Near East Foundation - Ramadan Food Packages--One Mother Fainted...Her First Meal in 3 Days

The Holy Month of Ramadan is a time for inner reflection by Muslims, devotion to God, self control, and fasting from sunrise to sunset. It is also supposed to be a particularly joyous time when relatives and friends invite each other over to gather around a table and break the fast together--Iftar--and above all a time of giving and feeling for the poor. For several years the Near East Foundation and its partners have joined together to honor these traditions, extending help to the poor and needy in the communities they serve, both in the West Bank and in Sudan. Here's what happened this Ramadan.

WEST BANK

Again NEF and its partners funded the purchase of hundreds of food packages for distribution among a selected number of residents of the West Bank villages of Asira Al Shamaliya, Yasid, Ajansiniya, al Bathan, Taluzza, Nisf Jebail, and Beit Imrin, all located in an area northwest of the city of Nablus. Each package contained about $50 worth of basic food items, such as milk, cheese, canned beans, lentils, tomato paste, pasta, tehina sauce, halawa, jam, and sugar.

NEF staff took care of the distribution in cooperation with a local mosque and the local council in each village. They had handed out coupons entitling people they knew to be in acute need to a package--the unemployed, elderly living on fixed incomes, and poor, large families. It eased their burdens a bit from the pressures of joblessness and rising living costs.

The NEF team began distribution on Sunday, the 16th of October, in the village of Asira al Shamaliya with 50 packages; then headed to al Bathan for another 50 drop-offs; and on to the remaining villages in small trucks. All too often, folks in smaller villages such as ours are simply forgotten by larger agencies distributing goods and services, said one grateful resident. Agreeing, an NEF staffer at the scene added, "It's especially important to reach these smaller villages where suffering is often compounded by neglect due to people being more out-of-sight, yet not necessarily out-of-reach." He summed up the day's events, "The good we can do in these villages is significant. People appreciate you even more."

Um Samir, an elderly woman from the village of Asia al Shamaliya, was especially thankful. Her husband is now in his 70s and she lacks a regular income to support her small family...even in the best of times. During Ramadan, she expressed a special sense of isolation when unable to share in the festivities of those around her.

For her part, Um Khaled, an unemployed divorcee also from Asira al Shamaliya, was especially happy to receive her gift and thanked the NEF staff profusely for their kindness and care during the Holy Month of Ramadan. "It's particularly important to share with one another during this period. It makes us all feel so much closer together," she said, adding a little wistfully, "We have so much to learn from one another. I wish we could find more from among ourselves to share with one another."

Said one satisfied member of the team at the distribution's end, "Sharing in the lives of people at times like these helps to build a stronger sense of community and supports a mutual sharing of responsibilities. Joining with local communities in the way we have tried to do, and in celebrations such as Ramadan and the feast, creates a stronger bond between people in local communities and those like us simply trying to lend a helping hand," he summed up.

SUDAN

Similarly in some of the poorest areas of Khartoum's Dar Al Salam, where NEF is concentrating its programs--in the communities of El Tawadat, Kababish, and El Salama--350 families received nutritional packages. They were widows and orphans, the elderly and the disabled, as well as low income families--including one mother who fainted when given a package...her first meal in three days.

Recipients had fled cruel civil conflicts; or were once migrant workers forced north because of drought; or among the thousands of internally displaced people come to the capital for a range of reasons, including those shifted to avoid future attacks following the 1992 US bombing of the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical company.

The average food package covered the Ramadan Iftar for a family of seven for two weeks, providing sugar, tea, wheat, rice, beans and dates. Again, distribution took place in cooperation with local Zakat (charity) Committees and Popular Committees, who know best the needs of their community, according to the NEF staff.

"You always come at the right time," said Nour, displaced and 67 years old. "My children will be happy to know I can prepare cookies for them for the feast, just like other families do," commented Mouna, a 43-year-old displaced mother of five. "Thank you for coming at this time in the middle of Ramadan, for we had already eaten what we had saved for the feast. This package will be enough for the rest of the month...for the rest of Ramadan," added another recipient, grateful not only for the size of the gift, but expressing appreciating for the quality of the contents as well.

Said School Administrator Mohmed Al-Tayeb, "I am very glad to see that someone cares about us and shares with us during the Holy Month. NEF and its partners have been great supporters of our community and we truly need your help," he continued, adding, "We'll never forget that you helped us to build the only health clinic in the area, that you helped us with our school initiative, and now that you are distributing Iftar packages to people in need. You seem to come at the right time. How can we thank you enough!"

GOOD FOR THE GIVER TOO

Assisting with the Ramadan Iftar distribution, Hanan Belal, director of the Society for the Development of Family Services, made this point, "As a young community-based organization, involving us in the distribution helped us learn more about our community and its problems and needs."

In a characteristically professional manner, Mohamed Ali from NEF-Sudan, reported in after completing the food project:
* People in these areas were very much in need of this type of assistance because of their low incomes. At the same time, they want to feel a part of the community during Ramadan.
* The program is very useful. It helps people meet their needs in an organized and supportive way that is neither demeaning nor demoralizing. People really appreciate what they receive and are thankful for it.
* The program helps to improve relationships and builds trust between the NEF staff and the communities where we have activities.

Then he got more personal...and emotional: "It was very satisfying to see the impact of these small gifts on the families, and in particular on orphans and seniors in the area. These people are really in need!" Admitting, "It is a small intervention in comparison to the need out there, but we managed to add a smile on the faces of those we could reach," he continued, "I am proud that NEF was the only non-Islamic, Western agency participating in the food distribution with local people in the area."