The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust

19 9 7 - 2 0 13

8th Lady Fatemah Trust Gala Dinner

Thistle Hotel London Heathrow

Saturday 8th June 2013

for Salima 1972 - 2011

Welcome

On behalf of the Board of Trustees and the volunteers who have organised this event, I would like to welcome you to the 8th Lady Fatemah (a.s) Charitable Trust Gala Dinner. For those who have attended the Gala Dinner before and those who have worked with us in the past, we thank you for continuing to support The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust. For those who are new to the trust, we hope this evening will inspire you and provide you with an indication of our vision.

The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust takes its inspiration from Lady Fatemah (a.s.), the beloved daughter of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (p.b.u.h.). Lady Fatemah teaches us how to stand up against injustice, how to live by the Quranic principle of “giving away what you love most” and how to give in charity without looking for praise or reward save from Almighty Allah (s.w.t).

The mission of The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust is to eradicate poverty and suffering; this we believe, is not a distant dream, but a goal that we can achieve by working together. Every human being has the right to be safe, healthy, and to live a dignified life, regardless of his or her race or religion. The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust adheres to the philosophy of empowerment, for it is only through this that a lasting solution to poverty can be found.

In 1997 the trustees set up with a vision of working with a global network of like minded partners to assist in responding effectively to urgent and unplanned natural disasters as well as working with communities and organisations catering to meet long-term needs, such as the provision of clean water, education, healthcare and most importantly income generation. It is the The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust’s vision that anyone who is helped via trust funds will be in a position to not require further charity and indeed is in a position to provide charity.

The trustees are inspired and humbled by how fast the Lady Fatemah (a.s) Charitable Trust has grown and evolved over the last sixteen years. It is only through the generosity of you, our donors, that together we have been able to assist thousands of disadvantaged people worldwide. We know that if we continue to work together and spread our message, we can and will make an even bigger difference in the years to come.

We hope this evening and the following pages will inspire you and provide details of the scope and nature of our myriad activities. Should you wish to work with us in any capacity please let one of our team know. We hope that you will continue to support us in us in our endeavours, and help us to eradicate poverty wherever we may find it.

With warm appreciation and prayers,

Amirali G. Karim

Chairman of the Board of Trustees

The Gala Dinner

Today marks the 8th Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust Gala Dinner. The Gala Dinner serves as a celebration of what your assistance has allowed us to achieve through the year and allows us to showcase our ambitions for the coming year.

This year we are privileged to have Kristiane Backer as our keynote speaker. No doubt her talk will inspire you and will seek to highlight the journey of her life and how the trust‘s activities enthuse Kristiane.

We hope that this year the dinner will emphasise the trust’s core ethos of sustainable giving, we aim for a situation where those we assist do not continue to remain dependent. The Lady Fatemah (a.s) Charitable Trust doesn’t give hand-outs; instead, we believe in giving people an opportunity to empower themselves and live a life with full dignity. Here at The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust, sustainable giving has been, and continues to be, the backbone of the various projects and appeals we implement throughout the year. The generosity of our donors has enabled us to assist thousands of impoverished people worldwide.

This year the Gala Dinner will focus on three of the many appeals our charity continuously carries out: water projects, orphan care and the provision of solar powered cookers and lights.

The mission of The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust is to try and assist anyone who comes to us with a worthy cause or need which we can verify and fund in accordance with our ethos. This has over the years resulted in ambitious projects ranging from sustainable development programmes to the simplest of charity, putting a smile on an individual’s face.

As you will see from the following pages, we operate globally and support projects in the Indian subcontinent, Burma, Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Occupied Palestine, East Africa and Indonesia.

Our key philosophy and USP is to operate on the basis of zero administration fees, thereby ensuring every penny donated goes directly to those in need. We ensure that the trust carries out all activities with complete transparency, from verifying appeals, providing full receipts to benefactors for every donation and providing comprehensive spending breakdowns even down to the last pencil.

