Six million meals this Ramadan!

Every Ramadan, we get to feed more and more orphans and widows and this year, we managed to give over six million meals globally thanks to all our supporters.

Every £30 donated gives a family of five two meals every day for a whole month. So, for just £1 a day, a needy family can have two nutritious meals a day during Ramadan. Our food parcels have staples such as rice, flour, lentils and oils, though the specifics vary from country to country; for example, in Bangladesh, we give more rice because it is a key component of their diet.

How does the food distribution work?

The support we get from our donors goes a long way.

The funds we receive are given to our teams on the ground, who then purchase items from local sellers in our partnering countries, benefitting their business whilst also supporting our food parcel lifelines. With the help of local volunteers, the packs are put together, loaded into trucks, and driven to set locations for distribution. At the distribution locations, widows gather with their individual identity cards and are given a food parcel each. For the widows that struggle to get to the distribution point, either due to poor health or long distance, we drive to them and deliver their food parcel by hand.

Despite Covid-19 we still delivered

Covid-19 forced a lot of countries to go into lockdown. Many of the poor who were living hand-to-mouth, relying on a daily wage to make ends meet, were suddenly without work and at risk of starvation and eviction. In many developing countries, the price of food shot up due to the Covid-19 pandemic, making it even harder for the poor to feed themselves. We took the necessary measures during this unprecedented global emergency to continue supporting orphans and widows, even adding extra hygiene supplies to our food parcels to help keep them safe from the dangerous virus. Our teams on the ground followed the strict social distancing measures in place and were given the appropriate protective equipment so that they could continue working safely.

In many countries around the world, Ramadan is an opportunity for smaller organisations to raise funds and keep going. Orphanages are an example of this, often receiving a lot of support from the local community during Ramadan, an income they rely on to continue running effectively. This year, however, lockdown has meant that many orphanages have been unable to approach their supporters to raise money and are now struggling to survive. Orphans in Need have been supporting these organisations in this time of crisis, providing them with much-needed funds, food and essential supplies.

Why is food so important?

Ramadan is a month dedicated to fasting. Muslims who fast abstain from eating or drinking from sunrise to sunset every day during the holy month. Sadly, for millions of widows and orphans, there is no morning or evening meal – fasting is an everyday occurrence for them. Access to food is a right we are all entitled to, which is why we deliver food parcels to the neediest of widows and orphans during the month of Ramadan.

We believe that something as simple as giving a widowed family access to food can ease the struggles they face, helping them to survive poverty and unprecedented crises like the Covid-19 pandemic. With nutritious meals, these families will have more energy to carry out day-to-day activities or focus better in school, living life without the fear of continued suffering. They won’t have to beg, steal, work illegally or sell themselves for a little money to eat.

Why orphans and widows?

We believe that vulnerable children and women, who are neglected and mistreated, deserve to have their rights reinstated. So, when there is no one looking out for them, we want them to know that we are here to help.

“I and the caretaker of the orphan will enter Paradise together like this, raising his forefinger and middle finger jointly, leaving no space in between.” [Sahih al-Bukhari]

10 Years of Orphan Sponsorship

For 10 years now, we have been caring for orphan children everywhere. We started with sponsoring three children in India, giving them food, clothes and better education. Today, with the help of our supporters, we are looking after over 28,000 orphans in countries across Asia and Africa.

That’s 10 years of giving hope. 10 years of changing lives.