QC Launches Distance Memorization and Teaching of the Holy Quran

Arsel Al-Amal (Send Hope) Initiative Continues to Provide School Meals to the Deprived Students in the Middle East

Pizza Hut in Qatar inaugurated “Send Hope” initiative supported by QC to provide school meals to the deprived students in the Middle East by supporting school nutrition projects of the UN’s World Food Programme.

This initiative allows Pizza Hut’s costumers, in all of its branches, in Qatar to donate to ‘School Meals’ project the amount they want. The donation is added to the costumers’ bills. With each Qatari Riyal given, a child will receive a meal at school. These children will have a better future to aspire for.  

Last May, QC and WFP signed an agreement in WFP’s headquarter in Rome, Italy, to fight hunger and malnutrition, and to bolster food security worldwide. This strategic cooperation will strengthen the private sector’s role in the battle against these life-threatening challenges which threaten the lives of millions of people whether in the times of peace or conflict. These challenges also hinder the developmental efforts exerted in many countries.

Abdullah Al-Wardat, WFP’s representative and the Gulf’s Office Director, said, “We sincerely thank Pizza Hut for this great initiative which supports the Programme’s efforts to fight hunger and malnutrition by providing students with school meals in the Middle East. Our strategic cooperation with QC offers a chance to the Qatari private sector’s companies, which understand that fighting hunger and malnutrition is the primary element for their success and for the community’s stability. The companies also understand their moral duty towards the children and the country.”   

In a press release, Sterling Cos’ representative, Pizza Hut franchiser in Qatar, said, “It’s our pleasure to cooperate with QC to implement “Send Hope” initiative. We hope it would help support WFP’s efforts to give meals to more than 2,600,000 needy students in the Middle East. I hope this would bring hope to their hearts; I hope it makes their lives better. Education is essential to build a bright future, especially to those with a limited income.”

Mr. Jassim Al-Mansouri, QC’s Marketing Manager, expressed his gratitude to Pizza Hut for this initiative, and expressed his happiness with this cooperation to serve the school children.  He also showed his great trust in the companies of the private sector in Qatar and how sure he is that more companies will be involved in supporting such initiative. The private sector is known to be very generous and to have a sense of responsibility towards the needy communities around the world. Its efforts will stand as the practical application of the agreement which QC had signed with WFP. “Send Hope” is expected to be well received for its noble goals.

This cooperation between QC and WFP represents an opportunity for the private sector in Qatar to be more involved in supporting the fight against hunger by supporting QC’s and WFP’s campaigns for collecting financial and in-kind contributions according to the procedures of Human Appeal International. Companies are aware of the fact that by fighting hunger, ending malnutrition and bolstering food security, they can achieve success. They are also aware of the moral duty behind such battle.

The fuel QC provided the Ministry of Health (MOH) with will allow its 13 hospitals to operate perfectly fine. The hospitals have the capacity of 1,588 beds and can now continue to offer their services to the citizens.

QC provided the MOH with 200,000 liters of fuel to avoid a possible humanitarian disaster in the Gaza Strip’s hospitals. This project was implemented in order to compensate for the dire shortage in electricity which the ministry suffers from. QC provided fuel to operate the generators of the MOH’s facilities. This way the citizens can receive health services without any problems. 

Saving the Day

This project, just like all of QC’s projects, is distinguished and important. The hospitals will not run out of fuel thus cause the health sector to fall apart. Now, instead, the hospitals can receive patients and offer them the needed services. Primary Care centers and the ambulances will benefit from this project. This will enable the medical staff to offer health services in the ICU, the OR, Renal Dialysis unit, the reception, the ER and the nursery.

Dr. Ashraf Abu Mahady, Director General of International Cooperation in the MOH, expressed his gratitude for QC’s quick response to the urgent appeal that the MOH had already made. “Our hospitals,” said Dr. Abu Mahady, “Are severely suffering because of the shortage in fuel. I thank QC for its support and help. 200,000 liters of fuel are definitely going to help the hospitals continue to offer medical services to the citizens.”

