Poverty is rife in most of South Africa, and Bonteheuwel in Cape Town is no different.

With high levels of unemployment, gang culture and drug trafficking in the area, Fuad, his wife Nazeema, their three children and his elderly mother-in-law are one of the many families struggling to survive in Bonteheuwel.

Fuad used to be a taxi driver, but an administrative error at the traffic department resulted in his driver’s license being revoked. As the only breadwinner, this meant that their lives had taken a turn for the worse.

Now, with nothing and no one to turn to, Fuad and his son often walk the streets of Cape Town to collect scrap metal that they hope to sell for food. With an elderly mother-in-law with Alzheimers to support, her special needs are to be catered to at all costs. “[She] needs to eat soft vegetables every day.” But that’s not Fuad’s only worry. “My daughter suffers from asthma and my eldest daughter is on drugs…there is no place I can go to for help.” Every day is a struggle for Fuad and his family. He explained that they need to buy vegetables daily, but their staple meal for the day is bread: “When we cannot afford to buy a half loaf, I go around asking the neighbours for any stale bread that we can toast.”

Islamic Relief South Africa provided Fuad and his family with a food pack containing flour, rice, porridge, lentils, oil, fish and snacks amongst other things, ensuring that they remain food-secure during the month of Ramadan. Fuad said: “Ramadan is a blessing from Allah (swt). I can be the amirin my household again and I am relieved that my prayers were answered when He sent Islamic Relief to our community.”

Approximately 1.5 million people across the globe will receive a Ramadan food pack this year.

Islamic Relief has been distributing food aid in Murshidabad, one of the most deprived districts in the West Bengal, for the past five years. This Ramadan was no different, with over 1,000 food packs distributed in this district alone.

“I am a widow living with my daughter who is a divorcee,” 40-year-old Mujkira told us. Both Mujkira and her 20-year-old daughter, Manera, work together to ensure they have enough food to eat on a daily basis. “We don’t have any source of income as such,” Mujkira said sadly. “For grinding ten kilograms of rice, we get one kilogram of rice powder as a wage.”

The pair live in a small house in Sherpur and face many challenges accessing water as well as food, with their nearest tube well quite a walk away. “The food shortages and lack of safe drinking water cause many health problems for us, but there is no proper medical facility nearby and we cannot afford whatever is available.” During Ramadan, Mujkira often worries about how they will break their fast. As part of Islamic Relief’s food distribution programme in India, volunteers visited Mujkira and Manera to find out more about their circumstances. “They understood my situation and needs, and they selected me as a needy person and gave me a Ramadan food pack.”

Islamic Relief provided Mujkira and Manera with a food pack containing rice, flour, pulses, sugar, chick peas and tea leaves, ensuring that they remain food-secure during the month of Ramadan. Mujkira said: “This food packet will be enough for me and my daughter during Ramadan, inshaAllah! I am very happy and relieved that I’ll not have to worry about our meals and will be able to concentrate on prayers.”

Approximately 1.5 million people across the globe will receive a Ramadan food pack this year.

Every Ramadan, Islamic Relief Bangladesh provides food packs to the most vulnerable people in poverty stricken and disaster prone districts of the country.

Samad used to work in Mymensingh before an accident damaged his back. Now he cannot put pressure on his spine, engage in any physical activity and, as a result, is unable to make a living. “My wife makes cakes and sells them in the market every day,” Samad said. “If the sale goes well, we get to eat. If the sale doesn’t go well, we don’t get to eat anything that day.”

As his wife’s business relies heavily on external factors, anything from bad weather to not being able to afford materials for cakes can affect whether they have a meal that evening. “We never get enough food, but we thank Allah (swt) for the little we do get. But most of the time it’s like fasting has become a regular practice in our lives.” Although Samad cannot support his wife through work, he remains hopeful. “I try to help my wife at least with the chores of the house. But she is strong, very strong, and she has kept us going for all these years.”

Islamic Relief Bangladesh provided Samad and his wife with a food pack containing rice, lentils, chick peas, soybean oil and sugar, ensuring that the couple remain food-secure during the month of Ramadan. “I would like to thank Allah (swt) for sending this food to me through Islamic Relief.”

Approximately 1.5 million people across the globe will receive a Ramadan food pack this year.

Camps reach capacity as families flee Fallujah and Makhmur in scorching summer heat.

