Earthquakes ripple in Haiti, a humanitarian catastrophe looms in Afghanistan, and displacement blankets Ethiopia Cold Reminder of The Past in Haiti On August 14, Haiti experienced a country-wide earthquake causing over 2,000 deaths so far with many casualties still being counted. The 7.2 magnitude earthquake has also vastly destroyed and disrupted countless communities’ infrastructure. Another 53,000 houses were destroyed and nearly 12,268 people were injured. This crisis comes in the aftermath of the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse in July. According to reports by the New York times, Two cities, Les Cayes and Jeremie, located in Haiti’s southern peninsula, have reported major devastation with people caught under rubble and buildings…

Chicago and NYC feeding programs blast off Ready, set, go We may never know what a “post-covid” world looks like or how the affects this mass interruption of what the world called normal. In the face of all of these new developments of how we live life some sobering facts remain. Hunger in the U.S. is still one of the most daunting challenges we face as a country. According to feeding America, In 2019, 34 million people lived in poverty in America. For a family of four, that means earning just $25,000 per year and before the coronavirus pandemic, more than 35 million people faced hunger in the United States, including more than…

Why I volunteer By Volunteer Ruqqaya SC As a child, growing up in Texas and raised by a single parent, my mother, could sometimes be a great challenge without a father figure and my mom having to play both roles. Nevertheless, she was pretty tough as well as strict. But the one thing I will always remember was her kind heart. Although we were not financially or materialistically wealthy, she had a soft side and empathy for those less fortunate and always giving whatever she could to help out.   Animals (mainly dogs and cats) also captured her heart. She always fed the strays that sometimes wound up in our front…

IRUSA Mobilizes Aid to Texans in Frigid Power Outage An Unexpected Freeze An unusual winter storm sent a wave of freezing temperatures across Texas in the middle of February. On the 14th of the month the state saw multiple locations drop to temperatures of (-18C). Millions were caught completely off guard while witnessing their neighborhoods be enveloped in ice. Since then over 40 people have lost their life and in some tragic cases children have died of hypothermia. The US National Weather Service (NWS) stated that the “Arctic outbreak” flowed in from above the US-Canada border, causing a winter snow storm accompanied by devastating temperatures. Entire districts went without power…

Food shortages still a challenge When President Anwar Khan said with all his heart, “They asked me when I was coming back. Yemeni hospitality is amazing, Mashallah. I am not sure, but if I am needed I would love to come back. My focus now is not going back, but to let people know what is going on, to be a voice for those whose cries we cannot hear” we knew that the struggle to provide every inch of support to the beautiful people of Yemen possible would require the best from us. However the outpouring of help and compassion built medical facilities, cured cholera for thousands, and made water no…

Volunteers show inspiring resilience all year Hitting the Ground Running for MLK Day of Service 2020 For MLK Day 2020, more than 400 Islamic Relief USA volunteers spent a day packaging an outstanding 100k meals that were distributed domestically to various food banks and shelters. The interwoven fabric of love and legacy that day was the eternal flame, the burning stone that sealed the opportunity and helped capture the importance of service and empowerment. Our volunteers painted the moving picture that a few hundred hearts are capable of going above and beyond. That’s what gives our mission its energy to provide relief and development in a dignified manner regardless of…

Torrential rains submerge thousands of homes in Hyderabad, India Non-stop rain Heavy rain lashed large parts of India, including Hyderabad, over the last week swelling several rivers to dangerous heights, flooding large parts of the city and submerging homes and cars.   The deluge uprooted trees, electricity poles and damaged over head cables. According to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and local Indian media: around 40,000 homes are affected —  with thousands plunged into darkness without electricity and internet connection which remains unrestored.  The aftermath In some areas water levels started to recede, but not without leaving a trail of destruction including, heaps of slush along with organic and inorganic waster left inside the gutted homes.…

Floods in Sudan have displaced thousands, who are suffering by the hour For many of us, 2020 has been a year that we’ll never forget. For hundreds of thousands of people in Sudan that statement holds even more significance as 2020 has brought with it some of the worst flooding the region has ever seen. Typically prone to flooding around this time of year, water levels in the Blue Nile reached levels of over 17 metres, levels which haven’t been seen in over a century. The result of intense monsoons in neighbouring Ethiopia, the banks of the river burst and have caused widespread flooding with a devastating impact. Sudan is…