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Islamic Relief UK Director writes from Bamako, Mali |
Alhamdulilah, Allah gave us the opportunity to travel to Mali & when visiting the field, as always Allah not only opens our eyes but opens our hearts.
The Mali Country Director, Abdul Majid Naciri reminded us when asked about “dependency on Aid in Africa”, stated that “We never start a project without building TRUST at the grass roots of the community. NO TRUST leads to FAILURE of project, we pride ourselves on an inclusive participatory approach”
This was witnessed by us at the ground breaking ceremony of laying down the foundation of a brand new school 100km outside Bamako & the opening ceremony of another School in another village. The developing world is known for all the negatives but its warmth & hospitality far exceed anything we are used to and can comprehend. The welcome we received was truly humbling & inspirational at the same time. The entire community: men, women (old & young), children & animals welcomed us like royalty to their village on this auspicious & blessed day. The famous Mali welcome dance, with gunshot parade was extremely uplifting, within a few minutes the long, dusty, 40 degrees plus journey to get to the community seemed irrelevant.
It was a like an Eid Celebration, the joy, the laughter, the hope in the eyes of the children, where with the generous support of our donors these children will finally have an education, an opportunity to learn & to have their dreams become a reality.
One child in the community, held up a sign saying “ISLAMIC RELIEF IS OUR HOPE”, when I read that sign I felt the weight of the mission of this organisation. Islamic Relief for many of the most vulnerable in remote areas is HOPE.
We at Islamic Relief are about Dignity not Charity. As our colleague said at the opening of the brand new school, that today is the first day, where we turn the dreams of these children into reality
Day one of the trip has ended & I could not have asked for a more uplifting experience but i couldn’t retire for the night without sharing my feelings with you all.
My only sadness right now is that you are all not personally here to share these blessed experiences with us.
From Bamako with love & respect.
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