What We Do The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust works with charitable partner organisations who are on the ground. This allows us to closely inspect each of the appeals that arise and provide on-going support and advice. As they have local expertise and connections and are in direct contact with the communities in need, we can try and ensure that the assistance reaches exactly where needed, as efficiently and quickly as possible.

Wherever possible and particularly for large projects, The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust works closely with other international charities so as to leverage the full benefit of collective goodwill and local expertise. We have found that joining hands with other organisations often results in achievements beyond the scope of any one charitable institution.

All the above can only be done with the support of our donors who give up their time, assist with finances and most of all provide us with their expertise to assess and analyse the projects that come before us. If you believe you have expertise and/or time to assist behind the scenes please let us know.

In December 2012 approximately 60 individuals from different parts of the world united to complete an 80km walk, for The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust, through war-torn Iraq from the holy city of Najaf to the land of Karbala in a walk known as “The Walk of the Free”. They walked for three days during the daytime with the scorching desert sun bearing down upon them and rested in the evenings in makeshift tents, when the bitter cold took over as the temperatures rapidly plummeted.

These individuals were walking to honour the son of our patron Lady Fatemah (a.s.) and the grandson of the last messenger of God, Hussain ibn Ali. Imam Hussain (a.s.) refused to bow to tyranny, (a virtue that is so apt today given the global uprisings we have recently witnessed) and was martyred along with 72 members of his family in a desert land, having been deprived of water for three days. Since then, a walk from Najaf to Karbala (the land where he was slain) is customarily undertaken by millions of people annually 40 days after the day of his death to commemorate his great sacrifice.

The 60 or so individuals who walked with the N2K group raised over £125,000 to bring light into 4,000 homes in villages around Karbala who currently have no access to electricity. These use of these lights will enable the families to be safer in the dark, avoids the inhalation of diesel fumes indoors, prevents burns due to naked flames and allows children to study after dark.

You can contribute today to the project supported by these walkers and purchase a solar lamp for the families who live around the holy city of Karbala.

Please do not hesitate to speak to our volunteers should you wish to participate in the N2K walk in 2013.

The Najaf to Karbala walk (N2K)

As those who receive our newsletter and email updates are aware, the variety and number of projects the Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust supports and carries out each year is great. The following pages provide a snapshot of the nature of projects we have carried out this year and hopefully will inspire and move you. The number of projects that we have to turn away is also great but with your continuing support we can continue to provide smiles on the faces of those we assist.

Although we provide support in emergency and disaster relief situations we aim primarily to reduce dependence on humanitarian aid and facilitate the transition on a path to self-reliant, long-term development. We hope to empower communities and provide them the skills both to pull themselves out of poverty and to ensure their future generations are empowered to produce long lasting change in their own communities.

For detailed information on our appeals and projects, or to contribute and make a difference, please visit www.ladyfatemahtrust.org, sign up to our e-mail newsletter or download our new mobile app.

Projects and Case Studies

Orphan Care

Unfortunately one of the results of war, natural disaster, poverty and malnutrition is that millions of children are left alone and without support. It is our aim to assist orphans wherever we work to provide them with the love and support they deserve.

The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust along with our partner organisations has established orphan sponsorship programmes to care for orphans in Iraq, Iran, India, Pakistan, Lebanon and occupied Palestine.

In countries where war, famine or poverty is part of everyday life, millions of children are orphaned and left to struggle for survival. Over the last decade alone, armed conflict has resulted in six million children being wounded or disabled for life, and one million orphaned.

The LFT’s orphan sponsorship program intends to reach the most destitute. Frequently, those we look to support do not have access to any other charitable organisations or public welfare departments.

Over the last year we have sponsored 185 orphans with the help of LFT’s generous donors.

We continue to receive appeals from more orphans than we can currently support. We urge you to try and support an orphan along with your family, for just £25 a month, you too can sponsor an orphan, and give a child the chance for a better future.

