Bismillahi rahmaani Raheem
Dear Supporters – Salaamun Alaikum
APPEAL: Ophthalmology Department, Karbala – Transforming darkness into light
This year, the LFCT has committed to transforming the lives of thousands in Karbala. A person forced to imagine the beauty of nature; a parent that can’t watch their child blossom into adulthood; a child that cannot see the comfort of a mother’s embrace – these are all unfortunate realities of many people living in the Middle East. Unlike many other epidemics such as cancer or HIV/AIDS, where the cure is difficult to discover, over 80% of blindness is preventable. This equates to a staggering 800 million people that suffer unnecessarily. As we know that the eyesight of an individual naturally deteriorates with age; this proves to be the least of problems in the Middle East when acknowledging studies similar to one done in Lebanon where 231 children were studied in three blind schools in the age range of 6-20 years of age. Of these students, 70 % were blind before the age of two, meaning that the quality of life is not entirely enjoyed and many young children are forced to live a life of additional hardships. A more recent study revealed that out of 137 blind Jordanian children, 122 cases (77.7%) were found after 1970 some in which could have been treated with ease given the resources the developed countries have today. The time and date of these statistics mean that the problem is not getting better it is in fact taking a change for the worse.
The feasibility of curing blindness in middle eastern countries may appear to be a daunting task but at closer inspection one will realize that cataracts contributes up to 6.4% of health conditions in the middle east which contributes to nearly 7 million individuals that must live with blindness for the rest of their lives. Due to the recent surge in blindness in the Middle East from 1970 to present day, the gross domestic product has dwindled as blindness has an indirect relationship with the financial stability of that country. When a person is struck with a debilitating disease that results in blindness in the Middle East, that person then loses his/her opportunity to support their family. A domino effect then begins to play out as that person is forced into poverty and thus cannot contribute to the economy through buying and selling goods as he/she could’ve prior to the disease. The majority of people living with blindness are women, most blind people need someone to care for them, and this is usually a child, more often than not.
APPEAL: Iraq’s Orphans Mohammed and Ahmad’s Story
LFCT Donors, please donate generously. It costs just GBP£30.00/US$45.00 per Orphan per month.
Mohammed and Ahmad Salim Jamal are brothers who lost their father in the Iraq war. Ahmad was just two months old when his father was killed, whilst Mohammed was just a year and a half. The family lived in Baghdad in Al Faris Village near to Khan Dhari District. Mohammed and Ahmad’s parents worked as farmers, planting and rearing vegetables and selling them in Abu Ghreeb District to bring in a valuable income. It was a simple life, but the family were together and supported each other when times became tough.
One day, in 2005 Mohammed and Ahmad’s father went to the market to sell crops with his brother and cousins. It was an ordinary day in the war and the family had to try and carry on with life as much as possible. However, this day was to affect the family forever.
As the bus that Mohammed and Ahmad’s father and relatives were on travelled to market, an unknown armed group randomly opened fire on one of the US forces close by. The bus was caught in the gunfire and all relatives suffered gunshot wounds. They were rushed to hospital but later sadly passed away due to their wounds.
Mohammed and Ahmad’s mother was devastated when she first heard about the news. She continued to stay in the modest clay family home in Al Faris Village. They lived this way for some time before one day, she received a death threat from the same unknown armed group. They ordered her to leave her house due to her Shia beliefs. Early in 2006 she was forced to migrate and travelled to Karbala with her two small children where she found safety and tranquillity. The family now resides with her mother, brother, his wife and their six children in a cramped house.
The family is part of the Orphan support scheme, receiving 100,000ID/£54.97 each month so that she can help support her two children. There are many more destitute widows and orphans across Iraq that need some help to get them back on their feet. No one has been spared from the effects of violence and war in Iraq, and since 2003 the number of orphaned children in the country has escalated into a humanitarian crisis. Please help the LFCT to strengthen its support and scope for the orphans of Iraq and provide some comfort, security and care where it is most needed.
A new way to help support the LFCT’s work! Raise money for The Lady Fatemah Charitable Trust whilst you shop – with no extra cost for you!
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LFCT in Ethiopia: A great project gets underway – Income Generation Opportunity for Rural Pastoralist Widow Households through Dairy Goat Distribution in Ethiopia
The organization for Help Out (OHO) secured a grant fund of £6380.39 in September 2015 to implement a dairy goat project in two selected agro-pastoral villages of Ginner districts in Bale Zone of Oromia Regional State in Ethiopia with 200 widow headed households. The major objectives of the project were; To lift the vulnerable rural widows in selected agro-pastoral areas out of the low-asset trap through provision of reproductive goats that can contribute to income generation and food security; to complement the food security of targeted female headed households and to restock the livestock resource base of the targeted female-headed households by distributing dairy goats.
The project achieved the principal milestones set out in its work plans and completed start-up activities including developing criteria for selection of restocking beneficiaries, identification and actual selection of beneficiaries, establishment and strengthening of goat purchasing and support committees, identification of purchasing procedures and markets, the purchasing of goats and the vaccination of goats and actual distribution of the goats to the selected beneficiaries.
The goats distributed are appropriate for the beneficiaries and their agro-ecological conditions. Due to the high reproductive rate of goats, large numbers of offspring can be produced over a short and economically reasonable period of time. This will ensure an aggregate increase in livestock holding of the target community within short time, providing great opportunity for the rebuilding of herd stock and generating good income to reduce poverty among them.
OHO followed a basic but systematic approach for the implementation of the project. Primarily it ensured stakeholders’ participation. For instance, it involved the relevant government offices and community representatives in key project activities. This process succeeded in building a strong sense of ownership for the project among stakeholders, built stakeholder support, facilitated the project implementation without any delay and laid the groundwork for the sustainability of the project.
During the reporting period two Dairy Goats Support Committees were established both at the District and Pastoralist village levels. Each Dairy Goats Support Committees has five members (1 male and 4 female). The committee members were drawn from local elders, members of ‘Kebele’/sub-district administrations and primary beneficiaries. The Goats Support Committees are well organized and develop their own bylaws providing a clear division of responsibilities among the chair, co-chair and members. The committees have very important roles and functions in the project. They provide different support to the project and the beneficiaries. At the initial stage they were involved in beneficiary identification, selection of breed types, specific goat types of a given breed, etc. Further updates on the outcomes achieved to follow as this exciting project develops.
LFCT in Tanzania: Four more Pemba island villages now have clean water at their doorstep thanks to generous LFCT supporters
Two water storage tanks and taps have been successfully installed by the LFCT’s local partner in Pemba, PEDEO. This project was implemented in the four villages of Mgoli, Lakolikoje Jambonia and Mgongeni. Together these villages have 987 residents, including the elderly and young children. These villagers are split across 103 families.
For their whole lives, residents of all four villages have lacked the essential services of clean and safe water close to their homes. This has caused major disruption, stress and unhappiness. A few pre-existing boreholes have been re-dug and water utilized from these, however this water is brackish, miring with salt water from the high water table and close proximity to the sea. This made adults and children alike sick. In addition, in the summer these already insufficient boreholes dried up and villages were forced to make a long journey in search of safe water.
