News article

Food Parcel Support for 100 Shaheed Widows (699 Members) in Yakawlang , Afghanistan
04/12/2008

The Lady Fâtemah (a.s.) Charitable Trust
September Lodge, Village Way , Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire , HP7 9PU

November 2008

Background

Yakawlang is a district of the province of Bamiyan in north central Afghanistan . The massacre of men in this area by the Taliban about a decade ago left a high number of widows and orphans. The community representatives in this area hold details of the slaughtering of 9,460 men by the Taliban since 1998. These were husbands, fathers, brothers and sons whose families were left completely devastated emotionally, physically and materially.

These are women for whom daily life is a struggle; a struggle to feed their families, a struggle to educate their children and a struggle to keep their children warm in the harsh winter months.

Afghan Poverty Relief (APR) approached the Lady Fatemah (a.s) Charitable Trust (LFT) with a proposal to support widows in Yakawlang to which LFT responded positively. Originally, LFT agreed to support 20 widows over a six month period however community representatives requested that the same support be distributed to more families over a shorter period time, thus minimising the potential distress of the poor families who are already suffering so much. As well as increasing the reach of this donation from the Lady Fatemah Trust.

After discussing with LFT the best possible solution given the request from community representatives it was agreed that the money donated to APR be used to provide food for 100 widow families for a three month period. Each month it will be a different set of 100 widows as requested by the community leaders and the distribution will take place 11^th of each month.

The food parcels would be distributed over a three month period with the first being on 11^th October, the second being 11^th November and the final distribution being 11^th December.

NAME	FATHERS NAME	NAME OF SHAHEED HUSBAND	DATE OF SHAHEED	PLACE OF SHAHEED	TOTAL FAMILY MEMBERS
SYED
Bibi Zahra	Syed Sha	Syed Raza	Mar-99	Bedamooshkin, Yawkawlang	5
Bibi Fatema	Syed Moh	Syed Moh	Mar-99	Bedamooshkin, Yawkawlang	8
Bas Bibi	Syed Ibr	Syed Ibr	Mar-99	Bedamooshkin, Yawkawlang	3
					338
NON SYEDS

Nakia	Atta	Sha Mus	Mar-99	Katakhana, Yawkawlang	6
Masuma	Kal Hus	Anw	Mar-99	Katakhana, Yawkawlang	12
Habiba	Sha Tak	Haji Mah	Mar-99	Katakhana, Yawkawlang	6
					361
TOTAL					699

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Food Parcel Distribution

On the 11^th of October 2008, Afghan Poverty Relief distributed food parcels to 100 widow families consisting of 50 Syed widow families and 50 non-Syed widow families. This means a total of 699 women and children have benefited from this generous donation from the Lady Fatemah Trust.

Community representatives decided that the families who would receive this support will be widow families who lost fathers, husbands, brothers and sons because of the mass slaughter undertaken by the Taliban. The Taliban killed these men folk all on one day in March 1999 leaving the community scarred and the women folk struggling to cope with the emotional distress as well as the daily struggle of surviving. In total 372 families have been completed shattered and therefore each month it will be different set of widow families to receive this support.

These widow families are scattered around the town of Yakawlang in small villages and the community representatives know about these families so they sent word to the families to gather at Masjid Jamia, Nayag to come and collect the donation. Nayag was chosen as it is easily reached by foot from all these villages, with the journey taking up to between 20 minutes and one hour.

The families hailed from the following areas:
·
·         Daikishk
·         Bedamooshkin
·         Akundan
·         Gumbasi
·         Katakhana
·         Mendiak
·         Firozbaha
·         Dariali
·         Danahakunak
·         Kalaghan
·         Sarkarak
·         Parjak
·         Sharthoodh
·         Daishurak
·
The food package was made up of flour, oil, rice and tea and was bought in bulk so that it could easily be re-packaged for distribution to individual families. Distribution of the food items was carried out by 3 Afghan Poverty Relief local staff and 6 representatives of the community.