“They ask you as to what they should spend. Say: Whatever wealth you spend, it is for the parents and the near of kin and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer, and whatever good you do, Allah surely knows it.” (Qura’an 2:215)

An Iraqi orphan draws a picture of his mother on the ground and sleeps in her arms

During our last trip to Iraq, the LFT met many of the orphans and widows whose lives you have changed. Below you can see some of the messages that we have received from those we look to help.

“May Allah bless you for this assistance. With this money, I can buy a lot of nutritious food for my children.”

One widow told us that she would use part of her orphan sponsorship to pay back her neighbour, from whom she had to borrow money when her two daughters ran a high fever and could not be cured with over-the-counter medications. With the rest of the money, she will be able to buy the rest of the medicines the doctor prescribed so that her orphan children will be completely cured.

Another widow related how her daughter said:

“Why can’t I buy all the things I need for school. This must be because I don’t have a father, like the other children.”

After receiving sponsorship, her mother told her:

“Your other father, [the LFT], has provided the means to purchase what you need.”

Messages from the mothers of the orphans

Iraqi Orphan and Widows Programme

A girl who has lost both parents told us:

“We cannot compensate you for the assistance you give us because we are orphans and have nothing. However, Imam Hussein (as) will compensate you because you made us happy.”

An aunt of an orphaned girl told us:

“I invoke Allah’s mercy and blessings upon you. You cannot imagine how happy Ayat was when I bought her a new dress with part of her sponsorship money. It is her first new dress after wearing second-hand clothes for a long time. She asked me to give her a bath before putting on the new dress and said ‘You and the sponsor take better care of me than my mother who deserted me and does not care about me”.

Another mother said that her orphaned daughter does not have a suitable abaya (hejab cloak worn by all women over the age of nine in Karbala) and is ashamed to go out and that she would now be able to purchase an abaya from part of the sponsorship money.

A young widow, whose orphans are sadaath, said:

“I was forced to perform plumbing jobs in our home and am indebted to the plumber, who keeps coming to the door and asking for his money. Al-hamdu lillah, I can use part of this month’s sponsorship to pay my debt and preserve my dignity and that of my family. May Allah compensate you for your assistance. My family does not help me and I do not receive any assistance.”

We have carried out water projects in Pakistan, Kashmir, India, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya and Iraq, three of our key water projects are highlighted below.

Birre Sakina Water Wells - The Lady Fatemah (a.s) Charitable Trust have now built over 75 water wells in the name of Bibi Sakina, the granddaughter of our patron. These wells have been built in India, Pakistan and Afghanistan and these provide consistent access and supply of drinking water. This means the sanitation conditions in these villages have improved leading to a reduction in illness.

Hand Water Pumps, Afghanistan - Only 13% of the country currently has regular access to clean water. As part of our water strategy in Afghanistan, we are installing hand water pumps at a cost of £600. These pumps mean that the women and children in the villages will no longer have to walk for hours to collect water for their families.

Basic Water Sanitation, Iraq - Sometimes before we can set up longer term water solutions, the Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust sets up water sanitation projects. This is particularly important following the outbreak of infectious diseases. For example in the last year there was an outbreak of cholera near Karbala and this was becoming an epidemic. The LFT supplied water purification tablets to approximately 20,000 families. A project like this is relatively low cost but can have a huge impact in a short space of time.

Provision of Clean Water

768 million people have no easy or regular access to clean drinking water – roughly 1 in 10 of the world’s population have no choice but to get water from wherever they can, whether it is a dirty pond or by walking for many miles to retrieve water for their families.

Case Study – Iraqi Irrigation Project

HIP Pump Irrigation Project – Karbala, Iraq

During the current conditions of long-term drought in Iraq, agriculture is faced with difficulties and has almost come to a standstill in many regions. Due to the absence of irrigation systems, many farmers are forced to irrigate their land by hand using well water. Although kerosene-powered mechanical pumps can be used to draw the water, the pumps are difficult to operate and both running costs and maintenance are costly thereby eating into the farmer’s income.

