Assalaamu Alaikum All,

PLEASE BE ASSURED THAT YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO CONTRIBUTE

In March 2012, a small group of Muslim sisters got together and decided upon a small but concrete set of actions to be established, in order to assist the many under privileged and under served people and areas of our community. From this, the idea of raising monthly funds for use in aiding those less fortunate in The Gambian Society was born.

For those of you who have never been here; The Gambia is on the western-most point of Africa, appearing like a finger inside the Republic of Senegal. It has a small population of approximately 1.7 million people, over 95% of whom are Muslim. As a developing nation, it suffers from many of the problems associated with a lack of fairly-distributed resources, hence the reason we have sought to start this initiative of linking concerned peoples from our circle of friends, relatives and communities to do whatever small action we can to assist those less fortunate around us.

We know that these are tough economic times and there are a myriad of causes trying to draw our attention. In reality, so long as we are helping the creation of God Almighty – our efforts will not be wasted, wherever we chose to direct them; so again we stress that you are under no obligation to support this particular cause.

We are of modest means but great ambition and feel that any assistance which can be offered could go some way in addressing a need of an otherwise neglected individual. It is our intention to insha Allah (God willing), give priority of assistance to the following groups:

• Orphans
• Widows
• Chronically ill patients (with a particular focus on those admitted in public hospitals, where standards of care can be quite low).
• Prisoners
• Mentally ill patients

So, for those of you who would like to be involved; the coordinators of this initiative have set a minimum monthly donation of GMD25 per calendar month (roughly equivalent to GB£0.50 & US$1)³ such that it will not impinge on already over-stretched resources. You can donate more if you wish or simply give a one-off donation. It would also be a beautiful thing for us to attract a vast number of people and thus all share in the blessings and reward of this project.

• World Bank 2010
• “Muslim Population by Country”. The Future of the Global Muslim Population. Pew Research Center.
• GMD-Gambian Dalasi; US$- United States Dollar, GBE- Great British Pound

Liwa jhillah is an apolitical organization whose members seek only the pleasure of Allah (God) Almighty.

With sufficient resources we insha Allah, also have the intention of later on purchasing small medical equipment such as blood pressure/sugar monitors & non-prescription drugs in bulk from abroad, as well as approaching able-bodied street beggars to offer them a modest capital which they can use to start their own small businesses (this has be achieved in the past with as little as D450/£10/$20).

Below is a summary of available payment plans and contact options for those who wish to find out more:

Email: liwajhillah@yahoo.com
Gambia: +220 7631224 / +220 7773776 / +220 7998114/+220 2162455

This initiative got off the ground three months ago and with our supporters we’ve so far been able to: feed 273 people at RVTH cous-pap porridge for their morning meal; purchase over a D2000 worth of medication for RVTH patients who would otherwise not have been able to afford their prescriptions; pay overdue tuition fees for the child of a widow with four children; assist the afore-mentioned widow with micro-finance funds enabling her to start her own small business; assist the afore-mentioned widow with food-stuff for her family worth D1000; pay tuition fees as well as purchase books and uniforms for an orphan of 11yrs living with TB; help the afore-mentioned orphan’s family with feeding requirements & provide corrugated iron sheets for the repair of the leaking roof at his family home.

With your dua’as, support and well wishes – we hope to be able to do much more, insha Allah.

From the Liwajhillah Team.

• Presentation of packed personals for RVTH patients
• Porridge breakfast for patients
• Contents of each gift pack
• Signed tuition receipt for orphaned boy

“The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is as that of a grain [of corn]. It grows seven ears and each ear has a hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He wills. And Allah is all-sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knowing” (Surah al-Baqarah: 261)