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On the Road with the Promise for Palestine Tour
By David Hawa Travel Log: Seattle ✈ San Francisco ✈ LA ✈ San Diego The magic number this week has been four. For the past four days, I’ve been in four cities, doing four charity events, averaging less than four hours of sleep, and spending less than (twenty) four hours in each city. The reason for my travels? Islamic Relief’s Promise for Palestine tour with humanitarian and world renowned artist Mohammed Assaf. The money raised on this tour will benefit the Palestinian people we serve through our programs. I’m sure people might say wow, lucky guy: Seattle, San Francisco, LA and San Diego in one trip. But honestly, you can’t tell the difference from city to…
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Receptive United Nations Delegation Kept Islamic Relief On Its Toes
By: Syed M. Hassan As a member of the Public Affairs Department for Islamic Relief USA, I, along with my colleagues, have the enviable task of presenting a good and accurate portrayal of our humanitarian work. Granted, it’s not easy. People of influence can be hard to sway, and the traction you hope to gain is fleeting. Sometimes, you feel knocked down because your results fall far short of the effort you put in. But you gotta keep trying. As the late boxer and fellow Muslim Muhammad Ali said, “Ain’t nothing wrong with going down…it’s staying down that’s wrong.” You got to keep punching. Sooner or later, it will have…
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Myanmar Refugees: Stories from the Field with Imam Khalid Latif
Imam Khalid Latif shares realtime stories from his visit to Bangladesh with Islamic Relief USA. There, he met refugees from Myanmar and heard their harrowing stories. 500,000 refugees have fled Myanmar, and the number continues to rise with thousands pouring into the camps every day. Read parts of his journey below, and be a part of the relief effort here: www.launchgood.com/Aid4Myanmar. The Visible Hunger “Sometimes we eat nothing for days.” I didn’t know that it was possible to actually see hunger instead of just feeling it. But walking around the refugee camps in Bangladesh these past few days, I’ve learned otherwise. This is what real hunger looks like. Let’s show the…
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Beyer Encourages Islamic Relief to Stay Strong
Rep. Don Beyer, who represents Virginia’s 8th Congressional district, which includes the city of Alexandria, stopped by on Sept. 15 at Islamic Relief USA‘s headquarters to give a morale boost. “It’s a great pleasure to be here,” he said. Like many times when a political figure comes into contact with his constituents, Beyer struck a positive tone. He lauded the organization for the great humanitarian work it does and for standing on its principles. And if there was any doubt Islamic Relief USA is located in an undesirable locale, he quickly dispelled those perceptions. Beyer said his congressional district is among the most educated and wealthy in the country. As…
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Unity Walks Puts a Spotlight on People Who Hate Hate
There was plenty of physical sunlight present during the afternoon of Sunday, Sept. 10. But as hundreds of people gathered for the annual Unity Walk at the Washington Hebrew Congregation on Macomb Street NW, another type of light had shone. Just ask Rabbi Bruce Lustig. “Hatred doesn’t have the power to include intelligence and discernment,” he told a crowd of hundreds gathered in the synagogue’s auditorium before commencing the walk. “Love does! The face of America is when we come together. We’re here to bring light.” It’s the light that shines when people of different faiths, socioeconomic backgrounds, and walks of life come together to stand up to, and perhaps…
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IRUSA partners with the Delaware Food Bank – One BackPack at a Time
By Christina Tobias-Nahi Just a couple hours north of Islamic Relief USA headquarters is soon to be the largest food bank in the nation. As IRUSA has been sponsoring a project there, a few staff set off to see for themselves how this small state is tackling a hunger problem effecting 114,000 residents, primarily children and the elderly. Run by Patricia Beebe, a self-avowed throwback from the 60s who has been at the helm for two decades, the first thing you notice when arriving is all the bright, cheery tie-dye colors – on the staff T-shirts, buildings, and the cars parked in the lot. There is also a similarly bright…
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Alternative Spring Break: College Students Giving Back in Flint
Masouna Kochaji is a Communications Coordinator at IRUSA. She recently attending Alternative Spring Break in Flint, MI and shares her experience with ReliefLab. In early March, I was sent to Flint, Michigan to accompany Howard University students on an alternative Spring Break. Having only heard stories of the conditions in Flint, I was anxious to see what the situation would be. The Howard students would be spending an entire week at various schools in Flint, and work with local students and staff in the classroom. While the students were going to support the community for a week, I’d only be on this trip for two days…and what I saw in those…
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East Africa: The Pain of Losing a Child
Tufail Hussain – Deputy Director, Islamic Relief UK – writes about meeting Fatouma during his recent visit to drought ravaged Somalia. Dotted around Mogadishu, the capital city of Somalia, are camps where countless desperate families arrive in search of food and water. It was at one of these camps, where teams from Islamic Relief regularly distribute food packs, that I first met Fatouma. Fatouma, from a village in the Burhakaba region, around 250km from Mogadishu, told me her harrowing story of survival through the catastrophic drought. “The drought has been with us for years, but in the last 12 months things became unbearable. My people are farmers, and our lives…
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Paving our Daughters’ Path towards a Suffer Free Future
When Khadijah Abdullah, Founder and Executive Director of RAHMA, first walked into the meeting room, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The meeting was titled: “Honoring our Daughters: The Effects of FGC in the DMV”. This struck me as odd. The Greater DC area? We keep hearing of practices of this nature in some countries, especially in Africa, but they always seemed very far away. Never in a thousand years would I have imagined that these practices could be performed here, at home. A few minutes before I joined the lecture, I did some research about FGC in America and found statistics I didn’t expect, especially that I knew that…
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Orville Disaster Response Reflections
Iqra Shaikh recently attended a disaster response deployment with IRUSA. She graduated from UC Berkeley and founded Major Probs, an organization dedicated to inspiring and empowering students globally. She reflects on her experience with ReliefLab. A few weeks ago, I had the honor and privilege of volunteering as a part of a Disaster Response Team aiding those impacted by the Orville Dam evacuations and the San Jose flooding. This experience opened my eyes and made me realize a few things—here are a few of my reflections and thoughts. 1. Humanity Transcends All Religions I have always believed in this notion, but it is something that I have rarely seen in…