After identifying this problem, the LFT looked to Africa, a continent accustomed to drought where modern irrigation technologies are not widely available. We were aware of irrigation micro-technology, which used HIP pumps to draw well water and irrigate land that we have seen used in Kenya, Mali and Tanzania. These pumps are light-weight, their use does not require great physical strength and the costs are much lower than using kerosene pumps.

In a unique pilot project, the Trust purchased five HIP pumps and shipped them to LFT’s implementing partner in Iraq, Women for Justice Organization (WfJO). They selected five deserving beneficiary families living in two villages stricken by drought and poverty located in Karbala province who are the first families in Iraq to use this new technology.

A specialist in the installation of HIP pumps travelled to Iraq to acquaint the families with their use. He installed the pumps and explained the user’s manual in Iraqi Arabic in the presence of the benefiting families and the village heads. All pumps were then tested and found to be in perfect working order.

The beneficiaries were happy to receive the pumps and eager to use them on their land to increase their yield and improve the lives of their families. Follow-up visits showed that all families are presently irrigating their land using the HIP pumps. One of the beneficiaries Mrs Maryam Emama said: “This pump will relieve me of the need to buy kerosene for my old pump and I will be able to save $100 each month,” thereby making her agriculture much more profitable.

Socio-Economic Regeneration and Micro-Finance

Projects that allow the most deserving to work themselves out of poverty are the ones that the trust particularly focuses on and wishes to expand. Our income generation projects help individuals, families and institutions develop skills and income to become financially independent and hopefully non-reliant on charity.

Provision of shops, equipment and machinery

The trust has provided a variety of machinery, sewing machines, stock for shops and vehicles such as taxis and rickshaws to many deserving individuals and families who were hovering near or below the poverty line.

The recipients of the microfinance projects are provided with an opportunity to become self-sufficient and live lives full of dignity and self respect while providing a stable platform for their future generations.

Case Study – Brother Muhammad Farooq

Provision of a mobile phone shop – Chakwal, Pakistan

Brother Muhammad Farooq is a resident of the ‘Gooday Sharif’ village of District Chakwal. His father died after suffering kidney failure in 2007, leaving him to be responsible for his mother and two of his sisters. Until its regional partner alerted the LFT to his situation, Brother Farooq was unemployed, following an internship at a mobile phone repair shop he learnt the art of repairing mobile phones.

Following this training Brother Farooq approached our regional partner to refer his case to LFT for a grant that will allow him to establish a mobile phone repair shop. Our regional partner carried out a feasibility study and informed us that his proposal offered bright prospects and recommended the trust to provide Muhammad Farooq the capital to start a shop of his own.

It was estimated that a grant of just £616 would allow Brother Farooq to purchase the necessary repair tools and equipment as well as the necessary spare parts to repair the most commonly used mobile phones in the region. Given the high price of consumer goods and dwindling incomes, many in the country prefer to repair their phones as opposed to purchasing replacements.

We anticipate that Brother Farooq will be able to generate an income of approximately £75 per month as result of this grant.

There are many families like this that the Trust will be able to assist with your support.

Orphanage Poultry Project

An orphanage, situated in Lemara area, Arusha, Tanzania, is a small haven for 45 children run by two very dedicated ladies, Mama Amina and Mama Mchome. Over the years it has progressed well, and the two ladies managing the orphanage are now trying their utmost to make the orphanage relatively self-sufficient through a poultry project, started by the Trust. Over the past 15 months, the poultry project has provided the children with eggs, chicken, fuel for their stoves and electricity. Through the income generated by surplus eggs they have been able to purchase water, shoes and stationery for school.

