Building a Sustainable futureAnnual Summary 2014-2015

minhaj Welfare foundationwww.minhajwelfare.org

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© 2015 Minhaj Welfare Foundation. Registered in England and Wales 1084057 and in Scotland SC043566. Minhaj Welfare Foundation, 298 Romford Road, London E7 9HD.

Contents

Founder’s Message

Education for All Building Schools for Quality Education Every Child has the Right to Education Aghosh: Orphan Care Home Bait-uz-Zahra

Minhaj Model Village in Kenya Water for All Water for All in Asia Water for All in Africa

Emergency Relief Pakistan Indonesia Syria Gaza

Collective Marriages: Empowering Women

Empowering local communities in the UK Projects

Achievement: 2014/2015

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In the name of allah, the Most Merciful and Most Compassionate. I greet you with the Islamic greetings of peace.

Firstly, I want to thank the Minhaj Welfare Foundation team, staff members and volunteers for all the work they have done over the past year.

In all of our work, our primary accountability remains to the children, women and the old who live in extreme poverty. Minhaj Welfare Foundation will continue supporting the destitute in society and help provide orphan and vulnerable children with quality education. As we believe that education is the only means to end the cycle of poverty.

In a year of challenges, a very warm and heart-felt welcome from our founder Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri.

This is an indeed an exciting and challenging moment for Minhaj Welfare Foundation. Even during this time of austerity, it is crucial to keep reminding ourselves that the wellbeing of humanity is a concern for all and a responsibility for every individual to tackle.

Despite the difficulties we face, Minhaj Welfare Foundation remains a recognised organisation worldwide. I pray for the solidarity of all those who continue to support this effort and remind ourselves of the Prophetic example: “The righteous in society is the one whose action benefit others.” Yours SincerelyDr Muhammad Tahir-ul-QadriFounding Leader

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Minhaj Welfare Foundation believes that only through education, we can end the cycle of poverty.

Children from a school in Sialkot enjoying a good day

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minhaj welFare Foundation is supporting Education for All in the following areas:

Re-development of schools

Sponsorship of orphans and needy children

Sponsorship of School students, Hafi z children and University students

education for allminhaj Welfare foundations’s education up the largest area of our work and supporting poor and needy children, and re- developing schools is a major part of the eff ort.

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with your help we have supported:

630SchoolS

We have built 630 primary and seconday schools in Pakistan and

Kenya, 40 IT colleges and 1 university.

145,000StudentS

Each day we provide more than 145,000 students with

quality education at a Minhaj school, college and university.

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Communities were exCited to see the newly constructed school for primary and secondary students. With the building of these new facilities, parents are now hopeful for a better future.

Building Schools for Quality EducationConstruction has completed on more than 10 schools which donors of Minhaj Welfare Foundation contributed towards in helping to rebuild schools and provide quality education to poor communities in Asia.

More than 300 teachers and 12,000 students will now walk from their old school to the new classrooms, carrying their books and school supplies. Lining up by the doors, a number of excited students peek over each other’s shoulders to get their first glimpse of their new classroom, IT and science labs.

Children studying at their new classroom in Safdarabad

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minhaj model sChool saeela,jhelum (Case study)Sometimes a classroom is more than a classroom. For the children of Saeela, Jhelum (Pakistan), many of whom have never been to school until today, the recently constructed facilities marks a new beginning. The community also understand the power of education and is fully supporting this new initiative Minhaj Welfare Foundation started an outreach program and began talking to local community members to send their children to school.

Alhamdulillah! we have helped families understand the importance of sending their children to school. They are more than 50 children who have enrolled to a Minhaj school.

Jhelum

Mamukajan

Haveli Lakha

Sialkot

Safdarabad

Manawala

Gujranwala

Lahore

Arifwala

We have rebuilt schools across Pakistan

This is Amna’s fi rst year at the Jhelum Minhaj school

Bilal is one of leading pupils at the Jhelum school

Jhelum

Mamukajan

Haveli Lakha

Sialkot

Safdarabad

Manawala

Gujranwala

Lahore

Arifwala

We have rebuilt schools across Pakistan

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Minhaj Welfare Foundation supports hundreds of poor and needy children through its Child Sponsorship program. We provide quality education to children from marginalised areas so that they can compete with others in getting the best results.

every Child has the Right to Education

Children studying at one one newly built libraries at the Minhaj Model school Mamukanjan

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every Child has the Right to Education

“every year I come top of the class, I want to become an engineer and support my parents and brothers and sisters.”

