Introducing…the L.O.V.E. Campaign

If you’ve been reading the news at all lately, you’ve read about violence against women. The recent stories from India, horrific stories about rape and murder, have brought the issue to international attention. An article from the New York Times reports that between 25,000 and 100,000 women are killed over dowry disputes every year in India. Because many dowry murders are often reported as accidents, the actual numbers may be much higher.

Statistics about domestic abuse in America show that in the South Asian community, two out of five women experience partner violence compared to one out of three women in the world, and three million total per year in the United States.  Despite what this and the recent news reports imply, violence against women in the United States is not particular to South Asian cultures. Wafa House says the numbers are higher in South Asian and Middle Eastern communities because of any number of factors – such as the language barriers and cultural restraints that prevent victims from knowing where to turn to for help.

To narrow this gap, we at Thaakat are excited to announce our latest campaign under the Break the Silence umbrella. Today, we announce the L.O.V.E. Campaign(VIEW DONATE OPTIONS HERE)!

With L.O.V.E., we aim to bring awareness to the increasing instances of violence against women worldwide. This Valentine’s Day, donate to our campaign in honor of a loved one, perhaps someone who has overcome the trials and tribulations of domestic violence or someone who holds this issue close to his or her heart. Awareness campaigns like these not only bring sharper focus to the issue, but they bring us one step closer to gender equality worldwide.

To join our efforts you can help us spread the word or you can make a donation. We will then send you an email requesting the information of the woman you would like to honor with this donation. There are three different levels of donation:

1. For a donation of under $25, we will send an e-card to your loved one.

2. For a donation of $25-99 we will MAIL an actual card to the loved one.

3. For anything more we will mail a card AND a Break the Silence shirt to the loved one.

The proceeds of this fundraising initiative will directly benefit Wafa House, an organization founded by Dorria Fahmy and Nawal Kahf that is dedicated to strengthening the family unit. A majority of their work is dedicated towards assisting women and children victims of domestic violence. Wafa House provides a myriad of much-needed services such as a 24-hours toll-free hotline, social services, family counseling, and interpreter/translator assistance.

For the Love of Reading

By: Hira T. Khan | Keeper of the Blog | Thaakat Foundation

The title of this celebration is a bit of a misnomer. You see, World Book Night is not actually celebrated around the world. So far only a handful of countries (America, Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany) have adopted this idea.

So what is it?

Simply stated, World Book Night is a celebration to spread the love of reading. On this day, participating countries mobilize thousands of volunteers to distribute tens of thousands of books to people who are underserved with respect to their location or income status.

A committee of librarians and booksellers chose 30 books to distribute including The Hunger Games, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, and Zeitoun. In America, 500,000 books are scheduled to be distributed, and in Great Britain, an astounding 1 million. The efforts will be aided by prominent authors like J. K. Rowling and Dave Eggers. Only in its second year, World Book Night is well on its way to making a huge impact!

In the event that you haven’t signed up to be a volunteer for this amazing event, I urge you celebrate in another way. Consider donating books you have outgrown so that others may benefit from them, or perhaps you can try to overcome the reluctant reader in yourself by picking up one of the books on their list.

Update on “Dreams for Kachra Kundi”

Brought to you by: Ammara Bokhari/Director of Global Projects/Thaakat Foundation

Miles away from the metropolitan city of Karachi, Pakistan is one of its largest landfill sites called Kachra Kundi. It is home to thousands of families and children, living unaware of a life outside of this vast garbage dump site. In partnership with Idara Al-Khair Welfare Society, Thaakat Foundation is building a new and improved educational facility in a safe and clean area near Kachra Kundi for hundreds of students to receive a proper education in a proper school environment.

Thaakat launched its fundraising campaign “Dreams for Kachra Kundi” last summer and raised more than $11,000! Our Executive Director, Uzma Bawany-Ali, was fortunate enough to visit Kachra Kundi this past December on her recent visit to Pakistan and recalls, “As we entered the shantytowns bordering the hills of waste, cow manure, and burning garbage, my heart dropped to see these children trying to fight the worst kind of poverty. As I walked into the classrooms of Idara Al Khair, the organization managing the school, a strong sense of hope emerged. Children with zero access to the outside world were sitting there writing in English. Their little hands passionately wrote as their smiles conquered any sense of agony.” Uzma was able to capture a few moments of her visit on camera. Click here for video footage of Kachra Kundi.

