Following a successful start to the 15th annual Ahlan Wa Sahlan programme, the VOC team will now be heading to Mitchell’s Plain for week two of the popular religious gathering, set to be held at Masjid ul-Irshaad in Woodlands on Sunday. The programme kicked off last week in Macassar, at Masjid us-Saabiereen.

In preparation for this weekend’s programme, Ahlan Wa Shlan co-ordinator Ebrahim Arnold appealed to community members to once again come out and join the station in the collective completion of the Khatam al-Quran, as well as a mass iftar. He also urged people to bring along non-perishable foods and clothing that would be distributed to the less fortunate at a latter date by the mosque committee themselves.

“This is clearly an area of need. There are a lot of people who are unemployed and who have been attending soup kitchens, including one that is run by the masjid. They are finding that the numbers keep on increasing and therefore they need substantial support in this regard,” he said.

Despite the positive attendance at the Macassar outreach, Arnold said far more improvement was needed in terms of the appeal for non-perishable goods. The AWS team hardly received any goods during the first programme, but said they were looking forward to seeing a substantial improvement in the next couple of weeks.

“It was the first Ahlan Wa Sahlan programme, so we understand that a certain momentum will take place, but on the other hand we are saying that we need to be getting more support from the people,” he said.

He also called on people from surrounding masajid in the Mitchells Plain area to attend the event, and bring along those less fortunate in their area, to participate in the programme.

“The idea is not to do a once off event in the area, it is just merely to tell people about what the area is like and urge them to support it,” he said.

Following this weeks programme in Mitchells Plain, VOC will be travelling on the 13thJuly to the Masjid ul Nasriellah in Belhar. The programme will conclude on the 20th at the Masjid Almarkaz al-Islam, in Kalksteenfontein.

Sunday’s programme will be kick-off at 3pm, with VOC broadcasting live from the venue between 4:45pm-5:30pm. Those unable to attend but still wish to contribute to the mosque can also drop off donations to the VOC studios. VOC (Mubeen Banderker)