Eng. Mohammed Abu Haloub, QC’s Office Director in the Gaza Strip, said, “When the MOH in the Gaza Strip called for help, we, at QC, were so quick in responding because we know how important the health sector is. At a cost of 1,205,000QR, QC implemented this health project. The ministry suffers from continuous power cuts which could greatly affect the kind of services offered to the patients. More than 1,800,000 people depend on these hospitals.”

He then emphasized the fact that QC will always be there for the Palestinians who are under the Israeli siege. “We will provide the MOH with the necessary fuel to enable the hospitals to offer full medical services to the patients,” said he. 

An Urgent Matter

The fact that the electricity is out more than 12 hours per day in the Gaza Strip means the health sector cannot offer any services to the patients. It is simply because hospitals cannot operate without electricity. There will be no working medical devices in the ER, no working nurseries, and no working devices for renal dialysis. This, of course, causes a huge threat to the hospitals if they run out of fuel.

90% of the health services offered in the Strip are by the MOH’s hospitals. They provide medical services to more than 1,800,000 people. Such services include surgeries, and intensive care. Some hospitals are even specialized in offering renal dialysis and nurseries. The MOH also offers primary care services through 56 care centers. They include treatment for chronic diseases, contagious diseases, and preventive healthcare.

It is necessary for the hospitals to use generators (i.e. around 360,000 liters of fuel monthly) to cover for the daily 12-hour power cut at a cost of 530,000 USD or else the health sector will not be able to offer any services to the patients.

Supply of Medicines

It is worth mentioning that QC had already implemented several projects for the benefit of the health sector in Gaza. Some of these projects are related to the supply of medicines as part of an intervention program designed specially to help those who were injured in the last attack on Gaza (summer 2014). In addition, the engineering plan for building the internal medicine hospital as part of Al Shifa’ Medical Complex in Gaza at a cost of 582,000 QR.

Furthermore, QC is working on different projects to equip the hospitals with electromechanical devices, including providing generators, replacing elevators, and rehabilitating the sterilization system and offering mechanical ventilation at a cost of more than 10,000,000 QR. The health sector in the Gaza strip is the most siege-affected. It suffers from shortages in resources and potentials. 

You can donate to support such projects through the link:  Click here

• Al Kuwari: The Aids have included all the basic and necessary elements of shelter, food, drugs, and education.
• Out of the shelter projects, 760,776 hardest-hit people have benefited, out of food, 2,991,000 million population has benefited, out of health, 1,936,386 million people have benefited, and out of education, 394,905 people have benefited.
• Out of the biggest shelter projects, Al Rayyan City and Al Doha Charitable City at the Turkish-Syrian borders, each of which includes 1000 housing units.

6,083,517 million hardest-hit people out of Syrian displaced and refugees have benefited from Qatar Charitable Relief Projects, where its total costs amounted to 322 million rials during the period from April 2011 through the last September of (2015).

As a result of the critical circumstances the population lives there, 67 % out of these aids has been addressed to the internal Syrian community in a cost that amounted to about 213,063,000 million rials, while the rest percentage has been addressed to the refugees in the neighboring countries, especially Lebanon in a percentage of 18% which amounts to 58,272,000 million rials, Jordan in a percentage of 8% which means an amount about 26,889,000 million rials, Turkey in a percentage of 5,5% which amounts to about 19,000,000 million rials, and the percentage of 1,5% which amounts to 4,500,000 million rials has been distributed between Iraq and other countries that have Syrian refugees living in.

Since the start of the crisis, the Qatar Charitable projects implemented for the interest of the Syrian people have included the following programs: shelter in an amount of 120,214,000 million rials, food in an amount of 102,561,000 million rials, health which amounted to a total cost off 68,214,000 million rials, and education in an amount of 30,755,000 million rials.

The size of Qatar Charitable projects for the interest of the Syrian people has made it possible that Qatar Charitable get the first record worldwide at the level of Non-Governmental Humanitarian Organizations in relieving the Syrian people, according to the Financial Tracking System (FTS) of the International Relief Aids related to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs “ OCHA” 2014.

Alleviation and Consolation

Mr. Yusuf Ben Ahmad Al Kuwari, the Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Charitable said that these projects are implemented in the context of Qatar Charitable continuous endeavor to alleviate the Syrian brothers’suffering, and to help them overcome the suffering caused by the ongoing crisis in Syria since more than four years, adding that these aids have included all the basic and necessary elements from shelter, food, drugs, and education.