Umar is from Haveli Lakha, both of his parents are unable to work due to old age. Minhaj Welfare Foundation has been supporting the child in his education since 2009.

“I am so grateful to minhaj for building a school in my area, I just love going to school. now I am determined to go college and then university.”

Habibah Aslam of Minhaj Secondary School Sialkot achieved a remarkable 90% pass rate and came on top of the district examination boards.

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“When I grow, I want to become a doctor. I just want to support my mother and three sisters.”

aghoshOrphan Care Home

the orphan Care home inCludes

Nursery and Foster Home

Grammar School

Mosque Facilities to house 500+ orphans

yuSuf’S fatheR left hIm when he was really young. His mother cannot aff ord to pay for his study. Minhaj Welfare Foundation took Yusuf into Aghosh and he is now one the best performing students in his class.

Minhaj Welfare Foundation completed Aghosh in Lahore, one of its key education fl agship projects to date – a large Orphan care home providing a safe environment and education to Orphans or those that have lost parents in a disaster situation.

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aghoshOrphan Care Home

Support an orphan child from only £35 per month

make a donationwww.minhajwelfare.org

0300 30 30 777

Morning assembly at the courtyard of the Aghosh premisesFoster mother feeding young children at Aghosh

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educating women Bait-uz-Zahra

For young women like Sayida Bano, being far away from home is really difficult. Bano is studying at the Minhaj Girls College in Lahore and is almost ready to complete here Masters and higher qualification in Islamic Studies.

Bano’s father passed away when she was young, her mother is very old and the family does not have any other means to support her studies. Bano know if she gets the right qualification, there is hope for a good job and the chance of providing a better life for her family.

Minhaj Welfare Foundation completed another key flagship project in 2014 with the completion of Bait-uz-Zahra (a female student home). We read the story of Sayida Bano who is being supported by Minhaj Welfare Foundation, she is completing her higher education.

“There was times when I was helpless, my uncles and relatives did not want me to study in Lahore, they told me to stay at home. If it was not for Minhaj Welfare and the Bait-uz-Zahra hostel I would have left studying at gone back home to Chakwal.” Bano explains.

Minhaj Welfare Foundation supports young women through sponsorship in its Educational establishments and providing them with a safe home at the Bait-uz-Zahra.

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educating women Bait-uz-Zahra

Support an orphan child in Bait- uz-Zahra from only £35 per month

make a donationwww.minhajwelfare.org

0300 30 30 777

Aerial shot of the Bait-uz-Zahra female hostel

Khadija is being supported through the student sponsorship program

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minhaj model village in Kenya, AfricaIn 2010, minhaj Welfare foundation fi rst visited Kenya. during its visit the mWf team travelled almost seven hours by road to a remote village in tana River district.

sinCe 2011, Minhaj Welfare Foundation has built the community of Kitere:

All projects are owned and maintained by the community and are self-sustainable.

a medical centre

a secondary school

provided them with access to clean water

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there are almost 1000 people that live in the remote village of Kitere; it is the centre location for surrounding villages of the Sub-Baomo location a total of no more than 12,000. Majority of the people are subsistence and petty traders whose income is relatively low (the average earning is £65 per year). The level of poverty is extremely high.

By adopting a holistic approach and giving poor and needy communities access to education, clean water, food security and health care will empower them and lift them out of poverty.

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Minhaj Secondary School

the minhaj seCondary sChool Kitere, Kenya was completed in January 2015.

The school has already selected children who have completed their primary education and whose family income is less than £35 a month.

The Minhaj Secondary School Kitere will cater for more than 100 students who show outstanding promise but whose families cannot support their education.

At the opening ceremony, Dhadho Iddi (MWF Kenya co-ordinator) appreciated the efforts of those who supported the school: “Words cannot describe how grateful we are to Minhaj Welfare, we are able to educate the children and begin to change the face of a nation,” he declared.

The school incorporates 3 classrooms, principle office, science laboratory, sanitation facilities and a room in which it is hoped computers will be put in place for the students.

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Minhaj Medical Centre

For many living in Kitere, it is very common to hear cases of women dying at child birth due to inadequate health care. Unfortunate circumstances meant that when someone fell extremely ill, the people of Kitere had to travel at least 50km to the nearest hospital. The village is about 10km from the main road and in most cases, majority of the patients did not reach the referral centres.

Since 2012, Minhaj Medical Centre Kitere has been operating with the help of an onsite doctor and two

female nurses. Currently the medical centre is supporting basic health care, preventing diseases such as malaria and malnourishment from spreading. The community has seen a great improvement in the number of fatal cases reducing.