Similarly, these villages did have access to an existing piped water system but it was extremely inconsistent. Some weeks it was only available for two days, and at other times if only flowed at night but dripped in the day. This uncertainty coupled with numerous precious hours spent searching for water meant villagers livelihood suffered. They were deprived of enough time to devote to various income generating activities including agriculture production, farming, fishing and crafts. These livelihoods are vital for putting food on the table and sending the children to school.
This project is commissioned and started providing water on the official date of 20/10/2015. All residents have started to benefit well from the project, including the eliminations of any previous stresses and worries around sourcing safe water, and having enough time to dedicate to their livelihood and generate vital income.
LFCT in Malawi: Renovation of Plumbing System: Phase 1, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi.
After several decades of heavy utilisation, the physical condition of the plumbing system at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre has deteriorated to an unusable state with blocked sewage systems, broken and leaking pipes, unsuitable toilets, and broken showers. The antiquated sewage system is now also unable to cope with the high volume of patients and guardians that currently use them. These problems, compounded by poor waste management on site, have led to rats and other vermin taking residence near the wards.
Although routine maintenance and ad hoc repair works have been carried out over the years, the current state of the plumbing system presents significant infection control risks and compromises the care and dignity of the patients. The LFCT is working with Chirafund in Malawi to renovate the plumbing system.
The stated objective of the project was “To renovate the plumbing system (including bathrooms, ward sinks, indoor and outdoor plumbing and sewerage systems) of Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital (QECH), Blantyre in order to reduce the risk of hospital based infections and thereby improve the care and dignity of patients”.
This project will take place over five phases with Phase 1 focussed on renovation of the external plumbing system, as well as of the internal plumbing of the Burns and Paediatric Wards.
Immediate attention was given to external plumbing issues for two reasons:
1. To have it completed before the next rainy season in Malawi starts (usually around mid to late November), and;
2. As the proposed internal works will be completed more efficiently once the external issues have been fixed.
For the internal works, and based on greatest need, the project carried out internal plumbing work on the Burns ward, including work to internal sinks and ablution facilities, and secondly to renovation of the Paediatric special needs toilets.
Completed renovations include:
External plumbing and sewage system; Clearing of blocked drains; replacement of water supply and drainage piping; placement of concrete slabs over (previously uncovered) all manholes, and; placement of new wash troughs complete with concrete slabs.
Burns Ward: Partial renovation to the male and female toilets (including replacement of plumbing fixtures and unblocking toilets and showers); repairs to sinks and tiling around these plumbing fixtures; painting of ablution blocks, and; fixing of taps and sinks in various wards.
Paediatric toilets: Painting of walls; replacement of broken ceiling boards; fixing of leaks; replacement of water supply and drainage pipes; replacement of showers, toilets and some fittings; new concrete floors installed in showers to allow for better drainage of water, and; replacement of cisterns and their security cages.
Work commenced on the 1st of September and was completed on the 10th of October.
To date, the project has come in slightly below budget. Withholding Tax of 4% was deducted from the final bill for Malawi Revenue Authority. The small surplus will be added to the next phase. Phase 1 has meant lots of learning has been taken forward including:
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Chirafund needs to do, or contract, a more thorough assessment of the required works at QECH before determining the remaining work needed and its cost. This is also needed so that Chirafund can give a more accurate quote to the funder and so that the appointed construction company is fully aware of the work they need to undertake and can quote accurately and accordingly.
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Chirafund needs to request that the next construction firm provides a fully qualified project manager who will be onsite at all times.
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Chirafund needs to put a financial penalty system in place in the next contract in order to try and ensure a reduction or removal of the delays that have plagued Phase I of the project and that will reduce inefficiencies on the part of the contractor.
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Due to the high levels of poverty and poor security, theft is a huge issue at the hospital. Although Chirafund is installing systems that are protected as much as possible, such as by fixtures being concreted into the walls, it also realises that other fittings either need to be welded or caged into place so as to prevent their removal. ChiraFund is in ongoing discussions with the Head of Security and the Chief Administrative Officer on how security can be managed and improved. Chirafund has been told that a new security firm is being hired at the hospital and that Hospital Administration is hopeful that this will result in improved security. Chirafund has specifically asked for, and has been promised, additional security around male wards as this is where the highest levels of theft are.
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Maintaining and keeping the new renovations clean is going to be a challenge. To address this, Chirafund has already implemented a new cleaning regime on the Adult Medical wards and the Children’s Medical Care Malawi have stated that they are willing to buy the materials needed to ensure this for the paediatric wards.
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ChiraFund instigated a meeting of all charities on November 3rd to discuss all of the above issues and to engender a broader, more concerted approach to their resolution
ChiraFund has invited the Head of Paediatrics and the Chief Hospital Administrator to an official opening and placement of plaques on Friday 23rd of October- (pictures to follow)
APPEAL: PHASE 2: Renovation of Paediatric Oncology Ablution Block. LFCT Donors, please donate generously towards this noble project
It is hard to believe that any human, let alone a child with cancer has to use these toilets.
To renovate the Paediatric Oncology ablution block of Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, (QECH) Blantyre in order to reduce the risk of hospital based infections to children already suffering from cancer and thereby improve the care and dignity of paediatric patients and the guardians who care for them.
Nosocomial illness – due to disease-causing organisms spreading between individuals in hospital – is an important risk in crowded wards such as these, for example, the children on the Oncology wards are immunocompromised and therefore particularly susceptible to infections. The risk of acquiring a nosocomial infection is highest in each ward’s toilet and ablutions block, where up to 200 people share the same seats, sinks, taps, showers and towels. They also share the same floor – on which most walk bare-foot.
The plumbing system, especially the toilet and sink facilities need frequent renovation, as well as thorough and regular cleaning. At present we recognize that without a complete overhaul, the now ageing system is impossible to clean adequately and are a constant health hazard. We would like to renovate these with good-quality components and to a design that will allow effective ventilation and efficient cleaning.
The proposed renovation works will cover repairs to: the plumbing and sewage system; replacement of showers, toilets and fittings, re-painting of walls; replacement of floors where necessary to improve drainage, replacement of plumbing and drainage pipes and replacement of ceilings and repair to roof.
3rd Appeal under Salima Memorial Medical Education Project – Orphan Sister Hayfa Ali BAZZI from Bint Jbeil South Lebanon wishing to complete Vocational Nursing Technical Baccaloureate B.T. Please help today.
“My name is Haifa Bazzi, I am 25 years old, I finished TS2 at Imam Sadr Foundation and I am continuing my Nursing Bachelor of Sciences at the Islamic University of Lebanon (I have already finished two years). In fact, I am working at Jabal Amel Hospital and I am the only financial supporter of my family. Al Hamdulillah there is an association called Lady Fatemah that just saved my academic life for my last year in Nursing Care; without you I was quitting because I can no more support debts and on the same time afford an acceptable decent life to my family! Now, I revived again by the will of Allah to continue my holy message of Sayyidah Fatima (a.s.) and Sayyidah Zaynab (a.s): Nursing Humanitarian Care.”
