How a project runs
Take the example of a water well. It begins not with the drilling but with a question: is there water here, and at what depth? A team of experts surveys the soil and the depth of the source on site. If the findings are positive, the drilling and the pump follow, and the finished well is handed over to a trained village committee that maintains it. How many years a well keeps giving water is decided not on the day it opens but in the years that follow.
Once the work is complete an opening video is made, and the well is entered permanently in our well register with its location and country. On request we fit a name plate — including in the name of someone who has died. It stays at the well.
Qurbani
At Eid al-Adha we carry out your Qurbani on your behalf, in the region where it is needed. The animal is bought from a farmer in that region, and the meat is distributed fresh on the day of the slaughter.
Qurbani is not limited to Eid. A voluntary (nafl) Qurban, a vow (adak) sacrifice, an Aqiqah for the birth of a child, and shukr or shifa sacrifices can be given at any time of year; large-animal and camel shares are available for larger intentions.
For households where meat is rare, Eid is more than a date in the calendar. The animal given in your name becomes a meal in several homes that day.
Water wells
In a village without a well, a large part of the day goes on the walk to water, and it is mostly women and children who make it. A well in the village returns two things: clean water, and the hours the walk used to cost.
The method is the same in every project: soil survey, drilling, pump, handover to a trained village committee. Every finished well goes into our public register with its location, its country and its opening video — verifiable one by one rather than as a rounded figure.
Sadaqah
A donation with no restriction on its use, which makes it our most flexible form of help: it goes wherever the need is most urgent at the time.
Not every hardship fits a campaign. Sadaqah is there for the cases that fall between the categories and still cannot wait.
Orphans
A sponsorship is not a one-off gift but a continuing commitment: care, clothing and schooling are covered on a regular basis.
Our orphan homes follow the same approach — a safe place to live, a day with a settled shape to it, and people who are still there tomorrow. What changes a child's life is rarely the size of the help, but its continuity.
Food
Food parcels for families who cannot afford the basics, and iftar meals through the month of Ramadan.
The parcels, too, are put together locally wherever possible: the goods arrive fresh, and the money stays with the traders and farmers there.
Student support
So that education does not fail over money: support for pupils and students, and the running of halls of residence.
A student rarely drops out for one large reason. Small costs accumulate until a family has to choose, and the choice usually goes against school.
Lasting works
Projects that keep working long after the donation — a well, a school building, a planting of trees. Sadaqah jariyah.
These projects have one thing in common: the donation is made once, and the work continues in your name for years.
Other
Emergency relief in crises and disasters, plus projects that fit none of the other categories — health or reconstruction, for example.
Disasters do not follow campaign calendars. This category exists so that we can act as soon as the need arises.
Why we buy locally
Whether it is an animal for Qurbani or building material, we source in the region where the project takes place as far as we can. That keeps the value there, supports local farmers and businesses, and avoids long transport routes. For Qurbani it means the meat arrives fresh and does not have to be imported.
Buying locally works twice over: for the family that receives the help, and for the business that supplies it.
Europe
The second half of our stated purpose is closer to home. In Europe we run projects that strengthen social exchange: gatherings, conferences, courses and seminars where people of different backgrounds sit at the same table.
Responsibility does not begin only at a distance; it begins in our own neighbourhood as well.