#Newsletter
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Venezuela in Crosshairs of Devastation
Public affairs reps attend forum for assessment of current crisis By Allison Brown, Intern in Communications and Public Affairs In conflicts of the past, Venezuela housed thousands of refugees fleeing throughout Latin America, providing a source of stability to neighboring countries during their periods of crisis. Due to recent political instability, Venezuela has experienced an 8,000% increase of Venezuelans seeking formal refugee status with an estimated population of 5.4 million fleeing to the neighboring countries of Columbia, Brazil, and Guyana. Reflecting upon this year’s World Refugee Day, refugees and internally displaced peoples of the Middle East and Northern Africa still remain large in Islamic Relief’s aid and thoughts, but an…
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Fighting Hunger and Inequalities in Food Access
Brown bag education series tackles a top priority By Konah Brownell, Intern in Communications and Public Affairs When it comes to addressing food insecurity, it’s not so much that we don’t have enough to go around. Rather, it has more to do with structural inequalities or inequities. That was the message from Dr. Laté Lawson-Lartego, an interim co-vice president of Global Programs at Oxfam, who was the featured guest in a virtual Islamic Relief USA “Brown Bag” webinar on Wednesday, July 7. “Poverty and food insecurity exist not because of the lack of resources or opportunity but because of inequality,” he said. During the one-hour session, Lawson-Lartego spoke about the…
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World Refugee Day 2021
Addressing the challenge to support refugees By Christina Tobias-Nahi According to the UN High Commission for Refugees 2022 Global Resettlement Needs Report released this month in recognition of World Refugee Day, for the sixth year in a row, Syrian refugees are among those with the highest resettlement needs, followed by refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, South Sudan, Afghanistan, and Eritrea. As a result too of the pandemic, “many of those displaced are now faced with increased poverty, destitution and widespread protection risks, from exploitation, trafficking, sexual and gender-based violence, child labor, early marriage, to arrest, detention, deportation, and refoulement.” Islamic Relief USA has long worked tirelessly to…
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Women Entrepreneurs Graduate in VA
Dar al-Hijra graduates another class By Kara Brunson High achievers Islamic Relief USA sponsors the sewing academy, a program launched by Dar al-Hijrah Social Services, to support socio-economic development goals for the local community. Students become certified seamstresses upon completion of 100 hours of hands-on training in the 4-month program. Stacey Picard, Associate Director of Dar al-Hijrah Social Services and Tahhani Gibaran, Director of Dar al-Hijrah Social Services co-led Tuesday’s event, which was notable for a series of firsts. This spring cohort, the organization’s fifteenth since the academy launched eight years ago, was the first to attend the sewing academy in person since social-distancing restrictions were put in place last…
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IRUSA and FEMA Partner to Fight COVID
Houston becomes site for vaccination support by IRUSA Islamic Relief USA and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are on a mission to get as many people vaccinated as possible. IRUSA has teamed up with FEMA again, this time in Houston. For this week, IRUSA volunteers will help out at NRG Stadium (normally home to Houston Texans football team), which is serving as a mass vaccination site. People could choose vaccines from either Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson. The organization, along with SEWA International and the American Pharmacist Association, was part of a team of 14 volunteers. They helped out in various non-clinician tasks to ensure people were inoculated. Among them were…
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Qurbani the IRUSA Way
Putting Qurbani meat in the hands of our neighbors in 2021 With Eid Ul-Fitr in our rearview now begins Hajj season. And as Hajj season enters upon us, we can now shift focus to Islamic Relief’s largest global and domestic feeding program, Qurbani/Udhiyah. Qurbani is special commemoration of Prophet Ibrahim and Ismail’s willingness to sacrifice for Allah’s sake. This year is poised to be another successful facilitation of Allah’s barakah. This Qurbani season we look forward to maintaining and increasing impact.This year over 150,000 Qurbani’s will be managed in over 30 countries with the help of you. People may receive livestock meat of goats, cows, or lamb in a quantity…
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My Ramadan Food-Pack Experience
Minhaj Hassan tells his food pack story Back to the blessings It was another weekend devoted to an Islamic Relief USA pack-out in the same Springfield warehouse. And, it felt just as good as the first time. IRUSA volunteers department had organized another food-pack with all COVID-19 limitations and conditions being considered, successfully. This time, the event involved tens of volunteers pouring rice, soy, and beans into cellophane bags and then sealing them up. People were stationed at tables pouring the contents through funnels, and then measuring the bags to make sure they don’t have too much in them. The format was different from the Ramadan Food Box pack-outs that took…
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Palestine in Pain
More than 200 people were killed and a thousand more injured as Ramadan closed; Islamic Relief donors moved quickly to deliver aid to those affected Death Toll Rising Over 200 people have died as result of military assaults on residential areas in Palestine. Among the fatalities are are more than 60 women and more than 30 children. In both the evening and daylight cries and screams can be heard from people who’ve lost lives and loved ones. For decades the Palestinian communities in Palestine and across the world have called for an end to a protracted war on their bodies and homeland. Humanitarian Situation Decaying According to the United Nations…
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Ramadan Food Pack-Outs a Massive Success
Co-written by Christina Tobias-Nahi IRUSA’s volunteer-driven food pack outs return in full force across the nation It was back! A warehouse in Springfield, Virginia was teeming with excitement, dedication, and a sense of mission. Volunteers, of all ages and sizes, were decked out in royal blue Islamic Relief USA T-shirts, ready to — as we say here– make a difference in the world. The event, basically an annual ritual, did not take place last year, due to the then-novel coronavirus pandemic. While the pandemic is still upon us, requiring all to be masked and socially distanced, the precautions are sufficient to safely put on the event. Several long tables were…
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Manal has Her Eye on Her Dream
A snapshot into a dynamic opportunity women’s empowerment projects provide Original post at ANERA Manal is a passionate wedding photographer from the city of Nablus, in Palestine’s West Bank. She thinks of her profession as a way to bring joy to her clients and their families. “If people are interested, I won’t decline an offer!” At 50, Manal has been honing her craft for the last 25 years. She first discovered a love for photography through her husband, and swiftly mastered the basics. She soon felt in complete harmony with the camera. After her husband died, she picked it up as a profession. In addition to weddings, she began filming other ceremonies…