It will cost just £3,173 for Haifa to fulfil her dreams and study nursing care. Please help Haifa today so that she can help others.
LFCT in Lebanon: Help Sister Farah, a promising young nurse today care for those less fortunate
“I want to develop my skills and have an advanced Nursing degree in order to help my country and help my parents in their expenses because their income is not sufficient. I also want to give the best service to my patients and help them alleviate their sufferings and be able, by the help of God inshallah, to let them enjoy a better health and a better life!” Farrah Assi
25 years old, Farah is resident of Al-Chahabieh, South Lebanon. She lives with her mother, father and two siblings. Farah Ahmad Assi has a dream of becoming a nurse and helping her country – help her make this a reality today. Farah has a dream of attending the Imam Sadr Foundation’s Nursing Vocational School. She is a bright student who gained 15/20 in her Superior Technical in Nursing Care. Farah would like to continue her career in health and study Community Nursing Care at the Islamic University of South Lebanon. The course will cost $4,800 USD/ £3,127.40 with the first year costing $3,200/ £2,084.94.
For Farrah, it is very important that she pursues a career where she can give something back to her community and contribute to humanitarian work in Lebanon. She is a promising student who, without the help of the LFCT might be forced to stop her studies. Her parents are poor and Farrah has already accrued debt to pay for her previous course of study. Farrah has a whole career ahead of her that she is determined to dedicate to the health and wellbeing of those less fortunate.
Farrah’s passion is clear. Please help her to live her dream and study to become a nurse today. Please donate generously and support this promising humanitarian.
LFCT in Bangladesh: Helping to unlock the potential in Bangladesh’s youth today
The LFCT would like to initially support the capital costs of this excellent project that will empower young people in Bangladesh to take control of their own futures and help lift themselves out of poverty into sustainable income generating activities. The LFCT will support its partner in Bangladesh to deliver this project over the next 12 months and is appealing to the LFCT’s dedicated supporters to help make this a reality.
The aim of this project is to increase the level of education and awareness of young girls and boys in the project area, empowering them and enhancing their capabilities through: (i) vocational training; (ii) life skills education; (iii) leadership and empowerment training; (iv) entrepreneurship training (v) mainstreaming into government schools and (vi) advocacy around key social issues. It is hoped that this will in turn help to;
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increase the level of education and awareness of young girls and boys in the project area, empowering them and enhancing their capabilities through mainstreaming to government schools, life skills education, leadership and empowerment training, livelihood training and business assistance.
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Enhance the skills of adolescent girls and boys through community based vocational training courses to help improve their employability.
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To promote the role of young girls and boys in the social, economic and cultural development of their village.
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To establish a network setup with Union Parishads (similar to District Councils) through which the adolescent girls and boys will be able to raise their voices on relevant issues i.e. child marriage, gender based violence etc.
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To contribute to the formulation of national poverty eradication policies.
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To establish community ownership of the project for sustainability and future replication.
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This project will work with 740 adolescent girls and boys in Barguna District, Bangladesh, to increase their access to education, provide them with vocational training, life skills, leadership skills and business training. In addition, this project will work with girls, boys, their families and communities to equip them with the knowledge and tools to understand their rights, advocate for girl’s rights, be informed about gender discrimination, violence and child marriage and take action towards preventing this. The proposed project area is Barguna District situated in the southern part of Bangladesh. Barguna is a poor coastal area prone to natural disasters with the economy depending on agriculture and fishing.
In October 2014, UNICEF reported that Bangladesh has approximately 2.9 million adolescents aged 10-19 years. At over 30% of the demographic (BBS, 2008) 15 – 25 year olds dominate the economically active population. A large number of this young demographic migrate for work, having come from poor, rural disadvantaged backgrounds. Here Bangladesh’s youth face a variety of obstacles in their access to employment, education, health care and exercising their rights. They often work in hazardous roles, such as labourers, rickshaw pullers, domestic servants and sex workers. They often are self-employed in the informal sector or remain unemployed and become associated with crime. Perhaps the most significant challenge facing Bangladesh’s youth is the transition from education to the labour market. Enrolment in technical and vocational education is especially low in Bangladesh, where it represents just four per cent of total admission, with less than one per cent girls. Barriers to girls’ education in Bangladesh include negative attitudes toward female education, household work burdens and long journeys to school.
Vocational training can overcome many of these barriers and equip young people with the skills they need for the rest of their lives. You can make a difference today by donating to this project and help give a young person the start to their career that they so desperately want.
Please help support this project today and give the gift of knowledge and training – a gift that will unlock the potential in Bangladesh. The LFCT aims to support the capital costs of this project at £2,257.
Thank you.
BACK TO NEWSLETTER SEARCH
Our November newsletter told of the assistance given to Sister Samah Abu Amsha in Gaza and we are pleased to note from our local partners the stories of a strong willed lady that resulted in taking the first steps towards overcoming the dilemmas of her life. Samah and her children suffer from life threatening conditions, her eldest daughter of 12 years suffers from an aggressive tumor.
Our partner support the beneficiaries of your assistance by carrying out periodic home visits.
They have noticed Samah in high spirits with her self-confidence having been notably improved, and the determination of her of speaking about future plans to expand her micro-finance project into a convenience store, which she actually started, as she bought a new set of racks, where she can keep more items for selling, and upon the demands of her customers she started selling eggs, spices, and other food items.
Samah earns about $200 per month, and she makes a saving out of her monthly income for her daughter’s future needs.
She takes her children to the public gardens where they can enjoy the fresh air and eat their favourite food and therefore letting them relish good childhood moments that they deserve. Samah is pleased that now she can provide her children with their needs of food and clothes, besides being able to continue the medical follow up that her children and herself need. In addition, Samah reconciled with her brother, who became helpful and supportive to her, which resulted in improving her psychological status and putting her troubled past behind her.
Samah said to: “It is like being in a dream, it is a true bliss to be able to earn my living in dignity. Now, I pray for Allah to keep my children and me healthy. I extend my deepest gratitude and prayers to the Lady Fatemah Charitable Trust for their support that made positive changes in my life.”
The British Muslim Awards 2014
The LFT is pleased to announce that it was one of five charities shortlisted for the Charity of the Year award at the British Muslim Awards held on 30 January 2014. Although, the LFT did not ultimately win, it was shortlisted alongside leading UK charities such as Islamic Relief, Muslim Aid and Muslim Hands. The nomination is testament to the generous and effective support of all its donors.
Cheryl Gillian MP recognises LFT’s work in Parliament; colleague encourages DFID to support further
“Mrs Cheryl Gillan (MP for Chesham and Amersham) (Conservative): There is no doubt that all colleagues mean well, but the enormity of this humanitarian crisis means it is imperative for the Government to continue to help as many people as possible—and help the many rather than the few in this case rather than using helping the few as an excuse. Other agencies are helping, like the Lady Fatemah Trust in my constituency—a small charitable organisation that takes no administrative fees whatever—so what can the Government do to help support those charities? This one has already distributed 103 tonnes of food to Syrian refugees in Lebanon.
