This Ramadan: Restoring Dignity with You.

Like every year, since 2009, and even throughout the year, we reach out to you with cases and stories of those who are in need, who are struggling due to poverty, who do not have access to health or educational services, the way we do. You all respond in a fashion that leaves me awed; awed by your generosity, awed how things fell into place for those in need, all in a few moments.

We are just fortunate to stand in between the haves and the have nots. The real beneficiary of this process of giving and receiving is you and them. Your rewards lie with the Lord above, but as I always offer, you can always claim a bowl of steaming Nihari, spiced up with green chilies and chopped ginger with a sprinkle of lemon, from me. That's the only way I know to reach 1% closer to your generosity.

Coming forward to this year's appeal. We are aiming to restore dignity in the lives of those who are the most vulnerable - the orphans, the widows. I have got 100s of applications flying all over the workplace. Actually, there are not flying anywhere, Muzafar Khan has them placed very nicely in a folder. I just mean to say, the number of applications are increasing every day.

And, these applications scare me. Back in 2014, I wrote a big post on it (will put the link in the comments section), I was on a field trip and reached out to a widow to inform her that her girls have got sponsorship. All I found at her home was her. She gave away her girls in marriage and one of them was facing abuse. That was one day in my life, I just wanted to resign and leave this work forever. It took some counselling and self-counselling to get out of that trauma. Felt responsible for the delay, felt gutted.

We want to create livelihood opportunities for these widows and other males/females who require support to live a life of dignity and to give one to their dependents. We want to help people to see again, people who are suffering from curable blindness just because they cannot afford the cost of surgery. We want to provide water, we want to provide food, to those who battle hunger and thirst everyday.

BUT, BEFORE YOU MAKE A DONATION TO US THIS YEAR, please look around you. Look for those who need help and are around you.

Look out in your family or friends circle, someone might have to pay a debt. There might be an orphan or a widow who would are struggling to cover their needs. There might be a teenager who has decided to drop out from education because he cannot afford the fees. There might be a friend who is not getting a job and he has a family to feed. There might be a friend's father, who needs treatment but they can't afford it at the moment.

Look after those who are close to you and are in need, than those you don't know.

It was narrated from Salman bin 'Amir that the Prophet said:

"Giving charity to a poor person is charity, and (giving) to a relative is two things, charity and upholding the ties of kinship."

[Nisai, 2582]

Uphold your ties. That's the solution to the intolerance we see in our society, that's the only way to stop the spread. We get into a difference, we call it a day and don't see each other for days, weeks and even years or start maintaining a distance. Or, we don't help those among us, thinking they might not like our sympathy or support.

Even if a friend had said that to me that they don't need it, even when they desperately need the support, I have grown a pair to tell him to 'cut the crap and take this since it doesn't belong to me, it belongs to you.'

So, you go and grow a pair too.

You might not be too fond of that person in your family who is struggling, but you are in bond with them due to your blood. You might have had a fight with this really close friend of yours. Maybe, what you didn't know was that he was struggling to make two ends meet and that was the reason he was not able to see you. Maybe, there is this uncle or aunt who you haven't met since your parents passed away, go reach out to them.

Uphold these ties of kinship.

We want to restore dignity of those who reach out to us or we reach out to, through your help. But, we would also love to hear your stories, how you went out and reached to those who needed your help. It's not about how much we collect, it's about how much we give back and help those in need with the dignity they lost due to struggles in their lives.

Make them feel important. Hear their stories out. Help them with whatever you can and if you are still left with some, please help us in our cause too. This year, we want to start providing financial support to 100 orphans throughout the year, 100 micro-enterprises to bring people out of poverty, 100 eye surgeries so a 100 can see once again, a 1,000 food bags to keep the stove running in the month of Ramadan for those starving even at Iftar and to provide water to 10,000 people, not just in Tharparkar, but in various parts of Sindh, all over Pakistan.

I have experienced a short period in my life when I had lost all dignity. I couldn't look into other people's eyes, out of shame for my failures. Though the world was kind to me, but whenever they looked at me, I felt ripped apart. I kept on punishing myself for the failures I had no control over. Perhaps, when I understood that, through reading Quran and finding great friends like you, I felt that failure was actually the biggest success of my life.

One thing that helped me to feel my dignity restored was when I was with Rafay Fazal, 4-5 years back I guess, was talking about my mistakes and failures and how I feel I would never be forgiven. He asked me if my God was too small to forgive me, because he told me His God isn't. He asked me, your Lord is also known as Ghafoor, The Ever-Forgiving, how can He be Ghafoor and when you feel so unforgiven. Are you sorry for what you did? I said, Yes. Then, you are forgiven and we broke into laughter. I might have had tears in my eyes, at that moment.

I was fortunate, very very fortunate, to come out of that phase quickly, there was Allah (SWT) for me, there were friends like you who picked me up. So, here's a repeat, before donating this year to us or any organization, please be sure you have helped out one of your own, helped someone who needed you.

For one is charity and the other is to uphold ties of kinship. Do both.

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Sponsor an Orphan

Sponsor a poverty struck vulnerable orphan for one full year: 

PKR 60,000 | £ 330 | $ 425 | AED 1,560

Pay monthly, quarterly or yearly, whatever suits.

General Donation: Even if it's a fil, it's worth it.

Sponsor an Eye Surgery: 

One cataract surgery costs: 

PKR 8,000 | £ 45 | $ 60 | AED 210

Build a Water Well: 

Tharparkar: 

PKR 67,000 | £ 365 | $ 475 | AED 1,740

Other Districts of Sindh - Sanghar, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore and Kandhkot: 

PKR 30,000 | £ 165 | $ 215 | AED 780

General Donation: Even if it is one rupee, it's worth it.

Support for Life:

Support a poverty struck family by providing livelihood opportunities from: PKR 20,000 | £ 110 | $ 140 | AED 520

General Donation: Even if it's a pence, it's worth it.

Feed a Family or Host an Iftar:

Food Packets Start from: 

PKR 5,000 | £ 30 | $ 35 | AED 130

Host an Iftari: 

PKR 30,000 | £ 165 | $ 215 | AED 780

Feed 1 through Iftar:  

PKR 150 | £ 1 | $ 1 | AED 4

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