Construction for the new school site began late last year after purchasing the land. Currently, the structure has been built and the walls of the school are up with nine classrooms nearly completed.  Our school is called Al-Khair Campus III. Click here for video footage of the construction site.

Idara Al-Khair successfully runs primary schools in the Kachra Kundi area, educating 250 children every single day of the year and 2,200 children at their first site in Mustafa Colony. The schools run seven days a week, throughout the year, showing just how eager the children are to learn and how passionate the teachers are to educate these young, hopeful minds. We are hoping to soon complete construction of our secondary school at Kachra Kundi, and provide educational materials and supplies along with funding teacher’s salaries.

Funds Needed for Project Completion and 1-Year Sustainability: $16,000

Soul Food: An Iftar Benefit, Breaks Boundaries and Helps Those in Need

By: Denish Ghayal/Creative Director/Thaakat Foundation

On the evening of August 11, 2011, Thaakat Foundation gathered a passionate group of over 200 individuals at Reza’s Restaurant in Lombard ready to break bread and help rebuild the lives of the unfortunate suffering in Sierra Leone, Africa and Kachra Kundi, Pakistan.  The evening commenced with ‘iftar’, which refers to the evening meal when Muslims break their fast during the Islamic month of Ramadan. Iftar is one of the religious observances of Ramadan and is often done as a community, with people gathering to break their fast together. Iftar is done right after Maghrib (sunset) time.

It was time to eat, and the sweet scent of dates filled the air, as they are the first thing to be consumed when the fast is broken.  “Oohs and Ahhs,” could be heard throughout the room as the beef and chicken sizzled on the hot plates that were being served. Hunger from those fasting for Ramadan was quickly pacified as the savory tender meat and cool raita (a yogurt sauce) was consumed.  Fasting the whole day can give someone perspective as to what it’s like to go without a meal in other underprivileged parts of the world.  No food item was taken for granted and all that was left were empty plates and stomachs filled with satisfaction.

While many Muslims were in attendance, I was pleased to see participation from people of a different religious and cultural background, which included myself, as I am a Hindu.  This was not an event focused around religion, but more importantly, hope and compassion; the hope of getting closer to an unequivocally fair lifestyle for those suffering all around the world and the compassion of those in attendance who support the Thaakat projects and mission.  With the huge success of the iftar dinner from the prior year, this year’s iftar proved to be an even bigger event with an abundance of volunteers.  Support showed its face in many ways; while it important to donate money and other items such as food and clothing, it is also imperative to get involved hands on through volunteering, which really helps you to understand and truly invest yourself in projects that you choose to support.

For this iftaar event, two major projects were of focus as well as a local project.  The first project is in Sierra Leone, Africa, where Thaakat funds will be used to help build a Maternity Center for the impoverished village and for residents in surrounding communities.  Given that the hospitals in the area are miles away, many women are left to give birth in unsanitary conditions.  This new Center will help to protect women and their newborns from any complications during birth.

Another project underway is in Kachra Kundi, Pakistan, where Thaakat Funds will be use to improve an educational facility for 250 students, which will be minutes away from the village. Via a partnership with Em[POWER] Energy Group and Al Khair Foundation the we are hoping to provide residents with a renewed sense of hope and future. The people in Kachra Kundi are not only faced with a lack of education, but also deprived of simple necessities such as electricity and clean water.

The local project was issued to help struggling families during the time or Ramadan by supplying them with a one-month supply basket filled with non-perishable food and other useful household supplies.  The Thaakat basket project was a success with having sold 13+ to date at a sponsorship cost of $100.  The Thaakat baskets made it easy for anyone willing to donate; a group of four people could donate a basket to a family at $25 each.

Thanks to all in attendance who donated and those contributing through our website, we have raised a total of $10,000+ within a month. The iftaar dinner was truly a night to remember with speeches, a video, delicious food, and most of all, avid supporters.