Mr Mark Harper (MP for Forest of Dean and Minister for Immigration) (Conservative) : I am very grateful to my Right Honourable friend for drawing attention to the work of that excellent organisation in her constituency. We are working with various organisations, including partner organisations, but the Secretary of State for International Development is present, and will have heard the details about this charity. I am sure that she will discuss with my Right Honourable friend whether we can do more to support its work in helping people in the region.
Restore an orphan’s smile:
In addition to Iraq, the Trust has established fostering programs to care for children in India, Pakistan, Iran and Lebanon and Gaza. One such orphaned child from Gaza is Sajid al Nirab, a nine year old boy, living in the Jabalia refugee camp with his mother and younger deaf sister.
In October 2013, he lost his father, an event that left both him and his sister traumatized. With the help of the LFT, both children have been receiving counseling sessions and guidance on a regular basis to help them overcome their loss.
At its heart, the LFT’s orphan sponsorship program intends to reach the most destitute of families. Frequently, such families do not have access to charitable organizations or public welfare departments. Disease, lack of information, or simply abject poverty prevents them from seeking assistance. In some cases, mothers cannot even afford the cost of transportation, and find it difficult to travel if they have no one to look after their young children whilst away.
For £30 a month, you can sponsor an orphan, and give a child the chance for a better future. Did you know that over 1,000 orphans in the city of Karbala and in the rest of Iraq receive monthly support though your generosity and thousands more can be assisted?
Salima Memorial Medical Education Project
In order to honour the service and dedication of the late Salima Padhani to the LFT, the Trustees established a project in her name in November 2011. The Salima Memorial Medical Education Project provides bursaries for impoverished students in developing countries who wish to undertake medical education, including nursing, dentistry, general practice and other medical professions. Since its inception, the project has had 29 beneficiaries, and is a definitive way in which Salima’s short but inspiring life can live on through many others. For further information on the latest appeals, please visit the LFT’s dedicated page.
LiFT Tanzania – Water infrastructure to the islands of Pemba
The LFT is delighted to inform you that it has been able to successfully complete the construction of two 5,000 litre water storage tanks for three villages in the Pemba district of Tanzania, which has benefited approximately 1,500 people. The storage facilities were constructed with the assistance of village members and as a result of their hard work and your generosity, these villages now have a reliable supply of clean, safe water that can be used for drinking, cleaning, and cooking.
With the completion of this project, 50% of the Pemba Island now has a constant supply of clean water. To ensure that this is extended to the whole island, the LFT is embarking on a project to provide similar facilities to a further ten villages. The total cost of this will be approximately $11,000 (USD).
With this support from well-wishers such as you, sever thousand villagers have been relived from a trek of between 1 and 5 kilometers fetching water and spending hours on the trek.
According to Imam al Baqir, “The first act to be rewarded on the Day of Judgment is the charity of water.”
LiFT Kenya – clean water for subsistence farming.
In remembrance of Bibi Sakina, the LFT is launching an appeal to provide clean water to the residents of the Burani village, located in the Kwale district of Kenya. Nearly a third of all adults in this district live below the food poverty line and in destitute conditions.
The residents of the Burani village are mainly subsistence farmers and access to clean water is essential for the growth of their crops. In 2007, a borehole, connected to a hand pump, was dug to extract water from the land, but since then, the pipes have rusted and adversely affected the quality of the water obtained. As such, the LFT is launching an appeal to help fund the replacement of these pipes.
The total cost of doing so is just under £1,000 and will significantly improve the lives of a whole village. Children will be able to access clean drinking water; families will be able to cook, wash, and clean safely, and farmers will be able to nourish their crops without contamination.
The LFT humbly requests you to help fund such a fundamental necessity, to which every single person should have access.
LiFT Syria
The conflict in Syria has developed into a severe and worsening crisis, with more and more families fleeing their homes and seeking sanctuary in neighbouring countries every day. The UN has estimated that 2.5 million refugees have fled to nearby countries, including Lebanon, Turkey, and Jordan. Uprooted and in unfamiliar countries, these refugees are in desperate need of shelter, food and water. To make matters worse, millions of displaced Syrian refugees are facing a bitter winter, with heavy snow and freezing temperatures adding to their already grim living conditions. With each passing day, more lives are lost, more families are torn apart and more people are forced to flee their homes. For those who have fled, the battle for survival is far from over.
International organizations and NGOs continue to provide emergency relief despite insecure operating conditions, but the crisis has become so overwhelming, and funds so overstretched that these agencies have to make the impossible choice of who to help and who leave to fend for themselves. It’s a problem no refugee should have to face, and a choice no aid worker should have to make.
Lebanon is one country that has opened its doors to hundreds of thousands of refugees and repeatedly called on donor countries to fulfill their financial pledges and help it support the Syrian refugee crisis that has left its administrative capacity beleaguered.
As a result, the LFT has strived tirelessly, to pioneer economically inspiring initiatives to give the refugees a means of earning, whilst simultaneously engaging in urgent aid distribution. In its latest endeavour, the LFT has facilitated the setup of a clothes manufacturing workshop to provide refugee tailors and seamstresses with employment. The workshop looks specifically to employ Syrian widows who are particularly vulnerable, as they often have to provide for a large number of dependents single-handedly.
The expense of fitting out the workshop, purchasing materials and other items amounted to $46,500. However, business is flourishing and the day-to-day operations have begun to generate a profit. The workshop has employed eight Syrian refugees and begun to train four apprentices. As a result, 85 people have benefited from this initiative and many more will continue to do so the initiative expands in line with growth in demand.
The LFT passionately believes in providing recipients with the tools needed to ensure economic independence. This is just one example of the LFT’s many constructive and microfinance projects that look to make this vision a reality.
LiFT Palestine – educate to empower
Since 2008, the LFT has sponsored a number of students studying at the Atfaluna School for the Deaf. More than a third of the children enrolled at the School live in distressing poverty; their families cannot afford uniforms, school bags, stationery supplies, or even their child’s daily lunch.
There are two current initiatives that support these disadvantaged students’ ability to study ensuring safe transport to school and
Atfaluna provides the students in its care with a daily hot meal for the duration of the academic year. The lunch program at Atfaluna is considered a vital part of the services offered as it results in improved health and academic performance. It also eases the financial burden placed on parents as they have one fewer meal to worry about providing.
The School has appealed to the LFT to fund one term’s worth of meals for its 300 students, the cost of which comes to $8,800.
The School has also requested the LFT to contribute towards the transport costs of 36 students who are struggling to meet the cost of daily school buses. The total cost per month is approximately $1,800, and the LFT is looking to fund an academic year’s worth of transport costs.
In a country plagued by war, conflict, and poverty, having a disability only adds to the difficulty of breaking free from the hopeless cycle of violence and destitution. By supporting the LFT, you could help make a difference in a deaf child’s life and light up what might otherwise be a desolate existence.