Mr. Kuwari, has indicated that Qatar Charitable has targeted all hardest-hit Syrian people, yet, the displaced group living inside Syria is one of the first targets and most important, therefore, Qatar Charitable is focusing on helping it, and is doing its utmost effort to approach it, where Mr. Al Kuwari has made it sure that the crisis is going on, the tragedy becomes aggravated, and Winter is about to come with the suffering getting more cruel.

Al Kuwari has also added that Qatar Charitable would leave no stone unturned to approach the Syrian brothers, and console them in every financial and spiritual way possible, in order to alleviate their suffering and closely communicate with them, paying attention to the fact that supporting the Syrian people is continuous until it overcomes its suffering, making it clear that whoever sees the reality of the Syrian brothers, displaced and refugees, would never postpone and wait before giving them a hand of help.

Food

Qatar Charitable has focused on food as the basic life substrate, where the food materials caravans have been sent to inside Syria, in addition to distributing the basic catering materials’ parcels, distributing flour, operating a number of stoves and kitchens, and funding projects for implanting potatoes and wheat, therein, the total costs of food projects amount to 102,561,000 million rials, out of which, 2,991,000 hardest-hit people have benefited from the Syrian crisis, most of which are displaced inside Syria, in addition to some refugees at the Turkish borders.

Out of these food projects, is the “Mobile Stove” inside Syria for which its construction and operation costs have exceeded 3,000,000 million rials during 6 months, and it produces 60,000 thousands loaves daily.

Shelter

Qatar Charitable has been able within the shelter program, to establish villages and housing cities made beforehand, with their premises for the interest of displaced, in addition to establishing the housing units, and distributing clothes, blankets, fire-places and fire fuel.

The number of housing units established until now, or about to be completed has amounted to 2500 units, out of the biggest projects in this program are Al Rayyan City and the Charitable Doha City at the Turkish-Syrian borders, each of which includes 1000 housing units, these are exceptional with being friend to the environment, and they have all needed supplies of mosques, school classes, sewage system, health points and playgrounds for the children, where the shelter projects costs amounted to 120,214,000 million rials for the interest of 760,776 million people.

Health

At the health projects program, Qatar Charitable have concentrated mainly on establishing and operating hospitals, injured and patients treatment fund, in addition to providing the medical supplies, and ambulance cars, where Al Amal Hospital has been established and operated for the Syrian refugees in the South of Turkey, the Medical Fund for the Syrian Refugees in Lebanon, Artificial Limbs, the Qatari Treatment Fund for the Syrian Injured in Jordan, as well as establishing a Children Psychiatric Center , and funding its activities.

The total costs of health projects implemented by Qatar Charitable for the Syrian people have amounted to 68,214,000 million rials, out of which 1,936,386 million people have benefited from, among refugees and displaced.

Education

The aids provided by Qatar Charitable to the Syrian people in education program have included education, as the refugee and displaced need for it acts as their need to food, health, and shelter while education acts as a protection for the coming generations from ignorance and loss, it also provides them with an opportunity to change their reality and their families’ reality to the best.

In this context, schools have been established, refurbished , and operated, educational curricula have been printed out, where more than 1,704,000 million books have been printed at a cost that amounted to 8,4 million rials, classes have also been opened for eradication of Illiteracy , and Quran education seminars, and other useful  and purposeful projects, where the education projects costs amounted to 30,755,000 million rials, out of which 394,905 million people have benefited among refugees and displaced.

You can donate to support such projects through the link:  Click here

In cooperation with the Department of Women at Youth for Jerusalem Association, Qatari Women, and Abdullah Al Ansari Shrine Complex; QC’s Development center organized an event entitled ‘Palestine: Where I found Islam’ which was attended by Ms.  LaurenBooth. She spoke about the sufferings and needs of the Palestinians, her story about reverting to Islam and Palestine’s role in making that happen.

Different people attended this event such as the wives of a number of Arab and foreign ambassadors, female officials representing their countries’ ambassadors, and other guests of different age and from different cultural backgrounds.

