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Smiles Galore as Mohammed Assaf visits IRUSA Projects
Written by Fareeha Amir, IRUSA Multimedia Manager who travelled with a group of staff with Mohammed Assaf to Jordan in August 2019. Edited by Kelly El-Yacoubi. Mohammed Assaf’s smile is contagious. So it’s no surprise that when he visited Islamic Relief USA projects in Jordan this past August, his positivity came right along with him. The Palestinian singer is most well-known for winning the second season of Arab Idol in 2013, the precursor to his immense popularity as a singer and celebrity figure in the Middle East. But Assaf’s influence extends beyond the microphone. As a child he grew up in a refugee camp in Gaza, an experience that has…
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For Myanmar Refugees in Bangladesh, Dignity Matters
The following first-hand account is written by an Islamic Relief USA staff member who visited IRUSA relief projects for refugees from Myanmar in Bangladesh. During a visit to Kutapalong camp in Cox Bazar, Bangladesh, I sat in a shelter made of straw and bamboo that housed multiple families. Everyone there had fled violence and conflict in Myanmar a year earlier, leaving behind their homes, possessions, and family members. Everyone had lost a spouse, a child, parents, or siblings. The trauma and pain each refugee now lives with is unthinkable: acts of genocide took place before their own eyes, destroying everything they held dear. Everyday, they are reminded of this devastating…