In The Name of Allah, The Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
On Tuesday, 22nd of April 2014, 10 delegations of iLubnan4 safely arrived in Beirut with the mission to help Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Alhamdulillah, this year we brought along £33,000.00 fund that we managed to raise and sponsored 22 orphans for a year Alhamdulillah.
Among the refugee camps visited by members of iLubnan 4 were Burj Al-Barajneh, Shatilla and Albass refugee camp. Their housing conditions were very bad. Buildings were built without proper foundation and structure. Houses were separated by narrow and damp alleys. Electric wires were dangling just above our head, intertwined with water pipes.
There, we handed out stationaries, sweets and toys to them that we brought along from UK and Ireland on behalf of many donors. It was such a joyous moments for all of us to get the opportunity to meet the lovely children there. Amongst all the tangled up wires in their 'lawns', seeing those dear faces of smiles and laughters, it was hard for us not to feel touched.
During our stay in Beirut, we also took the opportunity to visit several Palestinian institutions. Among the institutions visited were Takaful for Child Welfare, Al Quds International Foundation, Al-Ghawth Humanitarian Relief for Development, Palestinian Association for Human Rights "Witness" and Human Charity For Relief & Development Orphans' Centre. The purpose of these visits are to learn more about each institutions, and to show support to the common humanitarian cause that each institution fight for.
Apart from that, members of iLubnan4 also spent 2 days at Al- Zaytouna Centre for Studies and Consultation. The title of our training was “An introduction to the Palestinian Issue”. We were very honoured to receive training on the issue of Palestine from Dr Mohsein, General Manager of Al-Zaytouna.
The most intriguing experience in the training was regarding the resolutions for Palestinian issues that Dr Mohsein mentioned to us. The important thing to do is to for us to work hard and improve ourselves to be a better Muslim.
If we could not help in terms of war or combat and full economy support then we need to contribute by educating ourselves more about Palestinian issues. Keep ourselves updated and show to people of Palestine that we never forget about them It was indeed a very eye-opening session and a lot of well researched information was shared with us.
There, we also received copies of the book that we set to gain sponsors for its publication through our Bookshelf Project. Israa Insitution logo is printed at the back of the book as a sign of appreciation to our sponsorship.
On our second last day, we went to Lebanese-Palestian border which is approximately 2 hours south from Beirut. Members of iLubnan4 could only ponder upon the fact that we were so close to Palastine as we came across the road sign saying "Palastain" just straight ahead.
The Lebanese-Palestinian border is a long stretch of road, with a high wired fence on both sides. We were just few metres away from the sacred land where we can see the Israeli settlements in Palestinian land. It was so near, yet so far and so frustrating and saddening at the same time. We vowed that one day, the fence will be torn down and we will have the chance to walk freely and pray in Masjidil Aqsa inshaallah.
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Thanks to Allah as things were running smoothly throughout our mission and jazakumullahu kheyr to everyone who support and donates! All the contributions really make a difference in the lives of the Palestinians. Indeed, we have a lot more to do, a lot more to give. Ya Allah, please liberate Palestine and make us among its liberators!
Allahumma Ameen.