When Malik Rehan was only a year old, his father suffered a heart attack and died leaving Malik’s mother to raise five children on her own.
Malik’s mother, Afreen, began working as a maid, cleaning other people’s homes until she fell ill and started taking small tailoring jobs from home. Afreen earns about $32 a month and her meager income goes toward rent and feeding her five children.
The family lives in a two room home with bamboo roofing. Unable to pay the school fees for her five children, Afreen considered pulling her two eldest, ages 16 and 13, out of school in order to work and support the family. That is, until Zakat Foundation of America stepped in and found a sponsor to support Malik, her youngest child.
Through Zakat Foundation of America’s Orphan Sponsorship program, children like Malik who have lost one or both parents are provided with food, clothing, education and healthcare to give these children a second chance.
Since Malik’s sponsorship, Afreen has changed her mind about pulling her children out of school and she says she will do whatever it takes to educate all her children and give them a better future.
Afreen is extremely grateful to Zakat Foundation of America and says, “Allah (swt) has sent Zakat Foundation of America as an angel to help us out during these hard times.”
Through the Orphan Sponsorship program, Zakat Foundation of America is able to help children in 11 different countries around the world including Palestine, Lebanon, Kenya, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Syria, Ghana, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Jordan.
For about $1 a day, you can make a difference in a child’s life by sponsoring an orphan today.