Goat Income-Generation Project

The live goat project is one that really highlights the power of sustainable giving and the multiplication of a donation. Goats provided through this project provide milk for the families. As most goats provided by the project are pregnant, further milk is produced. The beneficiaries pledge to donate back to the project one kid to another deserving family. In this way many families in the areas that the project runs have started to build up herds and thereby increase their quality of life as they can sell kids and surplus milk.

28 │ The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust Gala Dinner

Healthcare

Some of the projects which provide us and our donors with the biggest smiles are where we see individuals with life crippling medical ailments being cured by procedures that many of us take for granted. The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust assists with healthcare from simple rehabilitative measures to complex life saving procedures.

Assistance to Amputee Victims

During the last year, the LFT has started working with a Tanzanian partner organisation IZAAS to provide artificial limbs for young amputees from Tanzania. In the rural regions, dreadful accidents occur frequently as a result of a lack of heath and safety measures.

One of the most tragic recent cases was that of a ten-year old girl Bibiana who had lost both her parents to AIDS. Both her, and her younger sister are albinos, and so their family were especially protective of them to keep them out of harm’s way. However one night after the children and grandmother had gone to bed, an intruder viciously cut off Bibiana’s right leg above the knee. Such crimes are committed by the Black Magic Devil Worshippers, a cult whose members believe that after using the body parts of albinos in their magic rites, they will strike gold or diamond mines.

This little girl’s life changed dramatically after treatment was provided in Nairobi, where there is a centre for artificial limbs. Through IZAAS, LFT has received a number of appeals for amputees, which we try and fulfil as resources allow.

Cluster Bomb Victims - Lebanon

With one of our partners, The Philanthropic Association for Disabled Care in Nabatieh, LFT is assisting patients who have sustained horrific injuries as a result of the war in 2006. These projects are often coupled with micro-finance projects to enable the patients to earn their own income. Children who are treated on the program have the opportunity return to school if their injuries were preventing them from doing so. These operations have transformed the lives of those that have been treated.

Cataract Operations – Kashmir and Pakistan

Cataracts are a common, easily curable condition which often develop with age. In the developing world cataracts are the primary cause of blindness. Cataract treatment is available globally at a very low cost but many cannot afford £15 for this simple operation. For the cost of an average meal out, you can provide someone with the gift of sight and enable them to lead a fulfilled life. In Pakistan, the LFT is currently providing over 100 cataract operations a month. One beneficiary told us “It is unbelievable that a poor woman like me is receiving such high quality treatment absolutely free of charge. May Allah shower his blessings upon the donors and staff of this hospital.”

Free Tablets – Imam Sadr Foundation

To date the LFT with your support has given out over 245,000 tablets at the Imam Sadr Foundation’s health care unit. The health department covers eight medical units, mobile clinics and a school dispensary in five towns. The programme assists those in need of medical drugs who cannot afford to pay for their prescriptions.

Karbala Eye Clinic

The Karbala Eye Clinic has been helping the poor of Iraq since 2006 and performs thousands of examinations every year, ensuring the gift of sight for those who may not otherwise have been able to afford it.

Medical Treatments

Until recently, appeals were being received from India and treatments provided included coronary artery disease patients, organ transplants and treatments, and cancer treatment. This project has now been extended to include Pakistan, where essential treatment is being provided to save lives.

Medical Referral Programme, Iran

We have been working with IRAC in Tehran providing medical care for Afghan and Iraqi refugees. This programme supports people that generally work, but their income is insufficient to cover the cost of their treatment. Iraqi patients also come to Iran for this treatment as travelling to Baghdad is costly and dangerous. An average of 90-100 patients are treated every month and in total over 6,600 patients have been treated since the project’s inception in 2005.

Case Study – Sister Maryam Abdul Ameer

Diabetes treatment

Twenty-four year old Maryam Abdul Ameer has been sick for most of her life. Like so many Iraqis, she suffers from insulin-dependent diabetes. With her father jobless, the family of seven has been forced to rely on charitable donations to subsist; they can barely afford to feed themselves, let alone purchase specialist medication to help Maryam manage her condition.

