Helping hand

Being able to help people regardless of race, religions, gender, nationality or any other dividing factor, is something quite rare in this world. However, there are many organisations both here in Sri Lanka and around the world, who do give a helping hand to anyone.

Muslim Aid is one such organisation, which is a UK based relief and development agency. The organisation functions in around 60 countries and was established in 1985. They have a fund raising office in Dubai while their field offices are based in Bangladesh, Bosnia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Iraq, Pakistan, the Philippines, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Sudan. The organisation is also a signatory of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement's Code of Conduct as well as members of British Overseas NGOs For Development (BOND) and the European Commission Humanitarian Aid department (ECHO).

With their vision being, "A world of peace, compassion and justice where all people achieve fulfilment..."Muslim Aid provides many services, such as emergency relief which includes food, shelter and medical support; capacity building through water, sanitation and health programmes; education and skills training programmes; micro-financing and income generation and providing specialist programmes like orphan care. The organisation supplies practical help, by way of assisting communities by examining the causes of poverty and underdevelopment, and in advocating for a more just society and a sustainable future.

Looking at Sri Lanka, Muslim Aid was active here, before 2005, through a various local partners supporting education, nutrition, shelter and income generation projects. The field office was set up in May 2005 following the 2004 tsunami because there was a lot of work to be done in terms of tsunami reconstruction and rehabilitation.

The tsunami work aside, what they really strive for is to not just assist the tsunami affected areas but also to help build the rest of the country and this is certainly a challenge. What they strive to do is to develop the underdeveloped areas which are so dues to poverty as well as areas that have suffered from decades of civil war but with an enthusiastic bunch of volunteers hope is never lost.

This is where Team Muslim Aid (TMA), comes in. TMA began in November 2006 and is the voluntary force of Muslim Aid. The group comprises of an enthusiastic bunch of individuals from various backgrounds and ages and they range from students right up to professionals and housewives. They have all come together with the purpose of helping others and their ultimate goal is of becoming a fourth emergency response force.

Much like how the rest of Muslim Aid functions around the world, through TMA, Muslim Aid Sri Lanka (MASL) focuses on emergency relief, fundraising, event management, public relations and media, administration, field work and logistical and technical support. There are three stages for TMA volunteers, the first is, working for the volunteers' network, second is training in the Young Professionals Programme and the third is being hired as Muslim Aid staff in Sri Lanka and other countries. And once sufficient training has been given the volunteers go out into the field in order to provide assistance in natural and man-made emergency situations. They also give a helping hand to MASL to plan and execute events and fundraising campaigns. Emergency relief; fundraising; branding; designing and marketing; press officers and general office help are the five groups the team has been divided into, with their slogan being "Be The Change."

On Friday January 25, 2007, 25 TMA volunteers attended a programme where they were issued certificates commending their work. There were three projects that were identified this year, them being: helping the cancer hospital, street children and a drive in film show. TMA has volunteers in Batticaloa, Kantale and Mutur, about 150 in all and are looking into developing volunteers in Anuradhapura, Puttalam and Vavuniya through religious organisations. During an emergency these volunteers come together and one such examples was the Mutur crisis in 2006.

Speaking to Ammar Nawaz (18) who is a volunteer for TMA, he said, he is currently doing him A/Ls and goes to school. He has been volunteering since December 2006 and has been involved various programmes. He said that they are not bound to help at all times but once informed they help if they can. When asking him what he has gained from being a part of TMA, he said, that it has "helped a lot," adding that he has learned the value of team spirit because, "we do everything as a team," he said. What he sees as important is that, "there are no restrictions on the basis of religion of caste," adding that even though a majority volunteering are Muslims there are a number of non Muslims as well. He said that it has been, "really great to be working as a volunteer" and he went on to say that there is a "feeling of happiness that we have when we come back from the field."

Speaking to a volunteer who is slightly older, was Suzanna Jamaldeen (48). Suzanna has been volunteering from the year 2005 and she initially got "roped in," through another project it seems. She highlighted the fact that there is a diverse age group which cover school goers as well as older folk. When she first joined she said she found the work, "quite enjoyable." Aside from volunteering for TMA, she is also an English teacher, a housewife and also has a radio programme on SLBC as well, so she certainly has her hands full! But, "I somehow manage to find some time," to help, she said, as the hours are flexible.

One particular project which impressed her and which she also got involved in, was the during the floods in Mabola. She also said that even though there is a lot of work involved, it is still fun, "it was more like moving with friends," she added. What Suzanna appreciates a lot is how they do not look at her any differently even though she is much older, "we've never really shown each other our age differences," she said, adding, "there really wasn't any difficulty working with youngsters," adding, "they are very pleasant to work with."