“Our next step is to provide a proper maternal ward, women are highly at risk especially when giving birth at home. With the help of donors, we can prevent many children dying at birth”, said Dr Badwi.

Students at the Minhaj school lining up to collect their lunch

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through the Continued implementation of these activites, we begin to see long term change in our communities and ultimately, fewer incidence of water- related disease and illness.

When minhaj Welfare foundation works in a marginalised community, it focuses on improving access to clean water, while also implementing programmes to increase the practice of healthy habits and clean water usage.

our water For all inCludes:

water for all

Clean water for schools and poor communities in Asia and Africa

Water Wells for large scale communities in Africa

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2,050WateR facIlItIeS

2,050 water facilities built in Asia and Africa.

150,000people

150,000 people have been provided acess to clean water

minhaj welFare Foundation Continues to maKe its water For all projeCt

eFFeCtive, sustainable and Cost eFFeCtive. sinCe the beginning oF

water For all, mwF reports:

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water for all in Asia

Minhaj Welfare Foundation with the help of its local field officers reaches to remote areas of Punjab and Sindh in Pakistan.

mariyam From larKana, sindh: “Me and my children had to travel 3km every day in search of clean water. It became so tiring that I could not walk any more, my young children had to take the journey instead. They missed out on school. This water project has helped us a lot, especially the children. Our children are going to school and learning so I think they are very happy. I hope my children will grow up and get educated and help this community.”

Community From rajanpur:

The community in Rajanpur received a new hand pump system. Along with providing the hand pump, we have also conducted maintenance training so the community could prevent any breakdowns that are very common in marginalised areas. Before the project began, the community had limited or no access to clean and safe drinking water. Now they have improved access to clean water, and a water committee trained in promoting best hygiene practices.

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2,000hand pumps have been

installed so far

1 hand pump = 60 people (£3 for every person)

£180to build a hand pump in Asia it Costs £180

300hand pumps have been

installed since 2014

120,000people now have access to long term means of drinKing water

Women from Thar, SIndh collecting clean water from their new hand pump

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water for all in Africa

In 2011, more than 11 million people were left displaced and affected by a severe drought in East Africa. Millions of people from Somalia migrated to the neighbouring country, Kenya. Minhaj Welfare Foundation initiated a clean water program in the Tana River delta, focusing on providing clean water facilities to marginalised communities.

water wells have been installed so far

wells have been located in marginalised communities of North East Kenya

people now have access to long term means of drinKing water

to build a water well in Africa it costs £3,000

1515,000

£1 well = 1,000 people (£3 for every person)

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Water changes everything Amna’s story

liKe most young girls in Kenya, 15 year old Amna is responsible for collecting water for her household, her parents and three sisters.

Before Minhaj Welfare Foundation built a well in the Sub-Baomo district, fetching water was a diffi cult, even dangerous task for Amna.

The North Eastern region of Kenya’s water system was very severly aff ected during the drought in 2010. Water is still very rare and the access to water, is that which is contaminated.

But the water Amna drinks from Minhaj Welfare Foundation’s well is clean and suitable for drinking, cooking, laundry and other domestic uses.

Amna’s family are not the only ones benefi tting from the well dug by Minhaj Welfare Foundation. Poor and needy communities can also gain access to fresh water.

Amna is grateful to Minhaj Welfare Foundation for providing her and the family a solution. She is ready to ‘end the cycle of poverty”.

clean water is important to our health, we now can think about going to school.”

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The community of Adadu, Kenya enjoying clean water

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emergency reliefResponding in disaster aff ected areas

paKistan

india

iran

iraQ bangladesh

Kenya

somalia

libya

bosnia

aFghanistan

Kashmir

syria

gaZa

palestine

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Minhaj Welfare Foundation promotes an eff ective humanitarian approach to tackling the escalation of disasters focusing on both the short and long term needs of those aff ected in disasters.

indonesia

japan

india

bangladesh

aFghanistan

Kashmir

MWF volunteers establishing a relief camp after the fl oods in 2010

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Pakistan has been aff ected by drought, earthquake, epidemic and fl oods over the past three decades. It is estimated that more than 48 million people were directly aff ected after facing disaster situations, taking away more than 78,000 lives.

