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In 2009, following a Pakistani government military operation in the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), over 2 million people were forced to flee their homes. London has around 12 million residents so you can imagine the sheer volume of mass expulsion and the mass problems that come with this. Islamic Relief rose to the challenge of this crisis by providing access to health services in 21 centres across NWFP. 40,000 patients benefitted, of this there were 9,000 children under the age of 5.
As the military operation finished and people returned to their villages, now in total and utter devastation. We turned our attention towards helping people rebuild their lives.
Islamic Relief Ambassadors, Shahid Afridi and Younus Khan undertook a UK fundraising tour in Birmingham, London, Manchester, Cardiff and Leicester to raise funds to rebuild four schools and a very much needed medical centre in Malakand.
“As a human being it’s our duty to care for others. Islamic Relief has been doing a great job and I consider it a privilege to be a part of their team.” said Younis Khan.
The project is now complete, with 800 children currently attending the schools and thousands of patients receiving treatment.
Muhammad Junaid
Muhammad Junaid dreams of becoming a doctor; “My father said we would have to leave our home and move to a safe place. We ended up staying for four months in a school in an area called Badwen. It was a bad experience. I missed my village, my friends, my school and my old life.
When we returned home, I saw my school had been destroyed, I asked my father why they did this and how I was supposed to study. One day my father told me that an organization called Islamic Relief was going to rebuild the school and the health centre. A few months later, the school was ready. This made me very happy.
The new building is very nice and clean; now we also have a hand pump for drinking water so we won’t ever have a water shortage in our school again. If Islamic Relief hadn’t built the school I think it would have taken years to rebuild.”
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