LFT eye-care – the power of vision restored
With your generous support, in 2013, over 1,000 people were given the gift of sight through a simple and inexpensive cataract operation.
Although almost no one goes blind from a cataract in the developed world, this condition is still the major cause of blindness in developing countries, where health insurance schemes are patchy or non-existent, and people are too poor to afford the cost of surgery.
For a mere £15 or £30 a month, you can provide a cataract operation for someone in Pakistan or East Africa respectively, and give someone the gift of sight.
The testimonials of those who have been assisted have shown how transformational this simple operation can be. It means that those who were previously affected no longer bump into simple obstacles or accidentally swallow insects in the water they drink. The gift of sight also means that they are able to participate in activities with their children and grandchildren, and enjoy the simple pleasures of everyday life.
LiFT Lebanon – rehabilitation war traumatized injured children
After the July 2006 war in South Lebanon, the LFT launched a project to assist mentally and physically disabled children in Nabatiyeh. This region has 400 known cases of handicapped children out of a population of 120,000 inhabitants. This is a greater than average proportion and can be linked to the psychological trauma of war and the land mines that continue to litter the countryside.
Most of the affected children come from the most vulnerable strata of Lebanese society. Their families live in poor and disadvantaged areas and a large number lost their original homes or their source of income during the wars. As a result, they are unable to pay for the cost of the rehabilitative services their children need.
These 400 children are an understatement of the true number of disabled children. In a society where disability is still severely stigmatised, many families are reluctant to come forward or to admit their child may be suffering from a disability. Still others assume that they will be unable to pay for treatment and so consider it futile to apply for financial assistance. Ironically, with proper care, many of these children can be helped without the development of a permanent disability.
As a result, the LFT has teamed up with local grass roots organizations to offer rehabilitative services to handicapped children. Currently, the LFT covers part of the cost of rehabilitative care for 129 handicapped children from vulnerable families in three main categories: physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy.
The annual cost of providing this is more than $100,000. Please help the LFT continue to offer this vital service by donating generously.
This year, the LFT’s annual Gala Dinner will be held on 26 April 2014 at the Thistle Hotel, Heathrow. A limited number of seats remain for this informative and entertaining evening.
The keynote speaker for this year’s event is the renowned international photojournalist, Kate Brooks, whose work has featured in the Wall Street Journal and Newsweek. Limited copies of her book, In the Light of Darkness, signed by her will be available for purchase on the night.
We will also be entertained on the night by the award winning filmmaker and comedian Aatif Nawaz whose comedy show Talk Roti to Me is currently featuring at the Leicester Square Theatre.
Let there be light – LiFT the darkness in the marshlands of Southern Iraq
The LFT has continued with the initiative to support villagers in rural Iraq with solar lighting. This month we have reached out to assist almost 250 households consisting of 1,900 members living in the marshlands of southern Iraq with solar lighting for their homes.
The villages assisted include Karma Bani Said Neighbourhood in Suk Shuyukh, the Al-Jabayish and Chabayish villages of Al-Nasiriya and Al-Nasiriy village.
These individuals will be able to carry on the activities in our daily lives after dark that we all take for granted like reading. They will also be able to charge a mobile phone form the installation.
In these remote villages, it is not economically viable for an electricity distribution grid to be installed and they would have been reliant on kerosene lamps with the fume and burn hazards that poses.
Please donate generously so we can continue to help the needy in Iraq and Tanzania with solar lighting and cooking devices.
In continuing to focus our attention to empowering the orphan child, the Trust is working wit
h its local partner, the Development and Relief Foundation in Karbala to educate and where necessary provide adequate shelter to the vulnerable street children in the Holy City of Karbala.
The Trust will effectively use its membership of the Global Consortium of Street Children to ensure that these children don’t lose their childhood to menial labour tasks out of necessity to feed themselves and their families.
Whilst they serve the pilgrims to the Holy Shrines the young children are reduced to hard labour tasks and lose out on the opportunity to be educated and create a future for themselves.
LiFTaar: Ramadhan Iftaar appeal
ing in the Western world, it may seem tremendously difficult to fast during tirelessly long summer days, but we do so with the knowledge that at the end of each day, we can quench our thirst with refreshingly cool water drawn from readily accessible taps, and hunger with an abundance, and often, overindulgence of food. Unfortunately, for hundreds of millions of people elsewhere in the world, the fear and anxiety of remaining hungry and perpetually malnourished is an endless and inescapable reality.
In the wake of Ramadhan, the Trust will be distributing food parcels to the most vulnerable members of society in Pakistan, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Tanzania, and Gaza. By doing so, it will ensure that, for at least one month in the year, impoverished families can shed the anxiety of wondering where their next meal will come from.
In Pakistan for example, the Trust will be working with the Madinatul Ilm 
Charitable Trust, as it has done in previous years, to distribute food parcels to families in Northern Pakistan, where untimely rainfall and hail storms have resulted in a poor wheat crop. MICT intends to distribute food parcels to over 1,000 families, thereby benefitting at least 7,000 impoverished individuals during the month of Ramadhan. In other places in the Middle East, the Trust hopes to reach over 2,500 Afghan and Iraqi refugee families who have struggled to meet ends meet in the region’s hyperinflationary economy.
for the women of walking around in the scorching sunlight scavenging 
“In the course of my talks with the LFT’s individual beneficiaries who have benefitted from medical support provided by the trust, I could see that small-scale interventions and direct, unbureaucratic help can make a big difference. All of the individuals I met were pleased with LFCT’s fast help in situations of emergency when other organisations simply failed to react promptly. At the same time, they also emphasised that it was LFT’s humble appearance that positively surprised them; neither did the trust use their cases for publicity nor did any of the LFT’s collaborators try to push themselves to the fore.
While LFT’s direct medical support focuses on individual cases, I also had the chance to become familiar with one of the LFT’s more extensive projects in Lucknow. The project site is the waqf “Karbala Khuda Meer Baksh” which includes an estimated 23 acres of land.
Problems on the waqf are twofold: on the one hand, the waqf’s trustee lets homeless families reside on the plot. Even though this is essential for the families’ survival many of them did not have proper housing, sanitation or access to clean water until recently. LFT has, along with other donors, provided houses and water tanks, and thus improved people’s day-to-day lives. On the other hand, the waqf is, as many others in the region, endangered by land grabbers. The construction of houses along the boundaries of the plot prevents land grabbing and therefore also protects a cultural institution and its centuries old history. During my visit to the waqf and my talk to its trustee and his co-workers, it became evident that this site provides various opportunities for further collaboration. A school for the waqf’s growing number of children will be needed in the future and the construction of a small road through the plot will grant access to the residential areas.”
LiFTaar
With the grace of God, and your generous support, the LFT has been able to provide food assistance to over 14,500 families during the holy month of Ramadhan. For these impoverished families, normally the source of every meal is uncertain. But for one month, with your generous support, they felt reassured that they would have something to feed their children for Iftaar. No person should have to go without food, but it’s a sad reality of the world in which we live. We thank God that, with your help, we were able to diminish a small proportion of the global hunger and malnutrition that inflicts large parts of the world this Ramadhan.