MWF has supported more than 1 million people in Pakistan providing both short (food, water and medical aid) and long term support (rebuilding homes, schools and supporting families). An overview of MWF emergency response in Pakistan:

paKistan: ongoing disaster 2005 Kashmir earthQuaKe assisted in rescue operations

2009 swat Thousands of people displaced

2010 Floods Set up relief camps across Pakistan

2012 baloChistan earthQuaKe provided emergency aid

2013 badami baghProvided food and water to victims

2014 thar, sindh Provided emergency aid and established long term projects

Adnan at a fl ood relief camp in South of Punjab, Pakistan

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tsunami: indonesia

The Indonesian province of Aceh, was heavily aff ected in 2004 suff ered the heaviest loss of life and the most widespread destruction. An estimated 169,000 people either died or are missing and almost 600,000 were displaced.

Minhaj Welfare Foundation (MWF) assisted thousands of aff ected people in the Ache region to achieve their rights to shelter, to livelihoods and a say in the decisions that aff ect them. In some locations, particularly on the east coast of Aceh, MWF met its objectives and is working to ensure a responsible handover to communities.

MWF volunteers provided emergency relief to victims of the Tsunami in Indonesia

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gaZa: rebuilding lives

Minhaj Welfare Foundation (MWF) has been supporting various programs in Palestine and in the Gaza strip since 2008. In addition to its emergency relief, MWF is currently providing higher education to students who have directly been aff ected by the constant attacks.

MWF’s main focus has been to provide Food Security for families in Gaza ensuring they have access to both food and clean water for two or three months.

With the current situation in the Middle East worsening, millions of lives are constantly at risk in the region.

In June 2014, local fi eld offi cers in Shujaiyah set main points for collection of aid in which families were provided sacks of rice and food ration. Our implementing partners personally went to the nearby neighbourhood to provide clean water to homes of the aff ectees.

MWF will be further expanding on a larger scale food and clean water project with a long term Education plan.

Children at the orphanage in Gaza provided with gifts

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syria Crisis sinCe 2011

More than 3 million have been left displaced from the confl ict in Syria since 2011.

Minhaj Welfare Foundation volunteers distributed Food packs, including a number of important items to support the people of Syria 2013. More than 1400 people benefi tted and were provided with monthly food ration.

MWF volunteer Faisal Mirza travelled to Syria to help distribute vital aid to the Syria refugees

In December 2013, Faisal Mirza (Holland) a volunteer of Minhaj Welfare Foundation travelled to Damascus, Syria to assess the humanitarian situation after almost two years of internal unrest. In addition to meeting with local NGOs, MWF team distributed winter warmers and food packs to families living in temporary make-shift shelters within schools and buildings.

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many CitiZens From rural areas are unable to enjoy the prospect of marriage and beginning a family. Ignorance and back-breaking cultural constraints such as ridiculously high dowries and extortionate demands from the grooms side alienate some families of ‘brides to be’ from marriage. The lives of parents are consumed by earning in order to meet a large dowry for their daughters, but even they fall short.

Minhaj Welfare Foundation provides a full a ceremony planned to include all the ingredients of a joyous occasion. This includes a religious ceremony (for all faiths), full bridal gift for the newly married couple and an opportunity to feed at least 50 guests.

MWF was the fi rst NGO in the history of Pakistan to initiate this program, whereby couples lacking the fi nancial means to get married are funded.

The desperate need to resolve this crisis has persisted for many years. MWF has begun this project in 2005.

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Collective marriages Empowering Women

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aisha was married in the Collective Marriage ceremony in 2005.

£1,500it Costs £1,500 to cover the

costs of one marriage

600+since 2005 more than 600 Couples

have been married off

I was 25 when my marriage took place, me and my husband have two beautiful children. I don’t think I would have ever got married if mWf did not support me and my family.”

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empowering Local Communities in the UKminhaj Welfare foundation (mWf) remains ever committed in its fight against global poverty however it also understands the growing concern of the need to tackle issues closer to home which require an equal time in addressing them.

37A group of young children walking in the streets of London, campaigning against global hunger

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Dawood Mash’hadi, Managing Director of MWF said: “we hope that this could be the stepping stone of many more food banks to come.”

Working with a local charity based in East London who work particularly with deprived communities of all faiths and backgrounds, MWF provide

Community spirit Helping deprived communities in the UK on Christmas

minhaj welFare Foundation’s initiated a community ‘Food Bank’ on Wednesday 24th December 2014 (Christmas Eve). The aim was to highlight the ever growing concern of extreme poverty in the UK.

We are ever grateful to the minhaj Welfare foundation for providing this opportunity to our group, it is really a community spirit.”

— mary barrow, oF the reFugee group

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a cooked meal on Christmas Eve outside the Minhaj-ul-Quran mosque in Forest Gate and also distributed food (tinned) items.

Lyn Brown MP of East Ham showed her appreciation and said that “more of these food banks need to be setup across London”.

