Raeesah Omar | 27 November 2018 | Image: Azhar Vadi
The Salaam foundation is visiting Chad for the second time, there are five people who are going through to Chad, amongst them is Salaam Media’s CEO, Fathima Sookharia. The volunteers are all traveling at their own expense.
The volunteers will be landing in N’Djamena (The Capital of Chad) and they will be travelling South by motor vehicle. The journey is approximately 18 hours long. The roads are extremely difficult. They will be travelling to the Kabutay refugee camp which houses around 30 000 refugees from the Central African Republic.
This visit is only possible because of the help of the S.A donor community who has supported this cause.
It is the culmination of 3 campaigns:
-The Survivor Campaign (Fight against abuse of women and sexual violence)
-The Ramadan Campaign
-Africa Arise
The funding that was collected will be used to supply 20 tons (20 000 kg) of food, 2500 Quran’s and Islamic educational books. A grinding machine was also donated which was a request by the women in the refugee camp so that they can become self-sufficient. This gives them a sense of dignity and pride.
The last thing that the funding will be used for is to put four boreholes in place which will benefit these women.
These women had to walk between 10-15km to collect water. They had to walk through forests and bushes which is where thugs and criminals usually hide. These women would either get raped, sexually assaulted or harassed. The boreholes will be closer to their homes which will hopefully result in less attacks on these women.
The Salaam Foundation is very thankful to everyone who assisted in raising funds for the journey through Chad.
In Chad there is a very strong Islamic ethos. These refugees value their deen to a large extent. They have a lot of love for the Quran and they have an attachment to the masjid (They can sit for hours in the mosque and feel content). During the ethnic cleansing that took place between 2013-2015 most of the attacks took place on masjid grounds. There are about 8 groups that came into Chad to assist with the crisis, they helped in providing shelter, food, medical equipment, etc but because these organizations were mostly from the West the people in the camps did not know how to ask for Quran’s and Islamic books (Hadith, fiqh, etc).
During the Salaam Foundations first visit to Chad the refugees requested Quran’s and Islamic books.
The Salaam foundation asked these refugees how they can assist as an organization. They asked if the refugees needed psychologists or medical personnel to heal from the trauma that they had experienced. The refugees responded by saying that the only thing they need to be content is the Quran, once again this displays how strong their bond with the Quran is.
This is phase 1 of this project and phase 2 will take place next year.
How can you help??
By donating to the Salaam foundation using the banking details provided below
Salaam Foundation
FNB
62669147665
Ref: Chad (Zakat/Lillah)
The five volunteers will be updating us as often as they can on the situation in Chad and the stories of the forgotten refugees.
