AMA launches WISH campaign to bring relief to refugees and displaced people

While for some people wishes are elaborate hopes of a lavish life filled with opulence and luxury, for others, basic needs are all they need to to be content.

Around the world, millions dream of having access to basic resources; clean water, food, shelter and education.

AMA has launched the WISH campaign to fulfil the needs of some of the world’s most vulnerable people around the world.

‘I don’t know what life is like outside of the camps’

In Lebanon’s refugee camps, which are home to thousands of Syrians who have been displaced, conditions are dire.

Refugee status coupled with the deteriorating economic crisis has meant that some families go days without eating a sufficient meal.

A lack of nutritious food and access to clean water has had a knock on effect on people, and has resulted in the spread of illness and children missing out on school in order to work and earn money.

According to the World Bank, Lebanon is believed to be one of the top three most severe economic crises globally since the 19th century, and with the currency losing more than 90 percent of its value, some of the hardest hit have been refugees.

Without opportunity for employment and food prices soaring, families struggle to secure food and hygiene items which has caused a decline in their quality of life. Around 3.4 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance.

This has left people wishing for essentials in order to live a dignified life.

Fatima al-Abed, a 42-year-old Syrian refugee living in a camp in the Arsaal region of Lebanon told the AMA team that they face multiple hardships.

“I am raising my children alone, I have cancer and it all feels helpless. I don’t have any fuel for heating and can’t even get hold of any medicine,” she says.

Her wishes are simple.
“I wish I could get medicine, to see my children grow up and memorise the Quran,” she added.

Like al-Abed, others in the camp have basic wishes and dreams.

“I spend all of my time in the camp, I don’t know what’s outside the camp. I live in one tent with ten members and I have to take care of my younger siblings, Farah Rahman, a 15-year-old told us.

She says that her biggest wish is to have privacy and to live a normal childhood like the children outside of the camps.

Fulfilling wishes

In an effort to address the multiple humanitarian crises unfolding in countries such as Lebanon and Afghanistan, the AMA team has launched the WISH campaign.

The campaign was inspired by numerous delegation visits to the Middle East and around Africa.

“When we were in Mozambique, I was sitting with a young boy named Mohsin, and I asked him if he could wish for anything, what would it be. He told me he would be happy with just a taste of a biscuit,” says Hussain Choonara, AMA’s regional director.

Mohsin’s family is just one of many in Mozambique that goes days without access to food or clean water.

“This year AMA aims to fulfil the wishes of thousands of people in 15 countries around the world,” Choonara added.

The aim of the campaign is to provide basic needs which many living in vulnerable situations yearn for. Through the provision of food and clean water, AMA teams will help restore the dignity of many families, particularly those who are forced to search through discarded waste in order to find something to eat.

“I have seen some parents having to make the difficult decision of choosing which of their children to feed because the food available is so limited,” explains Choonara.

“In South Africa’s Eastern Cape, a similar situation has occurred, where mothers go days without eating so that their children can have something to eat.”

Ramadan campaign

The WISH campaign is launching before the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, where worshippers are encouraged to carry out good deeds and look out for those less fortunate than them.

The campaign is designed to highlight the hopes and dreams of those in need, and how people can have an active role in making a difference.

By supporting AMA’s water well and food projects, we will be able to fulfil millions of wishes across the world.

 

This article was originally published on Muslim Views