Gaza Strip
From 29 June, the LFT began providing daily Iftaar for needy families of students at the Atfaluna School for the Deaf in Gaza. Freshly prepared meals consisted of nutritional items like chicken, rice, and vegetables. Since the devastating bombardment that started on 8 July and has to date, claimed the lives of 1,600 people, the restaurant at the school began serving Iftaar to up to 1,000 displaced refugees who had fled, once again, from their home by the actions of the Israeli military. The people of Gaza desperately need your help. Their infrastructure and healthcare system is on the verge of collapse. UNWRA, the UN Works and Reliefs Agency, which was set up to help Palestinian refugees, has said that the current situation is beyond their ability and resources to manage. Please find it in your hearts to donate generously to this cause.
Iraqi & Afghan refugees
The LFT was fortunate enough to distribute 1,584 food baskets to Iraqi and Afghan refugees in ten locations during the month of Ramadhan. This exercise resulted in food aid being distributed to over 8,465 people over the course of the month. Food baskets included rice, cooking oil, sugar, tomato pulses, and tea and the total cost of the distribution came to just over £35,000.
Pakistan
With the grace of the Almighty, for the sixth year running, the Trust was able to reach out to over 8,000 of the most deserving families in the Rawalpindi district of Punjab.
By the grace of God, LFT was able to distribute over 10,000 food rations in Lebanon during the Holy Month of Ramadhan. Further details of the actual food included in the distribution and the towns to the distribution have yet to be received and this information will be shared once we have the detailed reports.
LiFT: Lebanon
The LFT has been given a generous donation of $350,000 (CAD) worth of mobility equipment to provide to the disabled in South Lebanon. The LFT has begun distributing the equipment to a range of deserving recipients, including children and the elderly. Some of those who have been assisted were handicapped as a result of war.
LiFT: Water aid
The LFT is seeking funds to provide water tanks and hand pumps to the residents of 
With the grace of the Almighty, for the sixth year running, the Trust has been able to reach out to over 8,000 of the most deserving families in the Rawalpindi district of Punjab.
The plight of the Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries continues to present huge challenges for the refugees as well as their hosts in the neighbouring countries. Everyday items such as water, food, housing and education are heavily strained by the huge influx. From our previous updates you will be familiar with some of the longer term redevelopment work we are engaged in through creating economic activities such as a grocery store and a garments factory.
The Lady Fatemah Trust has co-operated with the Atfaluna Deaf School Community in Gaza for a number of years now. Due to their disability, these young children and their teachers have felt the effect of the inhumane economic blockade more than the other residents of Gaza and are often more traumatised due to their inability to express themselves.
Over the years, your generosity has meant that they have received batteries for their hearing equipment, regular sponsorship for the orphans amongst them, gifts for Eid consisting of stationery supplies for their school.
This year, due to an acute shortage of cooking gas in the region, families have not been able to cook iftaar for the families of the deaf children. As a result, the LFT have supported their local partners to ensure that 90 families, consisting of approximately 10 members of the extended family are fed daily iftaar for the duration of the month.
The meals will also be cooked by the families of the deaf society and will be a good income generation for them. Consequently further benefit will be received by the needy who will be empowered to look after their own families.
I remind you once again, having felt some of their hunger, will you reach out to assist them? The cost of feeding a family of 10 for the whole month is approximately £6 per person per day. This equates to £180 per person for the whole month or £1,800 per extended family for the month.
LiFTaar – London, United Kingdom
We recognise the command of the Holy Prophet as practiced by his Noble Family, including Lady Fatemah (as) in feeding the needy in their neighbourhood regardless of their faith, purely based on their need.
This Ramadhan we are pleased to support the noble work of the Al-Mizan Charitable Trust in providing groceries of staples of rice, lentils and pasta, tinned fruit and vegetables and savoury and sweet snacks to last a typical family one week. We have committed to supporting 50 families and with your generosity can reach out to even more.
The families are selected purely based on their need and include refugees, abused women and children, those struggling to get employment. They are assisted by our partner organisation for longer term rehabilitation.
The Holy Quran immortalises the devotion of the Prophet’s family in the verses that attest to their feeding the orphan, the refugee and the poor. Their actions were attributed solely to seeking pleasure from Allah, not desiring any gratitude or acknowledgement from the beneficiaries. Our partners have been selected for their sincerity in carrying out these acts of devotion. You can further support this work by contributing £40 to support a weekly food parcel. A total of £20,000 would support the whole program and benefit 500 families during this Noble Month.
We believe that recognising the difficulties of the needy families in our locality is an integral part of our Ramadhan commemoration and we would encourage you to be generous in this Holy Month to provide food to the needy both in the UK as well as the other countries in which we operate.
The Trust would like to recognise the efforts of the students at Harrow School in raising funds and selecting this locality and school for the supply of clean water in memory of Imam Hussain (as).
Access to clean water as a basic human right is recognised universally. The threat of dehydration and use of contaminated water for drinking or cleaning is intolerable in the 21st century, when we have the technologies to identify unpolluted sources of water and the mechanisms for extracting it.
The efforts of the students at Harrow School provided for the cost of digging the borehole and installing a hand pump, as well as other amenities required. Prior to this, residents in Dheri Mairi faced acute difficulties in accessing clean, sanitised water from the local environment.
This project means that the total number of water projects undertaken by the Trust now exceeds 200, with thousands of beneficiaries in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tanzania, and Palestine. In addition to building water wells and boreholes, projects to provide water coolers in Palestine and water treatment tablets in Lebanon mean that the Trust has been able to provide pure, easily accessible water to thousands of people, regardless of their religion or race.
As a follow-up, the Trust would like to invite you to donate to the following upcoming water projects:-
The Trust, in conjunction with MICT in Pakistan, has continued with a project to improve the skills of teachers from Pakistan’s largely impoverished northern Gilgit-Baltistan region. An intervention that costs approximately £200.00/US$300.00 
Khadijah is an intelligent young woman and a diligent worker; her father Sayed Ibrahim Syahab was one of Madura’s Shiite clerics who passed away seven years ago, placing the weight of responsiblility for Khadija’s mother and two younger siblings on her shoulders. Prior to the tragedy of the Shia community in Madura, Khadijah ran her own business and was an experienced tailor. However, her business, equipment, raw materials and capital were burned and looted during attacks by terrorist organisations on Shia businesses in the area.
Khadijah now runs a small scale business from home, struggling to make ends meet and keep the business running. With net income of $70- $80 per month, Khadijah not only supports her family, but also employs four female refugees from Sampang Madura, on a salary of $30-$50 for each worker. With the present income she generates, Khadijah needs to support the day-to-day living expenses of her family as well as the the education of her two younger siblings; as a result, with education costs of approximately $90-$120 per month, Khadijah is reliant on the assistance of generous donors to cover the shortfall.