Poverty coupled with a lack of access to proper medical services has led to untoward complications in Maryam’s disease and she suffered from diabetic neuropathy, which severely affected the nerves in the lower part of her body. A lack of stimulation led to increasing muscle weakness and resulted in her becoming wheelchair-bound.

Even at such an advanced stage, diabetic neuropathy was treatable, but Iraqi hospitals did not have the necessary facilities nor the required medications to support such treatment. Advice from doctors outside Iraq suggested that Maryam would need to undergo a lumbar puncture and nerve biopsy in order to determine the best course of treatment, she was then required to stay in hospital for a further six weeks to allow her recovery to be closely monitored.

Following an urgent appeal of $14,700 USD, Sister Maryam is now walking and the treatment has revolutionised her life, a life that is befitting for someone of her age.

The LFT is involved in providing education at all levels from primary to graduate level support. We are keen to empower both genders and have seen many of the children flourish in their communities as a result of your generosity.

Salima Memorial Medical Education Project

Established in 2011 and named after former LFT trustee and tireless worker, the late Salima Ashfaq Khalfan, this project is dedicated to providing funding for medical students who without financial assistance will be unable to complete their education.

Education

“Are those who have knowledge equal to those who do not have knowledge?” (The Qura’an Chapter 39 Verse 9)

The provision of education creates opportunities to improve the quality of life and helps people to lift themselves out of poverty. Providing educational prospects is one of the key focuses of The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust in its mission to tackle the root causes of poverty.

Currently twenty-two projects have been launched and successfully completed as part of the Salima Education Project. It can cost as little as £35 per month to sponsor a university student to train as a medical professional. We aim to sponsor those students who have shown consistent high marks and we continue to track their progress and training.

Lebanon

The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust is currently assisting special needs children from war torn Lebanon to develop their abilities and enable them to live independently. Many of these children have learning disabilities, lack essential motor or speech capabilities, or are hearing impaired. The LFT provides them with the required therapy and special care that will ensure that they have a future to look forward to. The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust has also supported bright students to attend university by helping with tuition fees.

Child Workers - Lebanon

In a country with a population of only 4.5 million people, Lebanon has a disproportionately high level of child workers; an estimated 100,000 children (13% of 7-17 year olds) have been forced into work instead of going to school. Research has shown that working conditions for this group of workers are particularly bad; not only are they paid less than their adult equivalents, but are often beaten and humiliated by their employers in a bid to make them more productive.

Child labour is a vicious circle. According to a 2012 Rapid Assessment conducted in Lebanon by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the fathers of most child labourers were child labourers themselves. With no education and a life of toil premeditated for them, many of these children turn to crime later on in life.

But Manessa, an organisation the LFT has partnered with, aims to tackle the cause of this cycle. It proposes a project to prevent children from dropping out of school in the first place. The project targets two distinct groups of children - those at risk of dropping out of school due to economic and/or academic reasons, as well as those who have already left school to engage in unskilled labour.

Manessa intends to establish a Study Center where 40 children can receive tutoring in any subject for a nominal fee. The Centre will be open to children to who have left school but would like to finish their education and require additional tutoring to cover what they’ve missed during their period of absence. For children in work who do not want to return to school, Manessa is looking to provide vocational training; this will help empower child labourers by providing them with skills that will secure better pay and improved working conditions.

Education is a basic human right and should be an accessible and viable option for all children. Please support the LFT in trying to eradicate child labour in Lebanon by donating to this worthy cause.

Teacher Training Course - Pakistan

The Trust has recently completed an ambitious project which saw approximately 60 teachers from remote parts of Pakistan spend three weeks in February to improve their teaching skills. The teachers, currently employed in parts of Pakistan’s northern Gilgit-Baltistan region were identified by the Karachi based Friends’ Trust which facilitated the program.

