LFT Iftaar – Ramadhan 1442
We are just over two weeks from being guests of Allah in the Holy Month of Ramadhan where we seek to transform our lives and in so doing, evaluate our connection with God’s creation around us – from our relationship with family and friends with whom we would usually share an iftar, to our acts of charity to support those living in the poorest communities.
We are always grateful for your support of the work of the Lady Fatemah Trust and at no time more so than during the Holy Month of Ramadhan. All year round the Trust’s focus remains on creating sustainable solutions to not only help save lives but to constantly seek ways of improving the lives of all those we are blessed and fortunate enough to serve. Whether the incentive to give to humanity is driven by a religious obligation like khums, sadaqa or zakat or through corporate social responsibilities or other personal motivation, our projects offer the balance between responding to current emergencies including drought, the Covid-19 pandemic and war and providing communities the tools to stand on their own feet. Our persistent focus is on longer term empowerment through programmes like Mothernomics as well as #YouGottaBeKidding and #MakingASplash alongside empowerment projects to enable children to continue to grow and take up opportunities in education to give them the best start in life.
However, the month of Ramadhan is special, and we use the opportunity to better appreciate, empathise and understand the causes of injustices, inequality and poverty through an act of kindness in both welcoming the bounties of the All Merciful One by sharing food parcels with the less fortunate around the world.
From 500 largely widowed mother headed refugees from Afghanistan and Syria who are living in destitution in Greece, to 200 families in the UK who are reliant on food banks – both newly arrived or due to changes in economic conditions brought about by the pandemic. We stand by and will not overlook our duty to our neighbours. The continuing work of the LFT’s GiveIT programme has benefitted over 600 families in over 20 schools across who the country have received a laptop. You can read more about the change this has meant for children and their families on our website.
In the true spirit of the LFT, our work also carries on globally and the Iftaar distributions will benefit 1,200 families from farming communities in the Bale region of Ethiopia affected by civil war in the country and poor harvests as well as 1,000 families in the remote district of Wajir in Northern Kenya. The support in Kenya continues with coastal communities in the Kwale region where the LFT’s water purification, solar and wind energy generation is bringing clean energy and clean water for hydration, hygiene and irrigation. Your continued and persistent support for the work of the LFT continues to help us empower these families all year round. Additionally, in Tanzania, following the completion of the full refurbishment of the Kaole Primary school with eight classrooms, staff washrooms and a staffroom to create excellent teaching facilities, 350 families in Bagamoyo will receive food parcels to assist them break their fast with nutritious meals.
For the eleventh consecutive year, the LFT will be serving families in Gaza who are living in poverty and have a disabled child, to receive two cooked meals a week. Conditions in parts of the Gaza strip are so debilitating that families lack the ability to cook meals and frequently miss meals or have poorer nutrition as a result. This gesture of yours helps them break their fast in dignity and with honour and gives them the opportunity to share a full meal with extended family members and sometimes neighbours. Testimonials tell us this is the only time in the year when families can sit to eat with their wider community because otherwise there just isn’t enough food to go around.