Our sister Samira is thirty years old and lives with her aged mother in a village named Al-Jiftlik on the Palestinian side of the Jordan valley. She and her mother live in a shack that lacks the most basic amenities. In the summer, Samira and her mother greatly suffer from the heat as their house is exposed to the sun and lacks cooling facilities. Samira and her mother have no income. To survive, they rely on the UNRWA food ration, which is insufficient, and on assistance from charitable individuals.
To make matters worse, Samira suffers from severe mental and physical handicaps since birth. She is in need of medical supervision and medications. Because she is unable to control her bladder and bowel movements, she also needs diapers for grown-ups. Samira’s father passed away years ago. Her mother is in her sixties and suffers from hypertension and other age-related ailments for which she needs to take medications. Samira’s mental age is that of a young toddler and she needs care and supervision every minute of the day. When her aged mother needs to rest, she ties Samira up in her bedroom to prevent her from harming herself.
As the photos show, despite her living conditions, Samira is always cheerful and her smile never leaves her face.
One of Samira’s brothers lives next door with his family. While he and his wife keep an eye on mother and sister, he cannot offer much financial help because he has to provide for a family of twelve.
In order to achieve lasting improvement of Samira and her mother’s living conditions, the family asked to be given five pregnant goats. Goats have a gestation of about five months, so that baby goats will be born pretty soon. Then, the family (as well as the baby goats) would benefit from the rich and very healthy goat milk, from which butter and cheese can be made and sold. The baby goats can be fattened and will fetch a good price on the market. Female goats can produce two litters per year, with up to four kids per litter. With these attributes, five female goats will constitute a reliable source of income for Samira and her mother. They will then be able to purchase medications and diapers, visit the doctor when they need to and little by little, purchase other items they need.
Project Details:
Donor: The Lady Fatemah (A.S.) Charitable Trust-London.
Beneficiaries: Samera, a Palestinian handicapped orphan and her mother.
Number of Beneficiaries: 2 persons.
Date of the project: Tuesday, October 11, 2011.
Project content: Five pregnant goats.
Upon the completion of this charity project and on behalf of Samera and her mother, and the society board members, I would like to extend my deepest thanks and appreciation to The Lady Fatemah (A.S.) Charitable Trust for their generous support for our sister Samera and her mother and for The Society for Rehabilitation Handicapped as well.
We have done this charity project not by our efforts alone, but also through your generous support and kindness, may Allah bless you and reward you the Jana, Ameen. “inna lanudeeAAu ajra man ahsana AAamala” (We will not allow to be lost the reward of any who did well in deeds). Sadaga Allah Al Atheem.
With my deepest salaamas and duas,
Professor Bassam Banat,
President
