#Service
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A Dua and 4 Realistic Ways to Help Syrian Refugees Now (and it’s not just about your money)
Nada Shawish is Communications Specialist at Islamic Relief USA. “People are dying and they need our help. If we cannot see that, then we have no right to look away from the consequences of inaction.” –The Independent, September 3, 2015 The world is currently in the worst refugee crisis since World War II, and most of the refugees are Syrians. More than half of them are under the age of 18. There’s a lot of work to do to remedy this massive tragedy. While leaders bicker about how they’re going to reverse a crisis that started under their noses, there’s a lot we as individuals can do to help…
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How To Be Charity Itself: Mother Teresa’s International Day of Charity
Lina Hashem is communications specialist at Islamic Relief USA. Islam teaches us simply to always keep some charity in our everyday life, and to make our lives a blessing to others. But in a world filled with suffering, it’s hard to see what one person can do to help. And when we’re stuck in our daily routine, it might seem like the wrong time for charity, or even too late. It makes sense why we might feel that way in our hectic, troubled world. But next time you’re stuck in that way of thinking, remember this story … There was a little girl born in a city between the mountains…
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Hurricane Katrina: Islamic Relief USA’s First Big U.S. Disaster Relief Effort.
When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on August 29, 2005, Elouise Kensey was traveling. Her home in New Orleans was destroyed, but she called herself lucky. “I have custody of my seven grandchildren, and had we stayed somebody would have died,” she told Islamic Relief workers after the storm. “A tree fell on the house. We were lucky, blessed , however you want to call it.” The Category 5 hurricane devastated large parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and its floodwaters surged right over and through the levees protecting New Orleans. More than 1,800 people were killed. Hundreds of thousands were left homeless, including Kensey and her family. Hurricane…
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Flood Waters Unexpectedly Drown Lives, Islamic Relief Renovates Homes in Bosnia
Fareeha Amir is Media Specialist at Islamic Relief USA. Maglaj was one of the first flood-affected regions in Bosnia when the worst flood in almost 100 years washed away homes and land. During the worst of the flooding, the water level in Maglaj climbed over 2 meters. It took four whole days for the water to recede. And when it did, 53-year-old Verica Marti only had the ceramic tiles left in her house. For two days and two nights, everything in her house was underwater. Everything needed repair—from the ceiling to the insulation. Walking among her soaked belongings, Verica remembers the despair she felt sifting and searching for anything she…
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#Sharehumanity with Islamic Relief USA on World Humanitarian Day
Nada Shawish is communications specialist at Islamic Relief USA. 19 August 2015 – There’s nothing connecting humanitarians and the world better than social media today—And on World Humanitarian Day the United Nations has launched a call to people around the world to share stories of humanitarian heroism on their social media feeds. At Islamic Relief USA, my colleagues and I are dedicating our feeds to humanitarian heroes for World Humanitarian Day—Are you? In 2015 nearly 78 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance @islamicrelief #Dosomething #sharehumanity Islamic Relief USA humanitarians are tirelessly working in some of the most dangerous places in the world to reach people who need…
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From One Idea, Many Toys — And Many Smiles
Two weeks ago, on Eid, trucks headed out across the country, filled to the brim with colorful gifts packaged at Islamic Relief offices—making Eid brighter for thousands of children. Islamic Relief USA’s fourth annual toy drive brought together close to 150 volunteers in 16 cities to organize events collecting more than 3,000 toys for children who might not receive gifts otherwise … and it all stemmed from the initiative of one 11-year-old boy, just three years ago. Rauf’s family was sitting together one night in their brightly decorated living room, enjoying the Ramadan atmosphere and looking forward to Eid. The subject turned to the many new refugees in their community…
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Water Wells Help Keep Peace, Improve Living in South Sudan Villages
Nada Shawish Communications Specialist for Islamic Relief USA Reports from Tigili Village. “Your responsibility is cleanliness,” reads a sign posted to a tree that an Islamic Relief hygiene and water source management session is being held under. The teacher is local Islamic Relief staff, who has good working knowledge of Tigili village in South Sudan, and a good relationship with the people here–because he’s from the area himself. Nadu Hamney is one of the village elders and he described some of what they’re learned in the free education sessions. “We learned hygiene training, we learned how to keep the water point clean, and how to solve disputes between us concerning…
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Islamic Relief USA Joins CARE to Show Human Face of Syrian Conflict
Sharif Aly is Advocacy Counsel at Islamic Relief USA There are close to 4 million Syrians living as refugees. 4 million. The number is staggering and it continues to grow. The United Nations has called the Syrian conflict, the biggest humanitarian crisis of this generation. With no end in sight and most of the media’s attention focused on military and political issues, Syrians caught in the midst of this crisis are being forgotten. Individual stories that create empathy between people are being lost. On Friday, March 27, Islamic Relief USA participated in “Life in Refuge” an event at Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C., organized by CARE and with other NGO partners…
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Syria’s Four Years: Are You Paying Attention to Your Role?
Nada Shawish is a Communications Specialist at Islamic Relief USA. I visited Jordan and Lebanon close to the beginning. The conflict had only begun to get deadly, and I was standing in Zataari camp in Jordan. The camp was filling with people just escaping from Syria—arriving with so little, living in the desert with a flimsy tent, stifled by heat and choked by dust, with absolutely nothing but the clothes on their back. I thought then, these people might not make it. So many of these people will not be able to survive these brutal conditions. I could barely stand or breathe after just an hour at Zataari. Zataari camp…
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Delivering Aid in Syria: Brave in the Face of Danger
Laura McAdams, international programs coordinator at IRUSA, recently spent a week at the Syrian border in Turkey, monitoring and evaluating delivery of aid IRUSA donors send to Syrians. Here is her report. High risks come along with entering Syria these days. Those risks, along with remote living conditions along the Turkish border, mean that only the most passionate people work for Islamic Relief’s Syria operation. Mohammed Rebii, the operation’s program manager, is one of those people. Mohammed works with a dedicated staff who together have decades of experience working in conflict zone and transitional areas like Gaza, Egypt and Libya. Together, they brave danger to deliver aid from donors in…
