As salaamualaykum.

Once more a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been helping Healing Hearts in the last 13 years, al Hamdulillah! We have just come back from a trip to The Gambia, so this is a short description of how our projects are developing there:

Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital:

In May were able to transport 60 liters of insulin in a cold chain with us on the plane and take it straight to the fridge in the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital. 

Diabetes has started to spread rapidly in Africa as a result of change of diet. The Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital has one open day a week for diabetes patients where this insulin will be distributed free of charge. We spoke to the Chief Medical Director of the RVTH Dr Ousman Nyan:

Rice:
An overwhelming majority of Gambians work within tourism. The season is only 6 months a year, so during the rainy season people are unemployed and very poor. We distributed 5750 kg of rice.

Mandina Bah Well:

Mandina Bah is a community of a few hundred families in the south of the country. So far they have only had one privately owned well which has charged for every bucket of water pulled out there.

We completed the building of a new well and installed the pump and now the water is running. The Elders have made an agreement with the owners of this land that this water is free for everyone.

Farato school

The well with the pump has been completed! The Naqshbandi Task Force is helping by doing Zikr with the pupils and teaching them to cultivate their vegetable plot. The 120 pupils get uniforms, stationery and books. The 4 teachers get salaries and we provide new benches and tables.

Tanji school

Like the school in Farato, Tanji has 120 pupils who get their uniforms and books from us and the 4 teachers get their salaries. The pupils also have a vegetable plot, learn English and do regular Naqshbandi Zikr. Here too we are building new tables and benches and a cupboard for the teachers' room.

Yurunku

The village Yurunku lies 2 hours of very bumpy ride into the desert off the Northbank of the River Gambia. The village has around 2000 inhabitants and only one well on the outskirts of the village. The main source of water: a borehole with pipes leading to 5 water taps into the village, had broken down completely. It was built a few years ago by Italians, powered by a windmill, which from the start didn't work very well because it was situated next to some big trees and there isn't much wind in that area anyway. Since a year the whole construction has collapsed. When we were there they turned on the water, which, because it doesn't have any pressure, can only last for around half a minute. It was heartbreaking to see the children like bees on honey, trying to get a drop of water out of the tap. 

We now went down the River Gambia on a boat with a team of experts who built a 7 meter wooden stand for the 10000 liter tanks. This is being connected to a solar pump which will pump the water into the taps again and so the water should start flowing again, inshaAllah.

We have also sent 350 mosquito nets to be distributed in Yurunku.

Transport of water tank and building of water tank stand 

Naqshbandi Group/ Task Force

The Naqshbandi Group is now well established and meet regularly for Zikr. We got 6 new mats for the Zikr. The Task Force consists of Sheikh Ebrima Sarge, Al Hagie and BJ. They go around the schools and check that everything is all right, help with the vegetable plots and do Zikr with the pupils.

GNPC (Gambian National Paralympic Committee)
We pay for the office costs and distributed 1850 kg of rice to the disabled.

Sheikh Nazim Mosque
We pay for the water in the mosque, bought 6 new praying mats and are building a storage room.

Farato Well

The well has been completed with a pump and an inscription 'Fi Baraka Cheikh Nazir Ebrima Nyass Tijani and Sheikh Nazim Naqshbandia'. Al Hamdulillah!

This is a short description of the projects we are involved with at the moment in The Gambia. The other ones can all be seen on our website: http://www.healing-hearts.co.uk 

In Timbuktu we have recently donated a motorised tricycle, made in Mali, to the Femmes Handicapees. Timbuktu consists almost entirely of sand with hardly any roads suitable for wheelchairs, which means that disabled people have a hard time to go anywhere. The Femmes Handicapees can now use this tricycle to go to the market and sell the goods they produce in their centre. We hope to raise enough funds to be able to pay for more soon, inshaAllah.

We came back this time from Africa noticing more than ever how much the gap between the rich and the poor is widening and how much more we would like to do. Some of the big projects, like building wells or schools, are one offs, but so many of the projects involve regular salaries. It is such a relief to be able to create jobs and not just hand out charity. So this is very much an appeal to those of you who are able to commit on a regular basis:

Bank: NatWest Temple Fortune Branch, NW11 0BQ, accountholder: Healing Hearts, account no: 09659293, Branch Sort Code: 51-50-11,   BIC: NWBK GB 2L, IBAN: GB25 NWBK 5150 1109 6592 93

You can also send a cheque for 'Healing Hearts' to: 16 High Street, Butleigh BA6 8SU, or donate through Paypal (this email address)

For those of you who are taxpayers, please download the GiftAid Form on our website and send it to us, then we can claim 28% on top of what you donate from the government.

If you are able to make a standing order it would be wonderful! Allah knows best...

Wa salaama and thank you so much, al Hamdulillah.
May Allah bless you, protect you and guide you more and more, inshaAllah...

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