As well as sudden crises there are also ongoing needs, in certain parts of the world. Palestine is a prime example, 57% of the population live below the poverty line, and approximately 65% of the people are poor. This crisis in Palestine is affecting the lives of many children; they have either been killed or are injured or are traumatised by the events taking place. Palestine is facing severe electricity shortages and water supply problems. To help solve this emergency situation Islamic Relief were distributing 13, 000 family food parcels, 100 water storage tanks and Islamic Relief provided fuel to run generators in a hospital in Gaza. About 8,000 children receive milk and biscuits to help fight malnutrition.
Also at the beginning of July 2006, Lebanon was under six weeks of attack, everything was destroyed; homes, schools, roads and hospitals. The conflict left 1000 people dead, millions injured and a quarter of Lebanon’s population were driven away from their own homes. To help these people Islamic Relief began distributing food, clean water and hygiene kits to people south of Lebanon. Between July and October Islamic Relief distributed over two million litres of clean drinking water to people in Marouahine and Nabatiyeh, Islamic relief also provided 50 large and 26 medium water bladders to villages south of the country, also 4000 jerry cans so that people are able to collect clean water. Islamic Relief has launched an emergency appeal for €5 million to intervene in the Middle East crisis. An initial €1 million was allocated to support the victims of the conflict in Lebanon.
“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
Islamic Relief believes in the saying above because they give a person the means of living, e.g. Islamic Relief is tackling the causes of poverty by creating jobs and helping hundreds of Palestinians establish businesses with interest-free loans. There is also a Hadith of the Prophet (PBUH):
Once, a beggar from Al-Ansar came to the prophet (PBUH) who asked him: don’t you have anything in your homes? The man answered: yes, a piece, of a cloth, part which we wear, and part of which we lay on the ground; and a pot for water. The prophet (PBUH) told him: Get them. Then the prophet (PBUH) sold the cloth and the pot to one of his companions for two dirhams, gave the price to the man from Al-Ansar and told him: Buy food for your family with one dirham and buy an axe head with the other. When the man came back, the prophet (PBUH) fixed a wooden handle to the axe head and told the man: Go and cut wood; I do not want to see you for fifteen days. The man worked as a wood cutter and came back after fifteen days with ten dirhams in his pocket. He was thus able to buy food and clothes for his family.
Islamic Relief provides long-term aid (aiming to deal with the root causes of poverty) throughout the world, Islamic relief does this by setting up projects to give the means to people whereby they can be self-sufficient and can bring their lives back to normality. E.g. in Iraq people are facing big problems concerning access to basics of life such as food, shelter, water and health services, due to the violence that is disrupting their lives. Islamic Relief has rehabilitated 5 health clinics for the Iraqis to be treated with the Health kits and medicines that Islamic Relief provided because there is very low sanitation due to the violence that has destroyed many homes and being in tents can lead to a high risk of diseases, education centers have been opened up so approximately 3000 children have been able to return to their studies. Many children were traumatized by the events that were taking place before their eyes and many were seriously injured, so Islamic Relief opened up recovery centers for traumatized and injured children to help bring their life back together. Working with other agencies Islamic Relief has distributed 270, 000 packs of water treatment chemicals to many places around Iraq because obviously water suppliers have been ruined as well so there is only contaminated water to keep them going, this can lead to more deaths. Security was a big issue; assault, car jacking, kidnapping, theft, shootings and criminal activities occurred in Iraq so full security plans were devised to solve this dilemma. Gaza has the worst rate of employment in Palestine with around 38% of the population unemployed, there are 87,400 unemployed people in Gaza, and those who have jobs only have ones which pay way below the amount needed for basic necessities. Around 50% of the workforce earns wages that are below the poverty line. To try to solve this Islamic Relief is assisting small businesses by giving out business loans. Loans are given out to support business in several different sectors including agriculture, commercial, services, and industry. So now more than 458 small businesses have received loans, resulting in over 857 jobs and this project directly benefited 3,365 people. Another example of a long term project launched is in Malawi, the food crisis brought Islamic relief to make an aim of feed the poor by distributing emergency food supplies and helping to restore failing harvests. Two years of flooding and droughts have had a devastating effect on Malawi's crop yields. Also spread of AIDS has disabled many farming families, so that breadwinners are too ill to look after their land this caused 3 million people facing severe food shortage or starvation. Farmers were in desperate need of seeds and fertilizers to help the growth of plants. Therefore Islamic Relief distributed family food hampers of maize and high-energy porridge cereal, they distributed farmers’ starters packs of maize seeds, groundnut seeds and fertilizer. They trained farmers in planting methods so that it won’t be hard to grow food to clear the problem. Islamic Relief also dug borehole wells in 10 villages with fitted pipes and hand pumps so that people can have access to clean drinking water.