Afghan Poverty Relief on behalf of Lady Fatemah Trust purchased the food locally. The food is more competitively priced in this area as a lot of goods come from Mazar-e-Shariff city which is supplied by the neighbouring countries of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan .
The flour, oil, rice and tea food parcels donated from Lady Fatemah Trust has meant that these widows do not have to worry about feeding their families for up to one month. They can buy other food items to ensure that they have a more balanced and nourishing diet for one month. The 100 families were made up of 50 Syed and 50 non-Syed totalling 699 women and children. Out of this 699 women and children, 338 were Syed and 381 were non-Syed.

The table below details the food parcels and what was distributed per widow family. So each widow family received one sack of flour, 5kgs of oil, 2 kgs of rice and 1kg of tea:

Food Items	Unit price (Kilo)	Quantity (Kilo)	Cost (Afghani rupees)
Flour	36	50	1800
Oil	74	5	370
Rice	72	2	144
Tea	160	1	160
Total			2474

Costs

Sterling has continued to fall against the dollar on the currency market so the pound has the exchange rate against the Afghani Rupee, where now you get fewer rupees per pound. In August 2008 we were able to get an exchange rate of 97-100 Afghani Rupees to £1 and now we are looking at 81-83 to £1. Therefore, at the rate of 83 rupees to £1, the cost for providing food parcel per family is £29.81. Inshallah, we will still be able to get this exchange rate over the coming two months.

Hence the monthly cost in providing 100 families with these food parcels (flour, oil, rice and tea) is £2,981.

With a total of 699 women and orphans benefiting from this distribution, the impact of this project cannot be underestimated. The peace of mind it has given to these poor widows knowing they do not have to worry about food for their children for a month is immeasurable.

This has only been made possible through the kindness and generosity of Lady Fatemah Trust and its’ well-wishers.

Summary

·         In October 699 widows and orphans have benefited from this donation
·         The cost of providing a food parcel each widow family is only £29.81
·         The cost of providing a food parcel for each widow and child is only £4.26
·         This donation has meant less worry for these poor widows to provide an adequate meal for their orphaned children
·         The food parcels means the orphans have a better chance to be healthy and fight off common infections

LFT in conjunction APR will now start Micro finance for these Widows so that they start earning their living with dignity.

Management: Afghan Poverty Relief

Ijaza:
·      The Lady Fatemah Trust has been granted Ijaaza by Ayatollah al-Uzma Seyed Ali Seestani to collect Khums money. Please remember we operate on the basis of ZERO% administration costs, so every penny you give goes directly to those in need.

Comfort Aid and Islamic Humanitarian Service:
·      The Trust has recently entered into an agreement with Comfort Aid in the US, info@comfortaid.org similar to IHS in Ottawa , ihs@primus.ca which allows donors to donate to LFT through these organizations gaining tax benefits. Please contact them for further information. We would sincerely like to thank both Comfort Aid and Islamic Humanitarian Service.

Give As You Earn:

This is the UK 's largest payroll giving scheme and is administered by CAF (Charities Aid Foundation). Any employee or pensioner paid under PAYE can donate to a charitable organization in the UK . The Trust has now been set up to receive GAYE donations, and our reference number is GYE 458449.

To make a regular donation by standing order, please download a mandate from the website or contact us and we will send one to you. You can make a donation by using our secure on-line payment facility at https://secure.webstar.co.uk/lft/hsbc/donate.php The site allows you to donate in three currencies; GBP, USD and EUROS.

Please remember that completing a Gift Aid form substantially boosts your donation by 28% if you are a UK taxpayer.

Thank you, as always for all your generosity and support, without which our work would not be possible.

Yours sincerely,
Amirali G. Karim
Chairman of the Board of Trustees
info@ladyfatemahtrust.org
http://www.ladyfatemahtrust.org/
Tel: +44 (0) 7798 76 10 20

Tel +44 (0) 1494 762 063, Email info@ladyfatemahtrust.org, Fax +44 (0) 1494 762 286,
Mobile +44 (0) 7798 76 10 20, Fax +44 (0) 7798 76 90 30
Website: http://www.ladyfatemahtrust.org

Food Parcel Support for 100 Shaheed Widows (699 Members) in Yakawlang , Afghanistan 04/12/2008

Food Parcel Support for 100 Shaheed Widows (699 Members) in Yakawlang , Afghanistan
04/12/2008