The beneficiaries of this project successfully sharpened their teaching skills, especially for the teaching of English language, mathematics and science. Eventually between 5,000 to 6,000 students who are currently enrolled at the USWA school system stand to benefit from the improved skills of their teachers.

Food provision and emergency relief

Ramadhan Iftaar Appeal 2013

This is one of the Trust’s most widely supported projects, where, in some countries, as little as £3.35 can feed one person for an entire month. Last Ramadhan, over £150,000 was raised in support of the Ramadhan appeal. In addition, the Trust also distributes zakaat funds to the poorest families on Eid, as well as gifts to children whose lives have been devastated by war.

This year, the LFT has partnered with MICT to assist poverty stricken households in northern Pakistan. Although Ramadhan is now only a couple of months away, the LFT have launched their appeal early to allow prospective donors to reflect on the importance of Ramadhan, and the benefit and necessity of giving to those more impoverished than themselves. For most of us, it may seem debilitatingly difficult to fast during tirelessly long summer days, but we do so with the

When natural disasters strike or conflicts affect innocent civilian lives, The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust responds quickly to help those most at risk. When poverty stricken families cannot find basic nourishment, you allow us to provide them one of their most basic human needs

knowledge that at the end of each day, we can quench our thirst with refreshingly cool water drawn from readily accessible taps, and satisfy our hunger with an abundance of food in our iftaar and suhoor, often over indulging. Unfortunately, for hundreds of millions of people elsewhere in the world, the fear and anxiety of remaining hungry and perpetually malnourished is an endless and devastating reality every day of the year.

With the support of LFT donors, MICT initially intend to arrange food packages to be delivered to 2,400 families in the Punjab province and areas surrounding the capital city of Islamabad. Distribution will focus on the most vulnerable members of society - the elderly, widows, orphans and single mothers. If the funds raised exceed what is required for these packages, the effort will be expanded to support an emerging LFT-MICT ‘food bank’ which is dedicated to combating hunger on an on-going basis.

The Trust is also raising funds to help impoverished and vulnerable individuals in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Kenya, and Tanzania.

As ever the Trust will also recommence its “Donate a Latte” scheme in which we request you to donate £2.50 a day for the holy month. For most of us this represents the price of a cup of coffee that we grab every morning on our way to work. Over a month this amount could provide iftaar to three families for the whole month.

In a month where fasting allows us to understand the plight of those less fortunate than ourselves, the LFT humbly requests you to donate.

38 │ The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust Gala Dinner

Urgent Appeal – Syrian Refugees

With civil war having devastated the country since March 2011, the situation in Syria remains dire. The UN estimates that over 60,000 people have died since the conflict began. Estimates by the Arab Red Crescent suggest that over 2.5 million people have been internally displaced and over a million have fled to neighbouring countries. It is estimated that over 8,000 are fleeing the country on a daily basis. The situation of those affected is unimaginable and eyewitnesses report harrowing stories to the Trust daily.

In response, the LFT has partnered with local organisations to help refugees who have fled to Southern Lebanon. One organisation, Manessa, is looking to produce mattresses, pillows, and covers to prevent refugee families from having to sleep on the cold bare earth. These can be converted into couches during the day, making them versatile and increasing comfort for refugees. Not only will families be able to protect against the bitter cold at night, they will also be able to sit together as a family and receive guests during the day, thus allowing them to preserve their social traditions and some semblance of normality during this crisis.

In their struggle for freedom and dignity, these refugees have lost everything. By supporting the LFT, you could make that hardship a little easier to bear.

Through the next few months we urge you to support the appeals that will inevitably filter through as we assist those displaced by the current situation.

The Lady Fatemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust is YOUR CHARITY. It is only with your support that we have improved the lives of thousands of people in many of the poorest countries worldwide. Although the need is great, we can make a difference. Thank you for being here today and continuing

to support the Trust in its goals. Together we can change the world,

one life at a time.