Growing Sense of Hope in Devastated Joplin

Courtesy of : NBC Nightly News

Correspondent: Ron Mott

JOPLIN, Mo. — The searing summer sun quickly produced beads of sweat on Lisa Dunn’s face as she and her 12-year-old daughter Mackenzie sifted through a shrine of stuff — much of it someone else’s. It had all landed on the front stoop of what used to be their home but was now a pile of ruins.

The sweat easily could have doubled as tears but didn’t on this day.

As much as people in this southwest Missouri town have have cried since the May 22 tornado that leveled or damaged nearly 8,500 homes and businesses and killed 139 , there is a growing sense of hope that helps sustain confidence and optimism about the future.

The difference between what I saw the last time I was in Joplin — during the first week of June — and now is stark.

Clean-up crews have removed mountains of debris that gave off the “just-been-hit” feeling no matter how much time had passed. That’s a great first step in making people feel like they are making progress on the road to recovery.

We came back because that road has been, and will continue to be, rocky for lots of people. Some lost their jobs as a result of the storm. Many lost their homes or loved ones. Cruelly, some lost a combination of all three.

Featuring Thaakat’s “Hope for Joplin” partner, Ozarks Food Harvest

Reports have surfaced that one of the most basic needs — food — could become a crisis for those who depend on organizations like Ozarks Food Harvest and the 300 or so relief groups it serves. The need for donated food has doubled since the tornado but supplies are dwindling rather quickly at Food Harvest’s warehouse in Springfield.

Americans opened their hearts and wallets right after the storm to help folks in Joplin. No one really knew then just how much help people would need.

Lisa Dunn and her family have relied occasionally on donated food to make ends meet. Her husband, Chris, said something I found poignant and thoughtful: “I’ve learned from people to accept help.”

I asked the Dunns whether it was tough to swallow their pride and seek the kind of help they’ve sought since the storm.

“How can pride step in?” Lisa said. “I never even thought about being prideful. It was survival.” 

And that’s what it seems people here are quite busy doing: surviving.

From the waiter who opened up to us at dinner about his close call with the tornado, and how on that very day he’d been baptized in an effort to change his life, to 12-year-old Mackenzie, who wants the country to know their lives are going to “look up, not down.”

There’s hope in Joplin. There’s also a lot of need. And it didn’t take long to see plenty of both.

Contact us at Thaakat@gmail.com if you would like to volunteer or donate to our Hope for Joplin Campaign

Break Your Fast With Rutgers Thaakat!

By: Sadaf Syed | Global Projects Lead | Rutgers New Brunswick Thaakat

In typical Thaakat fashion, the biggest events of the year are already underway – and the semester has yet to begin.

This Thursday, August 25, our Rutgers’ chapters will be teaming up to sponsor a benefit dinner during which our guests can simultaneously enjoy a delicious meal with family and friends and help those who are not nearly as fortunate to be doing the same.

I’m nearly drooling at the thought of this dinner already – and this brings me to my next point. For all the Muslims out there the blessed month of Ramadan is currently in full swing, meaning the dinner will also in part be an Iftaar. Ramadan is a month about many things, one of which is the spirit of giving as much as you’re eating – because although we’re not eating during the day, let’s face it folks, we more than make up for it post-sunset.

The dinner is open to everyone, from all religions and cultures, so that we can, together, look at the broader spectrum of life and do something good for someone we may not even know, but have every reason to help.

100% of the profits from the dinner will go towards Thaakat’s two current global initiatives “Project Re-Born” and “Dreams for Kachra Kundi”.

“Project Re-Born” is focused towards building a maternity ward in the village of Blama Perri in Sierra Leone, Africa. Years of civil war in the region have devastated the families of this village, leaving mostly widows and children behind who are in desperate need for any assistance they can be given.

I doubt any of us could ever even imagine calling a garbage dumpsite where trash and sewage are deposited daily “home”, yet this is the sad truth for the 300 families living in Kachra Kundi, Pakistan. “Dreams for Kachra Kundi” (in collaboration with em[POWER]) is an attempt to bring some light to the inhabitants of this desolate village in Karachi.

To donate to our projects online visit: Thaakat on Crowdrise. We look forward to hosting you tomorrow night as we come together to bring hope to those in need!