Real Suffering

Lauren Booth, the British Activist, talked to the audience about the tragic situation in Palestine and how because of the Palestinians she found her path to Islam. While being and living with them, as she mentioned, she was introduced to Islam.

In addition, Ms. Booth explained how the sufferings of the Palestinians influenced her life. She decided to do everything she could in order to alleviate their sufferings and offer them a helping hand. “The Palestinian people deserve the best. They are holding on to their cause and are willing to do whatever it takes in its name. They are truly suffering and we have to help them overcome it,” said she.

Jerusalem: Our Main Cause 

Ms. Badriya Al Yaqout, QC’s Director of the Female Department, welcomed the audience, especially Ms. Booth. She expressed her admiration of Ms. Booth’s strong humanitarian motives which led her to Islam.

Ms. Nour Mash’al, Youth for Jerusalem Director of the Female Department, thanked QC and the participants for this solidarity move with Jerusalem. It is the most important cause for the Islamic World.

Ms. Hanadi Hilwani, a Murabita from Jerusalem, spoke to the audience through a recorded speech and thanked all the people standing with the Palestinians in general and with Jerusalem in particular.

During the event, Ms. Mona Abu Rashid and Bushra Khattab were responsible for the first part of entertainment; while the second part was a performance of the dance of Dabka, a traditional Palestinian dance. 

In the conclusion of the event, QC displayed its most important projects which serve Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque. The audience was amazed and commended QC’s projects. They also thanked Abdullah Al Ansari Shrine Complex which has a cooperation agreement with QC to offer its main hall for meetings with intellectuals and scientists an

The plan of QC's office in Bangladesh for the year 2015 includes  building 449 mosques and 22 centers for the memorization of the Quran at a cost of 25,928,395 QR from which 200,000 people are expected to benefit. Most of the work has been completed.

By the end of last October, QC had finished building 30 mosques and 3 centers for the memorization of the Quran. They were fully equipped and furnished. They had mattresses, carpets, speakers, fans, shelves for the Holy Quran and other religious books. It is expected that thousands of people will be benefiting from the project, especially those living in the villages and the countryside.

The mosques and centers are built according to excellent standards. They offer a comfortable atmosphere for students and the performers of prayer. They will be able to pray with complete serenity and devotion. They encourage learning and memorizing the Quran, and learning other Sharia sciences. The inhabitants will not have to fear the changing weather; neither the cold nor the heat.

In comparison to the mosques and centers the people of the countryside build, QC's mosques and centers are so much better. Because of their bad financial status, the inhabitants use bamboo sticks, wood, clay, and Zink  for building. Their financial resources are very little.

Built last October, these mosques and centers are considered to be part of the plan QC had set for the first 10 months of 2015 for Bangladesh. The plan included building 449 mosques and 22 centers for the memorization of the Quran at a cost of 25,928,395 QR from which 200,000 people are expected to benefit.

Dr. Mohammed Amin Hafith, QC's Office Director in Bangladesh, said that many of the projects were already entirely implemented, while the rest will be so during the coming two months of this year and the beginning of the next one.

"I thank the philanthropists and good doers from Qatar for their generous donations which contributed to the implementation of these projects. QC's projects have left a great impact on the lives of the people of Bangladesh. The projects seek to compensate for the shortages the people suffer from specially in the countryside," said he.

Furthermore, QC has recently implemented a number of projects in Bangladesh which provided public services, health, education, water, mosques and memorization centers. It is expected that 172,000 people will benefit from these projects which were implemented at a cost of around 4,600,000 QR. The supervisors anticipate that by the end of 2015, the work progress will have continued. The services these projects offer are going to be available. The people will be able to start memorizing the Quran, they will have clean drinking water and water for home use, and they will benefit from social care services. Plus, the orphans will have a place to live in, they will have food, will be educated, dressed, treated and trained.

It is worth mentioning that QC has recently built 72 mosques in different places in Bangladesh at a cost of around 4,000,000 QR from which 10,000 people benefited. Plus, next to each mosque, QC dug an Artesian well.

