After an emotional and eye-opening journey to refugee camps on the border of Turkey and Syria in March this year, the Muslim Judicial Council’s (MJC) Women’s Forum has made a renewed call for humanitarian aid to be transported in a second container to the besieged Syrians. A delegation of South African women formed part of a global initiative called the Conscious Convoy, which allowed them a first-hand account of the dire situation of refugees and the unfathomable persecution of Syrian women under the hand of the Syrian government. After seeing the gravity of the crisis on the ground, the MJC Women’s Forum hopes to fill a second container by the 16 April 2018.

MJC Women’s Forum secretary-general Majidah Emandien said the container collections which were by the Women’s Forum and the Cape Town community, collected baby food, nappies, tinned food and sanitary packs for women. The convoy consisting of women from 55 different countries, conducted a 3-day tour for the build-up of International Women’s Day event.

“We declared that we do not support the illegal detainment of women and children. The 10 000 women who gathered on this square were a voice for all these women,” said Emandien.

“We cannot look away and pretend all will be well. The war continues. The suffering of civilians, including babies and children, continues; and so should our efforts in Cape Town.”

Emandien reiterated that the focus of the second container would be women and children, whose essential living needs are often overlooked.

“The situation in Turkey has been described that to a black hole, so we want to focus on the children, baby formula and nappies. Mothers have no clothes for their babies, there’s no milk, no food, and no water. We cannot possibly imagine what it must be like. We need to have compassion, its our responsibility as the Ummah,” she explained.

The cut-off date for items will be Saturday 14th April. The container could take 6-8 weeks to reach its destination and there hope is that it will reach the Syrian border by the 20th May.

“We are going into schools to launch or R5 drive, if everyone contributes a R5 we can do much with it. We are trying to promote being ambassadors of Syria,” she added.

The banking details for any donations are as follows: Al Baraka Bank Athlone Branch: check account number is 786 00 202803 branch code is 800 000. Reference number is Syria.

The drop-off points are as follow:

Fatima Achmat 63 Fourie Road, Bellville South 082 741 9599
Adeeba Sha 17 Mandel Road, Newfields 082 255 7062
Darul Islam Haafieth School 01 Wilhelmus Rd, Surrey Estate 082 460 5689
Fawzia Emandien 06 Bombay Street, Lansdowne 071 412 9976
Gabeba Khan 28 Cashel Ave, Crawford, Athlone 083 709 6344
Shareefa Voght 4 Thomas Close, Grassy Park 072 262 5330
Faeza Bassier 74 Beaufort Street, Goodwood 082 854 6266
Gafeesas Fisheries Clock tower, Lentegeur / Merrydale Rd, Portlands / Park Rd, Rocklands 082 532 2103
Mohamedeyah Primary School 103 Batts Road, Wynberg 021 797 8047

*Please contact the respective contacts before dropping any goods.

Also contact the Muslim Womens Forum on 021 6844 622 or 079 256 5838.