COVERED Issue 3 Edition 4 | Page 6

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.