Islamic Relief is distributing emergency food packs to thousands of people who have fled their homes in Iraq.

As Iraqi security forces attempt to retake areas held by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) families have left everything behind and are now without shelter in the scorching summer heat.

More than 85,000 people have fled their homes since military operations to recapture the city of Fallujah began one month ago.

The scope of the crisis has outpaced humanitarian capacity.

Humanitarian organisations have no access to Fallujah and an estimated 50,000 civilians are still inside the city, with limited or no food supplies and few sources of safe drinking water.

The newly displaced people are taking shelter in three camps in urgent need of food, water, sanitation and fans to overcome the searing heat as summer is at its peak.

At the same time, 200 miles (350km) to the north, increasing numbers of people are fleeing their homes following military operations in Makhmur District.

Since Sunday (June 19, 2016) nearly 3,000 people from Makhmur have arrived at nearby Debaga Camp (shown above), which is now well over its 5,000-person capacity.

 

Distributing food packs at Debega Camp

 

Islamic Relief has distributed 331 food packs to 1,655 people in Debaga Camp and is planning to distribute 3,000 more to 15,000 people in the three camps outside Fallujah.

We have been operational in Iraq since 1996 and our presence and established networks put Islamic Relief in a strong position to access hard-to-reach areas.

Extra support is urgently needed to supply vulnerable displaced people with food, water and hygiene items.

At a glance:

• The humanitarian crisis in Iraq is one of the largest and most complex in the world, impacting nearly one-third of the population.
• Ten million Iraqis currently require humanitarian assistance.
• There are reports of people drowning, being injured or being killed by snipers or improvised explosive devices in their attempt to flee Fallujah.
• Before this most recent military operation 75,000 displaced people were already residing in camps near Fallujah.
• With rising temperatures and lack of clean drinking water the risk for disease outbreaks is high.

Millions of children across the world face daily struggles, whether it’s through destitution, war, drought or disease, and all too often become orphaned as a result.

For many orphans living in single parent households, with guardians or even by themselves, the threat of poverty is constant. The Islamic Relief orphan sponsorship scheme is a lifeline for these children, providing their guardians with the ability to cover all of their basic needs, including food, healthcare and education.

Eight-year-old Ismail* from South Africa is the 50,000^th orphan currently sponsored through Islamic Relief.

 

Ismail playing football in a field near his home.

 

In a small township of Cape Town, South Africa, Ismail lives in a community where almost 80% of the residents are unemployed, dependent on social grants and live below the poverty line.

It is an area riddled with gang violence and substance abuse, and Ismail, his mother and three siblings know full well what living in such a place can do to a family. When Ismail was seven years old, his father was killed in front of them. His 17-year-old brother also narrowly escaped death, and now the family live in constant fear of their surroundings.

Even something as simple as getting to school safely worries their mother, who works as a street sweeper and earns less than $5 a day. As the children are guaranteed a meal at school, Ismail’s mother takes a risk everyday by sending them to attend classes. With four children to care for, life isn’t easy for her and she struggles to provide her family with the emotional and financial support they need to survive living in the township.

A local care worker referred the family to Islamic Relief, advising them of the orphan sponsorship programme. After interviewing the family and assessing their suitability, needs and requirements, the Islamic Relief team in South Africa placed Ismail on the orphan sponsorship programme.

Now, Ismail’s mother no longer needs to worry about the lack of food, with monthly food hampers delivered to their home, as well as Ramadan and Qurbani food packs. Ismail also has access to healthcare, which includes psychosocial support via a grief and loss programme that helps him deal with past trauma. To encourage education, the family have also been given stationery, uniforms and bags.

The support provided through Islamic Relief will ensure that Ismail and his family live a healthy and prosperous life for many years to come.

 

Ismail stands outside his house with his mother and sister.

 

Islamic Relief’s sponsorship scheme has been building a brighter future for orphans across the globe since 1986.

*Name changed for protection purposes

Islam is considered to be the Philippines’ second largest religion, with over five million adherents across all of its islands. This year, Islamic Relief Philippines conducted their first Ramadan distribution programme, delivering food packs to the Philippines’ most vulnerable communities.

We asked Sandra Borgueta, IR Philippines’ Communications and Advocacy Officer, to tell us about her experience visiting Pagalungan, Maguindanao – a municipality with one of the largest Muslim populations.

