Over 11 000 Quraans, 10 000 stationery packs, 11 000 school bags and winter clothing will be making its way to Syrian refugees following another successful campaign by Cii Projects, Alhamdulillah.

The South African community, as well as our compatriots in neighbouring countries like Botswana, have been instrumental in supporting the project, dubbed Syria My Responsibility 2015.

The ongoing war in Syria has created 12 million refugees and left 300 000 people dead with no clear end in sight. Many of the homeless are orphans who have now been left to look after themselves or find refuge with the various aid agencies operating orphanages.

The head of Cii Projects, Hafez Shamsheer Khan said, “Education, both secular and Islamic, has been a neglected area of humanitarian assistance in the Syrian conflict. For this reason we have focused on getting these items to the kids. All praise be to Allah, we are pleased with the effort and thankful to everyone for their contributions. A special thanks to Statesman Stationery for their assistance.”

In July and August 2015, Cii Projects called on South Africans to assist in the collection and packaging. Dozens of volunteers from various ladies forums and community organisations responded and helped assemble the stationery packs at various locations. The packs formed part of two container loads of humanitarian supplies that are now being shipped from South Africa to Turkey to be distributed by the IHH, a Turkish based aid organisation.

Thousands of children also took part in designing Quraan markers and some forums took the effort to sew Quraan covers. Kids from Springs and Harrismith even made banners that will Insha Allah be sent to institutions looking after Syrian orphans.

Khan added: “This has been a phenomenal experience for us. We look forward to assisting in the future as well. We have also successfully completed South African projects such as container libraries in underprivileged areas, borehole digging for free water and the solar homework light project for children living in informal settlements. We hope to make a positive contribution to our society and those far away.”