REALITY______________________________________________________________________
A Walk through the "Red Zone.
By Shaakira Rahiman-Saleh
Just ahead of Ramadaan this year, I attended a
Fundraiser Breakfast in aid of the Syrian and
Palestinian refugee crises. First -hand accounts
from a women's delegation were presented
including Dr Aishah Kaka, Fatima Juma,
Yumna Moolla, Nabila Cassim and Fahmida
Suleman . Special Guest Journalist,
Humanitarian & Executive Director of Urda,
Jihan Kaisi also took us on a LIVE walk
through a "Red Zone" of a refugee camp in
Arsal just on the border of Lebanon. In this
article I share the heart-wrenching account of
this experience.
March 2019 was the second time a women's
delegation was sent by the Africa Muslims Agency
which served a dual purpose as a follow up visit and
which strengthened the efforts of their previous trip
in October 2018 last year. Fatima Juma was one of
the few women who went on both trips. She says
"There was a notable difference between the
sponsored and non-sponsored orphans, not only in
the way they looked but in the way they were
emotionally recovering from the trauma they face as
child refugees as well as coming out of a harsh winter
at the time. I think we need to get the awareness out
there that yes charity begins at home and we should
give, But we must also remember that the conditions
of these people are dire, they were just ordinary
people who fled and were forced out of their homes.
The crises is severer on that side and basic human
rights are denied as many do not have their legal
papers and are not even allowed to work. I believe
when giving charity there is enough for everyone"
It was mentioned during one of the presentations
that a bakery and sewing workshop are being
developed in one of the camps. The bakery
supplies daily bread for over 2000 refugees and
the sewing workshop is facilitated by a Syrian rape
survivor named Amal. Her story was hard to
hear- she was raped multiple times and left for
dead until the organization "URDA" found and
helped her. Amal had amnesia for a long time and
the occasional flashbacks she experienced as well
as being disowned by the family remaining, left
her suicidal .Living through these horrors, much
counselling was required to get the point she is at.
With time and rehabilitation it was discovered
that she was a seamstress in Syria. Amal now uses
her skill to empower other women in the sewing
workshop. Both these projects need ongoing
support to make a difference to the thousands it
serves. These are the types of projects the Africa
Muslims Agency supports along with the
distribution of food parcels, sanitary packs for
women, heating and improving the general well-
being and infrastructure so that people can live in
a safe and dignified manner.