On Saturday 13th February 2016, a five-man delegation representing 1Ummah visited the city cialisfrance24.com of Maiduguri, Borno State to interact with the first One Hundred (100) Children it hopes to sponsor under its Scholarship Initiative for the Less-Privileged (SILP) Program. The event took place at one of the schools (Mairi Islamic School, located at Mairi Ward, Maiduguri), with all the children present, as well as representatives of some of the schools that are being proposed to partner with 1Ummah in the Scholarship Scheme. Also in attendance were renowned Scholars of the State, Sheikh Modu Mustapha and Imam Goni Gabcha (who was represented by Mal. Ishaq Goni Gabcha).
During the interaction, bags were distributed to each child, with each bag containing 5 Exercise Books, a Math Set and a Pack of Pencils.
1Ummah Charity intends to sponsor as many as One Hundred (100) Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) or Less-Privileged Children for the 1st Phase of its Scholarship Initiative for the Less-Privileged (SILP) Program. The success of this 1st Phase will make it possible to prepare for a 2nd Phase, whereby another set of One Hundred Children will be taken. The sponsorship will include;
- Provision of feeding schemes to help keep the Children strong and increase their affinity to learn
- Provision of basic comforts (such as toiletries, clothing, shoes, etc) either on a Quarterly Basis, or during festive seasons
- Provision of Mentorship and Trauma Counselling
All funds for this Program shall be raised by 1Ummah through various donation drives, and the School will only be required to aid with a suitable discount to help ease the task of catering to the Education of the Children.
An interactive session was held after the distribution with top representatives of some of the selected schools. Amongst them were;
- Ahmad Lawan – Vice Principal, Academic, Darus-Salam Islamic School
- Ibrahim Yusuf – Principal, Mairi Islamic School
- Abbass Ibrahim – Director, Darul-Arqam Islamic School
- Kaltum Shettima-Monguno – Director, Al-Hidayah Islamic School
- Abubakar Muhammad – Vice President, Imam Malik Islamic School
- Director, Taha Islamic School
At the end of the Interactive session, a clear understanding was established on what 1Ummah intends to achieve with this Program, and the roles and responsibilities we would like each school to play in ensuring the Education of all the Children. An M.O.U was given to the schools to sign, but after due deliberation with their management. They were given till this week to return all signed M.O.Us to the Director, Mairi Islamic School, which will later be picked by Alh. Abdullahi Maina (the Monitoring & Evaluation officer designated by Media Trust to monitor and evaluate the progress of our project, he volunteered to carry out this task).
A few suggestions were further made during the interactions;
- In our progress, we must strive to identify those schools that are for Charity and those that are simply Profit-making ventures
- Develop a proper document to help ensure accurate monitoring of the performance of the Children in the schools
- Create a database of Children awaiting to be on the SILP Program (this is for future purposes, and when we decide on beginning Phase 2 of the Project, In Shaa Allah)
- 1Ummah to be part of each school’s PTA (Parents Teachers Association). This will make them direct stakeholders in policy making and decision taking
- Clear definition of the scope of the scholarship
- Sufficient time to plan
May Allah continue to preserve, protect and accept this from us all.
Yours Sincerely
Abubakar Sadiq Muhammad
Amir/President, 1Ummah
