Dear HOPE Friends,
Some of you who are aware of HOPE's multi-pronged approach to poverty alleviation know that HOPE doubles up its efforts to reach the impoverished in the month of Ramadan. Ramadan is an Islamic month which is observed by fasting, extra prayers, and charitable acts to help the needy and underprivileged. In addition to HOPE's regular poverty-alleviating measures in the areas of health and education, HOPE takes extra steps to ensure that the underprivileged are taken care of this month. Some of our activities include:
Providing meals to underprivileged villagers, women, and children - During the long hours of fasting in hot weather, HOPE has teamed up with RobinHood to serve food to impoverished people daily. It goes without saying that these people struggle to provide food for themselves and their families on a regular basis. In Ramadan, HOPE takes extra steps to ensure that no one goes without. During the first three weeks of Ramadan, we were serving food to 400 people per day, but as the month comes to an end, we have been fortunate enough to be able to serve 590 people daily.
Providing a new traditional Eid outfit to HOPE's almost 10,000 students - The children who attend HOPE's schools - especially the home schools - come from impoverished backgrounds. They are the sons and daughters of laborers, farmers, and domestic helpers. The concept of receiving new clothes seems impossible when your family is struggling just to eat daily. But for 10 years now, HOPE has been pooling resources together in Ramadan to provide the children in its schools a new outfit to commemorate the holiday of Eid. Our philosophy is to put a smile on these children's faces and help them feel human and loved. Dr. Mubina (founder of HOPE) reports that she sees the children wearing their Eid outfits throughout the year at every special school function or occasion. New clothes may not seem practical when you are struggling, but we want every child to feel special. We realize that these actions can have long-lasting psychological and emotional benefits to children. 📷
The above activities are sponsored by our dedicated donor base, corporate parternerships, and also our LaunchGood campaigns in Ramadan. We strive to reach all of our health facilities, vocational facilities, and educational facilities, especially the ones in remote and rural areas.
I hope you will enjoy the pictures of the children in HOPE's home schools in Kashmir benefitting from our Ramadan activities.
As always, you can always learn more about HOPE’s many areas of focus by visiting our website.
Until next time – take care!
Ambereen Siddiqui
Director – HOPE USA