IN HIS NAME THE MOST HIGH ABSN JULY 2014 NEWSBOX

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Islam,Salam un Alaikum,

Conference on Imam Hassan(as)This was to introduce the peaceful and Nobel character of our second Imam (as). His peaceful and warrior like qualities that are often forgotten were discussed.Sister Nazneen was invited for the conference on Imam Hassan(as),as her article on Imam (as) was accepted. Her theme was Imam Hassan (as) as a Role Model and over 170 articles were submitted.After the opening ceremony, groups were made and divided into committees for

further discussions. She was accompanied by Sister Zahida as the visit to Emdad committee was the following day. We were taken to various institutions. The Ahlul Bayt(as) World Assembly took us all for several Ziyarats after the conference.

We were taken on a tour of Sayid Shah Abdul Azeem, which has a huge library with a museum. An amazing collection of Ancient books and Qurans.

Visit to Imam Khomeni (ra) Relief Foundation-Comitee Emdad.

ABSN was invited to see the work carried out by this huge organization. They have a very organized system of helping and supporting the under privileged people from all walks of life. Hundreds of thousands of orphans and families have benefitted so far. It supports families in the economic, social and cultural development. They have counselling, family programs, dowry, loan schemes,

programmes for the disabled, zakat plans, helping during natural disasters, feeding programmes teaching and coaching and supporting orphans amongst many others. They have other programmes for youth all year around with over 500 attending one camp at a go. This organization has been around for over 30 years. They also arrange Ziyarat trips for those who can’t afford to go on their own.

EMDAD URGENT SADAQA PROCESSING CENTER. - 650 branches around Iran.

Our first visit was the emergency center where by widows, very old people, wives whose husbands are in prison and sick emergency cases are handled. 95 percent of cases entering here are solved immediately.The picture shows an electronic ticket which is issued with a number. Those who come here wait for their turn and proceed through the relevant staff. All staff here are qualified for the positions .Women with

medical issues such as cancer and life threatening diseases are seen by a counselor as well . Their families also see the counselor. Here people from any religion are helped not only Muslims. The aim of the organization is to make people capable economically, socially, culturally and intellectually. There are over 120 different services here provide by 20 different groups. For medical issues they co-operate with government hospitals. They can have up to five counselors in a day depending on the number of people. The most common medical ailment here is breast cancer.

Family counselling therapy is provided to all free of charge. They have formal workers and informal volunteers. Social issues are also dealt with, ie depression, runaways, immigration, street children and people who want to change their lifestyles. Although they have a special organization

for orphans (Ikram plan) they also assist orphans here.

Night and natural disaster office is different from day time office.

SADAQA BOX SECTION.There are over 538,000 sadaqa boxes in Mashad homes only and over 60,000 in the streets. The size of the boxes vary according to the place and areas. We were shown how they are collected, counted and receipted and then each and every form is recorded and filed. Tehran, Qum and other cities have hundreds of thousands of Sadaqa boxes as well. According to Quran and ahadith, this is a very important part of peoples lives.

Depending on the location, different Sadaqa boxes are placed in different areas. This one is placed on the wall. One person can be responsible for collecting up to 3000 boxes in three months! They have now introduced electronic cards for topping up sadaqa and a different one for those who need to use it for public transport etc. Sadqa also used to help in marriages not only food, clothes etc. Roughly 40 boxes are collected in one day !

IQRAM PLAN. MASHAD OFFICESupports about 60,000,000 orphans. Mr. Sahib is the chairman of this, Mr. Trari head of Iqram plan and Mrs. Iqrami is the assistant head. They Started with 18 people and now there are 60,000!One staff is responsible for about 1000 orphans on monthly or bi-monthly case.

We learnt a lot here. Things that can be implemented in our Al Mahdi Sponsorship Scheme, Inshallah. Ikram comes from Surah Ma'un. Below he is showing us the statistics that they deal with and how to implement some more ideas into our own schemes.

Cultural Section.After this meeting we met with the cultural section. We met Mr.Rahimi Zadeh, Mrs. C. Juzan and Mrs. Yusufali. This section deals with educational services ie .University fees, studying, transport etc. Also Training services for families, cultural programs and young children. Plan is called Fallzh (to come towards good work.) This moto is in harmony with religious and normal lectures. They also assist girls who want to marry, also help with financial training. They organize special camps for children

only, where they are taken to parks of which there are over 120 in Iran. Art is also popular here, some students trained by Mr. Mahmoud Farshchian, the famous artist for painting the day of Ashura. One of their students has written the Quran 52 times and two times in gold. Counselling services are offered here and three classes for ladies: Before marriage, during and after marriage.We commented on the lack of these services in our society especially Islamic counselling .We were guided to use books wherever possible so as not to lose our Islamic values and family life which is under threat.

Zakat office.Ayatollah Mayani is the chairman here of this People Association. Mr. Jalani is in charge of the practical section, Mr. Ghovani and Mr. Murad Khani are assistant counselors. They started very small and have grown over the years, They gave an example of an NGO called Bibi Nafisa and said they are also small like ABSN, but told us not to worry. “We learn from Hazrat Fatema Zahra (as) that helping any one

is a great deed in any field, she would do this whilst raising her own family. We can take many great examples from her life Inshallah. He said.'' Work with people who collect Zakat and give them the names of families that need help.Orphans are a priority."Orphans don’t always need money, but sometimes just a caring supportive guardian who can can also help them grow emotionally. So for this purpose they also have one to one volunteer per orphan.