In addition, QC has organized a wedding ceremony for a group of couples in the hall of Al Banat (Girls) Center. 22 orphans benefited from this project; and it was out of their desire to 'complete the other half of their religion' (as marriage is considered to be so in Islam). After the ceremony was over, the beneficiaries received supplies for their houses.

QC's Office in Bangladesh

QC started its charity work in Bangladesh when it officially opened its office there in 1995. The quality and number of projects increased rapidly. They included developmental activities and fields such as education, health, water, sanitation, relief, skills improvement, social care, and others.

You can donate to support such projects through the link:  Click here

• The Project is Implemented by QC and sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council under the administration of the Islamic Development Bank – Jeddah

Sponsored by the Gulf Cooperation Council under the supervision of the Islamic Development Bank – Jeddah, QC implemented a project to recover the poultry and red meat sector in Gaza Strip. 170 affected Palestinian farmers in Khan Younes (in the Southern region of Gaza strip) out of 533 affected farmers across the strip signed contracts to benefit from the project.

Receiving the Amends:

The project cost more than 7,000,000 QR. The money is supposed to be delivered in payments to the farmers according to their needs and losses.

During the contracts’ signing ceremony that was held in Khan Younes Engineer Mohammed Abou Haloub, QC’s director in Gaza, said, “Supported by the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah and the Gulf Cooperation Council, QC emphasizes their commitments towards their Palestinian brothers and sisters.” Mr. Abou Haloub also said that the project was implemented in complete cooperation and coordination with the Palestinian authorities; mainly the Ministry of Agriculture. The aim was to achieve fair distribution of the project’s budget to the chosen owners of damaged farms, especially the farmers damaged by the 2008 and earlier Israeli attacks which targeted all governorates in Gaza Strip.

He addressed the beneficiaries saying, “We are aware that any amends or money amounts presented by the project comprise only a little of your loss and sufferance.” He emphasized that the project presented financial support to 533 affected farmers across the strip.

Production Improvement

Abou Haloub thanked the contributors to the project’s funding and administration, led by the Gulf Cooperation Council’s program for Reconstructing Gaza Strip, the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah, and the national staff including mainly the members of the project’s instructive committee and the technical and management staffs.

Mr. Adel Atallah, the Assistant under Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, deeply thanked QC’s office in Gaza for its efforts to support agriculture and develop the animal production.

Mr. Atallah emphasized that the Ministry was happy to cooperate with QC for the benefit of the farmers affected by the aggression in the Gaza Strip. He stressed that these farmers should make the utmost use of the project’s amends to reform the damaged farms.

Meanwhile, Mr. Imad Al-Agha, Head of Public Relations in the Municipality of Khan Younes, commended QC’s efforts to serve different sectors in Gaza including agriculture and animal production.

He said, “I thank you on behalf of the Mayor and staff of the Municipality of Khan Younes. We appreciate the generous efforts paid by Qatar and the office of QC in Gaza. The efforts have clear and direct impact on improving Gaza’s infrastructure and reconstructing the damage caused by the Israeli Occupation in Gaza.”

The farmer Nafe’ Abu Rass delivered a speech on behalf of the farmers. He thanked the Qatari government, people, and associations for their efforts in amending the farmers affected by the aggression. He also stressed on the need for Qatar’s continuous efforts to relieve the Gaza Strip from the siege.

Water Filtration

As part of its project to restore and develop agricultural lands, QC had previously drilled a well for the benefit of 50 farmers from Umm AlNasr Village in the northern region of the Gaza Strip.

The well irrigates 100 donums of agricultural land, serving 50 Palestinian farmers who suffer from water scarcity in the region. This project should allow them to invest in the land by varying crops.

Before this, QC worked on securing potable water for over 3,000 poor Gazan families. Seeking to face the water crisis in the Gaza Strip, QC is implementing a project to filter rainwater and inject it in the underground tanks of 30 public schools. The project is to help face the water scarcity from which the inhabitants suffer. All these projects were funded by the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Islamic Development Bank in Jeddah.

In its report regarding the water status in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations warned about how dangerous the situation is. The report said that things would be catastrophic if nothing was done to fix them. It also pointed that the Strip needs desalination plants much more than it does roads.