Here’s Sandra’s story:

Pagalungan is a 90 minute drive from Cotabato City.
It is an incredibly weather-sensitive area, prone to severe flooding due to its low-lying environment and drought because of the country’s tropical climate. During monsoons, Rio Grande de Mindanao and Liguasan marshes tend to overflow and only late last year the entire province of Maguindanao suffered from drought. These extreme conditions make life difficult for the 10,401 households in the municipality that rely on farming and fishing as their main source of income. Constant violent clashes from deep-rooted clan wars have also worsened living conditions in the area.

 

Samia Batua and her family at their home in Galakit, Pagalungan.

When I first met Samia Batua, she was standing in line to collect her food pack. Her husband had to work at their farm so she was accompanied by her neighbours – mostly women. With five children to support, she spoke proudly of the four that had recently finished college. “We borrowed a lot of money for college. I am now P300,000* in debt,” she told me with a sigh. “I don’t mind this problem, though, as long as they all finish school. It was important for them to get an education.” When I asked her how she hoped to pay off her loans, she said she didn’t know. Samia is just one of the many mothers I met in Pagalungan with a similar story.
Down the fields and across the rivers

My team asked if I was willing to cross a river to go visit more of Pagalungan’s Muslim community. I was used to 30 minute boat rides and wasn’t afraid of water, and so I jumped at the chance. The next day, however, I found out that it wasn’t just a matter of crossing – we were on the boat for five hours. The households we were to interview were along the famous Liguasan marsh. It would take a little more than two hours to travel back and forth just to visit the first few homes.
The locals call it “Marshland.” This is because houses sit on small patches of land and are waters apart from one another. Ideally, we hoped the interviews would take three to four minutes per home, but since we were rowing one house after another, we spent ten to 15 minutes at just one stop. In three hours, we only managed to interview 20 families.
The next day was a lot more fruitful. We travelled into another village where houses were deep inside fields and that meant trekking by foot. The drought had only recently cleared up and the community was enjoying the rain, with water flowing from the fields and into some of the houses. We spent five days interviewing over two thousand families and delivering food packs.
During the interviews, we would ask for identification cards to make sure that we were speaking with locals belonging to the right community. Almost all of them did not have their IDs with them because they were still at evacuation centres, internally displaced due to their fields drying up or being flooded, or to escape conflict.
We met Imam Guiamed Nur from the village of Bago-enged. He had been living in a community hut for four weeks since violent clashes erupted in his village. “There is a clan feud and people with guns were firing at each other. We had to run away,” he told us. His family shares the evacuation centre with four other familes. Even amidst the violence and hardships that they experience, Imam Guiamed said that Ramadan is a time for forgiveness and that they pray for peace in their land. “Fasting in the holy month of Ramadan is a time when we seek forgiveness from Allah (swt) for our past sins. [To fast] is an obligation that we Muslims have to do so that we can reap the rewards in the afterlife.” This story is not uncommon in Pagalungan, where most families can go hungry for days because they have no stable income.

Imam Guiamed Nur sits with his neighbours in their community hut to break fast together.

Imam Guiamed was among those who received a food pack and he was so grateful for the support that was given to them. “We were able to have kanduli (feast) and we shared our food with the others here in the community who could not prepare iftar,” he said. “We pray that those who have come to help us are given more blessings so they can help more people like us.” It continues to amaze me that even with the little they received, Imam Guiamed felt generous enough to share his food with his neighbours.
Jasmin Salazar, a farmer from Galakit, said that most families in her community would depend on their own vegetable gardens. “Our farms have dried up because of the drought, so we try to plant some vegetables so at least we have something to eat,” she told us. The food pack meant Jasmin and her family did not need to worry about where to get food for Iftar anymore. “You risked your lives to be here with us when other people would be afraid, may Allah (swt) continue to bless your heart and spirit.”
I was there for a mere 15 days, but what I have witnessed will continue to inspire me and the work that I do with Islamic Relief. As a Catholic, I relate to Ramadan as a journey of sincere contemplation, where we seek clarity of our faith and our purpose as stewards of good. I feel privileged to have been part of the IR Philippines team in Pagalungan who worked so hard to make this activity the success that it was.
*4,526 GBP. One peso is 0.02 GBP.

In total, IR Philippines distributed nearly 2,000 food packs containing rice, oil, beans, salt, sardines and canned meat, ensuring families remained food-secure during the month of Ramadan.