BENEFICIARIES OF THE EMDAD COMITEE LOAN AND TRAINING SCHEME.

Each project is managed by area managers. They have different staff who market their products for them. This baby clothes factory has 6 staff. They have taken a loan and pay back slowly. They take orders and supply all over.

It opened only one and a half years ago. The ladies here all have a certificate, and if they have a skill and want to improve, Emdad helps them to attain certificate level. The Loan is paid back slowly. The colours this time are according to the World Cup that was held in Brazil!

Second factory:Boys clothes.Another clothes factory managed by Ms. Bayyati. She takes care of the whole place. Emdad committee also sends people here for training and all get a certificate.

She explained how she started and got loans from Emdad and she loves her work very much. Due to her, many people have become self-sufficient.

TRAINING COLLEGE.Sister Zahida, Nazneen and Fatema with the manager Ms. Areza of this training college. She went for further training (supported by Emdad comitee) then she got a loan to start this college. She started with one room then got bigger space and hires teachers. The classes offered are accounting, computer, business, art, tourism,

house management and calligraphy. They have different timings for ladies and men. There are five rooms and 16 staff members here. Her advice to us .“Never stop, keep going!”

Our fourth stop was at a very famous chador shop-www.micishop.com They have their own branded label and have 8 staff. They also make bridal wear and scarves. They supply to several shops around Iran. This tailoring shop has been operating now for ten years. 8 staff work here and other staff work from home. They have their own designers and also employ others.

OFFICE OF THE FAMILY CAMPS. - MASHADThis is a beautiful land with all the facilities for cultural and sports activities. It is open to all and any language can be catered for, depending on where the people come from. They hold camps every week for up to 300 -500 at one go! 150,000 people come once a year because of Imam Reza (as). They divide guests into different categories. Students (university or school), families, and senior citizens. Other classes include educational, cultural, drama, life skills and ziyarat. Marital issues, religious lectures and Quran are also part of the topics.Each camp varies from 5 days to a week. They have managers, teachers and professional counselors working full time in the camps as well.

This place holds camps for the needy, (costs covered by Emdad) and others who can afford to pay are charged a minimal fee. In Ramadan they have iftar and sehri programmes for 500 orphans everyday. At the harem they provide food for 20,000 people. We are having a meeting with Mr. Purhumuhammed, the chairman of the camp, who very kindly showed us their programme lineup.

IN QUM.This is a home of a widow, sister Jameh who makes her own special branded bags for girls who become baligh. She became very ill,but still had courage to re-start again with the help of Emdad. Her son also helps her in packing and making flowers for the bags when he is not in school. Her team constantly participates in exhibitions all over to market their products and come up with new ideas. They also go to schools.

One of the other beneficeries in Qum, a widow, Mrs Jiami, who lost her husband some time back. She has 3 children and makes carpets. The comitee will sell for her, it takes upto one and a half years to complete one carpet.

VISIT TO DR. SHARIATI UNIVERSITY FOR LADIES.This university is amongst 30 others around (for ladies only). It is on over 28 hectares of land with olive and other trees. It provides technical and vocational education to ladies only. Those who have completed high school to improve their practiacal and business skills. Courses offered here are electronics,industrial designs, painting,archtecture, media studies /visual arts, accounting, textile designs, tailoring, agriculture, administrative courses and physical education. It has an olympic size swimming pool, fields, gymnasuium and other sports facilities. Space for 1200 students for boarding. It opened in 1980, named after the famous writer Dr Shariati.The Emdad comitee assists those who can’t afford to go for further training. Over 5000 students attend classes here from all over Iran. Due to lack of time we only managed to see a few of the facilities, those for sports, tailoring, art and design.

TIE AND DYE - ART AND TEXTILEThe students participate in competetions and exhibitions all over the world. Each country and area is recognized by their dressing and culture,so they learn a lot by their visits. We met with the comitee of this place who gave us valuable advice.

“Our clothes tell us our language! (the place and country we come from!),” says the head of this department to us.

Our final and farwell meeting was after saying our salat in the above hall with the director of Emdad Comitee,Mr.Mohameddi Fard. The main thing is to communicate well and have confidence. So far with our humble beginning , this small sadaka box has helped hundreds of families! We look forward to your continued support.

SADAKA DISTRUBUTED AS FROM 1ST MAY TO 30TH JUNE 2014

Sadaka Expenditure: SCHOOL FEES 160,150 KshsTRANSPORT 19,600 KshsMEDICATION 38,380 KshsLOANS - MISCELLANEOUS 27,985 KshsRENT 12,000.00 Kshs RATION 8,460.00 Kshs TOTAL AMOUNT 266,575.00 Kshs 3,033 US Dollars.

We certainly learnt a lot. Charity work done with so much dignity and pride. Education and knowledge outside the classroom in all fields! Something that is given so importance by the Ahlul Bayt(as) and the Holy Quran. We are extremely grateful to Mr.Rabbani, Syed Hisham,Ms Fatenah, the chairman, and all members from Comitee Emdad for this valuable experience and for taking care of us.Also taking so much time and effort to show us their amazing projects.A complete cycle of respecting ones roles and positions in life (whether male or female) as each one is qualified for their work in their respective field. The people helping the society help its self. Being needy doesn’t necessarily mean helping in monetary terms only, many a times its more than that!

Contact us:Zahida Mazahir: zahidama@hotmail.com

Nazneen Karim: safinaz@aristocratskenya.com