In response to her situation, Khadijah applied to the LFCT for microfinance assistance. Upon review of her situation and proposals for the use of the loan, the LFCT felt that the business model was sound and would provide an effective solution to Khadijah’s situation as well as an opportunity to generate further jobs for other women. With the LFCT microfinance loan, Khadija will be able to sell directly to wholesalers, increase revenue, and in turn not only benefit her own family, but also create new jobs to help other women also struggling to survive.
With this project, we aim to empower Khadijah, an orphaned refugee, who was named after the entrepreneurial wife of Prophet Muhammad. With your support inshaAllah, Khadijah will be able to become both self-sufficient and empower more women in her community. These women will in turn support their families, putting food on their tables through their own effort, and providing a better future for their children, and the other women that they work with. This is a far more empowering and dignified form of assistance than intervening with short term measures that don’t address the root of the problem and allow it to persist.
We thank you for your continued prayers and support. We frequently receive prayers for our patrons and their families from those they have selflessly reached out to assist.
As the year draws to an end, we take stock of how the Trust was able to increase its efforts in caring for the orphaned child. You will recall that the 1st January 2014 coincided with the death anniversary of the most famous orphan to have walked the planet. That was none other than the father of Lady Fatemah (as), Prophet Muhammad (pbuh).
The Trust continued to sponsor orphans in Iraq with 499 orphans sponsored in the City of Karbala and another 500+ sponsored other parts of the country. Iraq not had a great number of orphaned children from the wars fought in 1980-8 and the failed invasion of Kuwait and the uprisings in 1991, but since the fall of the former regime in 2003, suicide bombings across the country have orphaned 100,000s more innocent lives. The Trust ensures that the orphans it supports get adequate education and are supported through their schooling. Millions more children have been orphaned through the violence in Syria and Iraq. The Trust has worked to ensure that the refugees in Lebanon as well as Internally Displaced refugees in Iraq are fed and clothed. A high proportion of the children in these supported groups are orphans.
The Trust’s collaboration with the Development and Relief Foundation (“DRF”) Karbala has ensured collaboration between the two humanitarian organisations and assistance in the collection of funds for DRF’s visionary work in the schooling of orphans and the opening in 2015 of a state of the art hospital in Karbala which we report on further below.
Additionally, the Trust has pledged to support a further 10 orphaned girls in Lebanon through to the University education. The educational progress of these girls is being supported through the capable aegis of the Imam Sadr Foundation with whom the Trust has partnered on a number of welfare projects in healthcare and orphan support.
The Trust was very fortunate to have the UN Ambassador for Street Children and the patron for Charities supporting Street Children, Vartan Melkonian address the LFT Gala Dinner 2014. Vartan’s inspirational personal journey from the slums of Beirut and to his rise as an acclaimed professional who has always supported the underprivileged orphans who end up living on the streets was truly inspirational.
The Trust continues to work with partners to support as many orphaned children who are reduced to eking out a living on the streets to be sheltered, clothed and educated and we will continue to work to find solutions for these vulnerable orphans particularly in the City of Karbala where young boys end up working as porters to pilgrims to earn less than US$1 a day instead of going to school.
This year’s focus on the life of an orphaned child has helped us identify areas for greater support and empowerment to these young lives to ensure they achieve their optimal potential in life, socially, morally, spiritually and economically. Your generous support ensures that the work of the tireless workers on the ground is made possible.
LiFT micro-finance and education
The Trust was founded on the empowering ethos of enabling financial self-sufficiency through micro-finance, education and healthcare.
This year, the Trust ensured that its partner organisation in Lebanon stopped exploiting the labour of Syrian refugee children in its sewing machine factory in Lebanon. The huge influx of over 1 million refugees in each of Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey have placed a tremendous strain on their hosts countries and valuable resources such as access to clean water, food, clothing, shelter and education remain stretched.
The LFT has supplied vital necessity food items to refugees from Syria who have sought shelter in Lebanon. Much more can be done and we appeal to the generosity of our donors to enable us to increase our activities in this field. We will continue to form capable partnerships to devise and deliver innovative solutions for these vulnerable refugees so a generation of Syrian children are not lost to the violence in their native country. Our partners are looking at establishing numeracy and literacy classes to ensure the children’s competence in these vital skills are not lost.
As a focus area for economic empowerment in 2015, as a lesson learnt from Lebanon, we have requested all our partners to ensure that none of the projects of the Trust should either be exploiting children as labourers or importing slave labour from other countries paying them less than the natives of that country.
Equal pay for equal work should remain the ethos of a charity that was set up to empower the needy and any form of exploitation of the vulnerable cannot be associated with this Trust.
Our partner organisations in all the countries we work with have requested all partner organisations to sign up to the interfaith pledge made in the Vatican City by leaders of all main faith groups to work towards the abolition of slavery in all its forms. In launching the initiative, Pope Francis said:
“Therefore, we declare on each and every one of our creeds that modern slavery, in terms of human trafficking, forced labour and prostitution, and organ trafficking, is a crime against humanity. Its victims are from all walks of life, but are most frequently among the poorest and most vulnerable of our brothers and sisters. On behalf of all of them, our communities of faith are called to reject, without exception, any systematic deprivation of individual freedom for the purposes of personal or commercial exploitation; in their name, we make this declaration.”
The Trust wholeheartedly backs this declaration and will continue to ensure that the ethos of the Trust is upheld in the work it does to support this historic initiative.
Your support to ensure viable microfinance initiatives such as animal husbandry in Pakistan, Kenya and Tanzania as well as teacher empowerment in Pakistan continue to increase the empowerment of the communities.
LiFT educate! – Gaza City, Gaza
Trust implemented a supplemental lunch program for children attending the Atfaluna School for the Deaf. The objective of the program is to provide a nutritious hot meal daily for 300 deaf students to supplement the meagre nutrition the students received at home.
Due to the severe economic situation caused by the ongoing tightened siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, our partners requested funding from the Trust when it became clear that the children were simply not getting enough food to eat at home and were coming to school hungry, unable to concentrate, and with all the physical signs of under-nutrition. The lack of proper nutrition was affecting the children’s school performance and energy levels.
Your continued generosity will ensure vital support for these most vulnerable besieged children, some of when are orphaned, with vital school stationary, hearing equipment, transportation to school and vital nutrition.
LiFT refugee care – internally displaced Iraqi families
In Iraq, the cold season, when temperatures are close to zero during the night, lasts from January to March. Most of the IDP families fled from their home towns and villages during the summer, bringing only the most necessary items often fleeing with the clothes on their backs.
They are in desperate need of heaters, blankets and warm clothing. Only an tiny minority of the IDRs heads of families work on a regular basis. Most families live in food insecurity, not knowing where their next meal will come from. They do not feel able to purchase heaters or warm clothing and many will fall ill and even die from the effects of hypothermia if not assisted.
The Trust has distributed 500 kerosene heaters, 2,000 double blankets and over 1,800 pairs of warm clothing to families in five locations. In all we estimate that the generosity of our patrons will benefit more than 6,000 individuals in these challenging conditions.