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seeKers aCademy

As the key supporter of this project, Seekers has delivered educational resources for higher education Islamic seminars in universities across the UK.

More than 150 participants from a network of universities and professionals have attended seminars in Sheffield, Birmingham and London. The following three courses have been delivered from 2014/2015

– Bid’a (Innovation in Islam)

– Shirk (Monotheism and Islamic Creed)

– Jihad or is it?

I really enjoyed the Seekers course, the seminar dealt with some pertinent issues and it was very informative.”— mariyam ali, a student who attended the seeKers seminar in london

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let’s reviveunder the lets revive projeCt, MWF has developed some key educational and intervention programmes to help both Muslim and Non-Muslims with the true message of Islam. This is one of MWF’s flagship projects here in the UK, we rely very much on kind donations and contributions from our donors to help us propagate the true message of Islam.

translation oF islamiC literature

We have a dedicated team that translates Islamic literature from Arabic and Urdu into the English language. The books are authored by Shaykh-ul-Islam, Dr Muhammad Tahir-ul- Qadri, some of the books translated include:

Muhammad the Merciful, The Teaching Islam Series, Mawlid-un-Nabi, The Supreme Jihad, Islamic Curriculum on Counter-Terrorism, Peace, Integration & Human Right and Muhammad the Peace Maker amongst others.

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Minhaj Welfare Foundation is supporting the Minhaj Women League (UK) who successfully ran the Irfan-ul-Quran programme which was being delivered for the first time in major cities across the UK.

The course which are taught in community centres, mainly targeted women whose first language was not necessarily English. Experience instructors provided an extensive meaning of the Quran relating it to both the spiritual and modern needs of females living in the west.

Fatima Mash’hadi who is the President and lead instructor of the course commented: “It is really important that women from hard to meet communities have the opportunity to study in a free and open environment and learn about their religion. There is no doubt that women are key in educating their children about the peaceful message of Islam, and preserving the faith of their children.”

The turnout has been amazing, on average more than 75 women from each city attended these courses. We are now hoping to run this throughout the country and make it a continuous thing”, she added.

there is no doubt that women are key in educating their children about the peaceful message of Islam, and preserving the faith of their children.”

— Fatima mash’hadi, president, irFan-ul-Quran Course

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irFan-ul-Quran Course: islamiC eduCation For women

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Minhaj Welfare Foundation launched Ramadan 87.9FM in East London during the holy month of Ramadan 2014.

The station hosted Sadiq Khan MP, Labour’s shadow justice secretary, councillors and campaigners to discuss topics, ranging from international issues such as Palestine and local NHS issues.

The station’s manager Adnan Sohail said one of the aims of the Radio was to educate both Muslims and Non-Muslims about the true message of Islam and to highlight the virtues of the month of Ramadan.

Adnan commented: “The Radio brought a wide number of people together, it created a real family atmosphere throughout the holy month.

Everyone was really excited and wanted to be a part of Radio Ramadan. Shows were broadcasted in Urdu, Bengali, Arabic and English, it reflected the strong culture in the capital.”

the Radio brought a wide number of people together, it created a real family atmosphere throughout the holy month.”

— adnan sohail, station manager

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on the airwaves: radio ramadan

Radio Ramadan organised an Iftar Festival in memory of those who lost their lives in Gaza attacks in 2014

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250WateR facIlItIeS built

in Africa and Asia.

achievements See how much your donations helped in 2014

1stThe first ever

mInhaj SecondaRy

School in Africa

minhaj Welfare foundation truly believes that without the support of its donors, supporters and volunteers worldwide, it would never be able to poor and needy around the world. In 2014, mWf was able to expand on sustainable programs and in particular focus its efforts in education, Water and emergency Relief.

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10SchoolS were rebuilt

in Pakistan

1,000pooR and needy chIldRen SuppoRted through MWF sponsorship program

1,000emeRgency RelIef provided to

1,000 families in Gaza

20,000people have been provided long term access to clean water

100chIldRen Ready to Study

at our school in Kenya

3,000StudentS have access to quality education in 2015

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to maKe a donation direCtly via banK transFer

For UK (GBP - £)BANK NAME: HSBC

SORT CODE: 40-15-17

ACCOUNT NO: 21 65 18 03

International donations:IBAN: GB95 MIDL4015 1721 6518 03

SWIFT: MIDLGB211 4H

minhaj Welfare foundation298 Romford Road

London

E7 9HD

www.minhajwelfare.org @minhajwelfare

MinhajWelfare

0300 30 30 777Registered charity numbers: England and Wales 1084057. Scotland SC043566.