Atta-ul-Naseer, National President, Jamaat Greece
Over the years, refugees who have arrived in Greece are mainly from Syria, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh and several African Countries. A vast majority of them are Muslims.
For those who are going through extreme hardships, it is difficult for them to have food on the table let alone buy dates to open their fasts during the month of Ramadan.
In Greece, a co-operative foundation called Khora has been assisting refugees for a few years now. They offer ongoing compassionate support for refugees in Athens. They also run a kitchen, which provides cooked and uncooked food for nearly 2,200 Refugees.
Khora approached Jamaat-e-Ahmadiyya to assist in providing dates for iftar for these refugees. Their request was forwarded to Humanity First Germany, who very kindly approved it. This became the beginning of another humanitarian project in Greece.
Due to difficulties in supplies amid coronavirus, there was shortage of dates. After facing some challenges, we were able to buy 1,100 kilograms of dates. Sadr Majlis Khuddam-ul-Ahmadiyya Greece, Aqeel Ahmed Sahib and Khuddam volunteers were requested to assist in preparing 500g packets for every individual.
10 volunteers participated in this project, spending 139 volunteering hours. There was a 100% increase in the volunteers in comparison to the last project.
The team from Khora was able to arrange for a van to pick up the dates and they were also able to distribute them to the refugees along with their meals, alhamdolillah.
