Zakat Foundation Guarantees: Your Donation Reaches Survivors of Haiti Earthquake Within 8 Hours UPDATE FROM HAITI: (February 3, 2010): Zakat Foundation staff and volunteers continue to deliver food and medical care to desperate quake survivors in Haiti. Ahmad Rehab, the current Director of CAIR Chicago and former CAIR Director Yaser Tabbara are in Haiti as Zakat Foundation volunteers, working closely with our relief team to get first-hand accounts of the needs of the people. Zakat Foundation continues to feed around 3,000 people warm food at our headquarters in Port-au-Prince. We are also intensifying our primary medical care services as those who have been left homeless by the earthquake are in need of medication for diabetes, high blood pressure and other ailments.

Development and Sadaqa Jariyah: A New Hope for a Better Future To battle chronic poverty and promote thriving communities, charitable projects in needy areas must be applied with more depth and consideration. Zakat Foundation has been on the forefront of establishing development projects that will benefit generations of people. Schools that are safe for children to learn and grow, healthcare clinics that supply care for the elderly, women and children, water wells to supply water to drought-affected areas, and mosques where the faithful can gather to worship—these projects that will continue to benefit communities, and those who donate to them. This is Sadaqa Jariyah (charity that continuously benefits and provides perpetual rewards).

A Safe Haven for Somali Refugee Women in Kenya In the fall of 2009 Zakat Foundation began supporting a Safe House and a Tailor Training Program that directly benefits these vulnerable Somali refugee girls, as well as Ethiopian and Eritrean refugee girls who have found their way to Nairobi, Kenya. Massive amounts of violence and social instability within Somalia have caused many people to flee the country at any cost. In the year 2008 alone, approximately 60,000 Somalis crossed into Kenya to escape the turmoil of their country.

ZF’s Two Clinics in Slums of Dhaka Improve the Health of Mothers and their Children From our regional office in Dhaka, Zakat Foundation has established two healthcare facilities that specialize in women’s health, including full care for expectant mother and their children. Both clinics offer general medicine, pediatric, gynecological care, prenatal and postnatal care for new mothers. Consultation and free medicine are provided, as well as health and hygiene education. In the slum districts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, the access to basic and essential healthcare is extremely limited, especially for women. Over 80% of women give birth without any help from a skilled birth attendant. Most deliveries take place at home, often in conditions of very poor hygiene—placing the lives of both mother and child at risk.

	In Spotlight   Zakat Foundation Attends the International Permaculture Conference in Southeast Africa In late October 2009 Zakat Foundation’s Africa Program Coordinator and Evaluator, Dr. Mohamed Abdo joined a group of government officials, representatives of civil society and non-governmental organizations , business people, health professionals, farmers, environmentally-conscious architects and designers, policy makers, as well as practitioners of Permaculture from Africa and other parts of the world to share information in an effort to strengthen Permaculture efforts in Africa through education and training. The theme of the conference which took place in Kumbali Village, Lilongwe, Malawi was "Plan Africa – Food and Empowerment."  » Read More. South Asian Delegation Visits Zakat Foundation Offices On the 19th of November 2009, a nine party delegation of government officials, journalists, and academics hailing from six South Asian countries visited Zakat Foundation’s central office. The delegation, which toured America as visitors of the US State Department, was here to examine the development and implementation of U.S. foreign policy, with an emphasis on South and Central Asia.  » Read More. Zakat Foundation participates in USAID and Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Conference Call On Tuesday September 22, 2009, Zakat Foundation’s Executive Director Halil Demir participated in an open conference call held by US Agency for International Development (USAID) in conjunction with the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.  » Read More. Zakat Foundation and Partner send $1.5 Million Worth of Hospital Equipment and Computers to Ghana Zakat Foundation partnered with Children of Abraham, a nonprofit organization with the principal mission of fostering reliable healthcare around the world, to ship a container of medical supplies and computers to Ghana on Saturday, July 18, 2009. The 40-foot container was filled with more than 800 boxes of medical supplies, desktop computers and backpacks with school supplies with an estimated total worth of more than 1.5 million US dollars.  » Read More.