), Muslim Charity funds the training of needy women who have no male breadwinner in their families to learn embroidery and sewing skills and then at the completion of their training hands over sewing machines with material to get them started on their means of an income generation.

Rizwan Hussain participating in and handing over a sewing machine at a graduation ceremony of women who have completed their training and come from households that have no male breadwinner. This is an important element of Muslim Charity’s “Supporting Our Sisters” campaign.