We thank you for your generous support throughout the year with your prayers, financial donations and contribution of time, energy and expertise to ensure the Trust is able to continue to support the needy families.
We request your continued support through 2015 so we are together able to empower, educate, treat, feed, cloathe and shelter our fellow human beings.
Several more projects can be found on the web-site. We value your feedback and look forward to working together to facilitate change in 2015 as we have together achieved over the past 17 years.
There are estimated to be 800,000 children that have lost at least one parent in Iraq.
Mohammed and his six siblings are just seven of those children.
Mohammed is nine years old and is one of seven orphans who live with their mother in Kerbala. The family are struggling, living in a house that is inadequate for their needs. The family are residing in a house belonging to the visitors of Imam Hussain (as). The family occupy the first floor. This floor has no kitchen and so all their cooking must be done outside. This means looking under the hot sun and in the cold winter.
The family faced a tragedy when the father died in a terrorist attack. He was an innocent victim, leaving a large family of young children behind.
However, the priority for Mohammed’s mother is that her children all continue to study. This is the most important activity for them to continue – she knows it will help them have a positive future with lots of opportunities.
With the help of the LFCT, it is possible that all seven children are able to stay in school. This is because the LFCT is providing $30 sponsorship per month for each student that stays in school.
Please help us to continue supporting as many orphans as possible and give them the best start in life.
ONGOING APPEAL: Ophthalmology Department, Karbala – Blindness destroys not only a person’s vision – it destroys the future of whole families
ChariTable Bookings is a new App available on Android and IPhones that donates £1 per diner each time you use the App to book a table or confirm a table booking at participating
restaurants. The App is free, simple and quick to use. Download today and raise vital funds for LFCT for no cost to you.
Once you have downloaded the App, click on the ‘person’ icon and create an account. Then click the ‘hand’ icon along the bottom and search for Lady Fatemah Charitable Trust. Click on the trust and the ‘heart’ icon at the top. It is as easy as that! Now you can raise funds.
Then next time you go to book a restaurant search for your chosen restaurant through the App. When identified, click on the ‘plus’ in the corner of the screen. You can book participating restaurants through the app or separately by phoning or booking online. You can then ‘confirm you booking on the app’ and LFCT will receive £1 per person just for you going out to eat! If you walk into a restaurant you can also use the app by searching for the restaurant and if it is participating, clicking the ‘2 person’ symbol at the bottom of the screen and follow the instructions.
Let us know how you get on! Happy dining!
People living in Pakistan lack sufficient access to even basic medical and health facilities. The country is poor and its citizens suffer with a poor infrastructure. One Pakistani citizen, Sardar Ali, a 66 year old man from the outskirts of Sargodha, is one such person that is suffering the consequences of his nation’s rising poverty levels.
Living in a poor country, salaries are low and Sardar is barely able to earn enough to feed his children. The sole breadwinner for the family of six, Sardar works in a small hotel in his area, bringing home a sum of Rs. 9,500/£72 per month.
A year ago, while still at work, Sardar realised that he was losing his eyesight. Horrified, he tried all local and home remedies. When nothing worked, he had no option left but to visit a doctor who diagnosed him with cataract. However, the expenses of the cataract surgery were too high for him to be able to afford. His family were worried about his situation and prayed that they may find a miracle cure for his ailment. As the local doctor’s expenses were too high for Sardar, he felt he had no choice but to ignore the issue and delay treatment. The disease had already badly affected his vision and worsened as the days and months passed by. Soon, Sardar could see no more and was without a job or any future prospects.
A blessing in disguise motivated Sardar Ali when he had given up all hope. Sardar was told about LRBT Free Secondary Eye Hospital at Shahpur. Sardar came to LRBT Shahpur and after a detailed examination, he was diagnosed with cataract. Assigned a surgery date for the very next week, Sardar’s surgery was performed successfully. Sardar was delighted and vowed to spread the good word about LRBT. He can now return to work and continue enjoying life.
“I am very thankful to entire staff of LRBT and especially the kind donors of LRBT who make it possible for people like us to live our lives again.’
Please help the LFCT to fund more cataract operations and turn people Like Sardar’s life around. Thank you.
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Still no promises have been made or recognition of any improvement in the Gaza Strip has been identified. The outlook seems as bleak as ever and people continue to struggle to make it through their daily commitments.
The deaf community in the Gaza Strip faces even more difficult challenges with rarely any form of job opportunities being available to them due to their “inability to communicate with the hearing members of the community”. Although much work has been done within the Gazan community towards deaf culture and rights however, deafness still remains a stigma in the Palestinian society with many limitations and preconceptions surrounding the deaf.
Approximately 19,000 deaf persons reside within the Gaza Strip. Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children (ASDC) has been working alongside the deaf community since its establishment in 1992. Vocational training courses and awareness of rights have been among the most essential components. With the generous support of The Lady Fatemah (A.S) Charitable Trust (LFT), thirty (30) deaf women and men and other marginalized and needy women were supported through job opportunities for a period of 6 months (June – November, 2016). The deaf women and men were able to maintain their centre-based job opportunities in the fields of sewing, embroidery, pottery making, culinary arts, painting on wood and carpentry.
“Alhamdu Lillah this has been a dream come true for me, I can’t believe the months went by so fast! This experience has not only added to my skills; it also gave me the opportunity to interact with people outside the confines of my home which I rarely have the chance to do. I have been assisting my parents with our home expenses during the past months; I even bought my mother a gift! May Allah grant wealth and happiness to the people who gave me this opportunity.” Happily, expressed Nasra, a deaf trainee supported through the Lady Fatemah Trust project.
Receiving hands-on training within a professional environment is an important part of giving deaf women and men the opportunity to learn and grow. ASDC continues to work hard towards giving the deaf community the independence and self-reliance they need to become productive and active participants within their communities. “Thank you Lady Fatemah Trust for giving me a chance! Thank you for allowing me to learn and grow. This has been an excellent chance for me to realize my potential and break free from negativity and hopelessness. May Allah reward you highly.” Stated Bahaa, a deaf trainee supported through the Lady Fatemah Trust project.
“When Khadijah first began the six months training period, she had rarely been outside of her home. She was shy, reluctant and unable to make friends. It was just a few weeks later that we began to notice the quick improvement in her attitude and personality. This young lady was soon excelling in her work, she was making friends and she was happily communicating using sign language with her colleagues. It has been a real pleasure watching the improvement in the majority of these young women and men who truly only needed the right opportunity.” Expressed Ibrahim, a supervisor at ASDC.
As the training comes to an end, the trainees are feeling accomplished and confident. The six months’ period has given them an opportunity to strengthen their skills in the various fields, improve their self-esteem and make new friends. Their enthusiasm and desire to learn was evident throughout the period with many of them optimistic to find new supported opportunities within ASDC.
ASDC, however, will continue to do its best to support and guide the beneficiaries even after the project completion in hope to help them achieve their goals and dreams. The support provided through the Lady Fatemah (A.S) Trust has been highly appreciated by the deaf youth and their families who expressed their sincere gratitude for this significant and timely opportunity.
