Clean water, safe environment and hazard free cooking and lighting are the basic needs for every family. For that, we must do anything and everything to provide for our fellow human beings. The Lady Fatemah Trust has embarked upon providing all these three necessities to individuals in need across war torn Iraq.

I'm walking from Najaf to Karbala for Lady Fatemah Trust because every ones needs light in their homes

More than 1400 years after the unprecedented suffering and martyrdom of Imam Hussain a.s., his family members and his companions, those of us who can fully absorb the thought of that epic tragedy must consider themselves blessed.

That was indeed my first thought during the holy month of Shaban this year as I travel to Kerbala for pilgrimage to the holy sites. But nothing can fully express my feelings in sheer words upon witnessing a man and a woman with their children, walking under the scorching daytime temperature edging over 45 degrees Celsius.

Their aim was both simple and profound. Their journey was taking them in the footsteps of the Holy Imam, to commemorate the legacy of Kerbala which remains fresh today even with the passage of more than 14 centuries. This is a journey both of tears and remembrance, undertaken by those who must tread this path to fulfil the meaning of their lives.

The inspiration which struck me upon witnessing this one family continues to remain inside my soul, day and night. With this uplifting experience, I have now decided to join a group of young people who have decided to walk on foot in December this year, in remembrance of Hazrat Imam Hussain’s journey.

But as I seek your blessing and support for the causes undertaken by the Lady Fatemah (AS) Trust globally to help mankind, let me also urge my brothers and sisters to re-dedicate themselves for remembering Imam Hussain’s message, especially at a truly challenging time for mankind.

In view of the uprisings we have witnessed recently against injustice, we must remember and cherish the example Imam Hussain ibn Ali, the grandson of the last messenger of Allah, who refused to bow to tyranny. He was martyred along with 72 members of his family in a dessert land, having been deprived of water for three days.

But following Imam Hussain’s own sacrifice came the tyranny imposed upon the women and children who accompanied him. They were taken through an arduous journey, imprisoned and released only when there were signs of rising popular resentment against the tyrannical regime of the time.

In memory of that journey, we continue to remember Bibi Zainab a.s. whose sermon in the court of Yazid remains a source of inspiration for all times to come. It is in the memory of the tragedy of Kerbala and its deeply unfortunate aftermath that walks from Najaf to Karbala, Basra to Kerbala and Baghdad to Kerbala are undertaken. In the new post dictatorship Iraq, such journeys have become the largest annual human gatherings anywhere on the face of the earth.

In December of 2012 by the grace of God, a group of individuals from different parts of the world will unite to complete an 80km walk through war-torn Iraq from the holy city of Najaf to the land of Karbala, following the footsteps that have been taken for centuries on this holy route. The participants of this event will walk for three days during the daytime under the scorching dessert sun bearing down upon them and rest in the evening desert chill in makeshift tents when temperatures suddenly go down.

This year, in reverence for this journey which is meaningful in both real and symbolic terms, I have decided to join the group and walk from Najaf to Kerbala to pay homage to the enduring memory of Hazrat Imam Hussain a.m. Given that you have constantly supported LFT’s work for human beings in need, I would like to urge you to sponsor either myself or any one of the other participants of this journey listed on our website, as a way to help our work for people in need.

Specifically, your donations will go towards helping to bring electricity to some 4000 homes in villages around Karbala which remain in darkness. The provision of electricity to these poverty stricken families could transform their lives in more ways than one. These could range from ending the use of carbon fuels which fill each home with unhealthy fumes to allowing students to study after darkness. Through Lady Fatemah Trust (a UK based charity who take 0% commission) all your donations will go directly to funding this project:

Specifically, here is what your contributions can achieve:

A contribution of £150 will help to install and maintain one solar lantern in a poor rural home – that’s just about £2 per kilometre of the walk.

A contribution of £300 will help to install and maintain one fixed solar lighting unit in a rural non-electrified home – that’s just £4 per kilometre of the walk.

A contribution of £600 will go towards training of four people over six months, capable of installing and maintaining solar panels for each home – that’s just £8 per kilometre of the walk.

An apt saying may inspire you to contribute generously towards this cause:

"Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice. It is the protection of a fundamental human right, the right to dignity and a decent life."

- Nelson Mandela