Dear readers,

Assalamu Alaykum and welcome to this month’s newsletter. As always, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to you for your support and generosity.

Without it, we would be unable to continue the work that we do.  We pray that all your efforts are accepted and that your kindness is rewarded. Ameen.

The Holy Prophet (pbuh) has said:

“ .... Blessed is the wealth of a Muslim from which he gives to the poor, the orphans and to needy travellers....”

Save the Date 5 May 2012: The LFT Annual Gala Dinner

The annual LFT Gala Dinner will be taking place this year, on Saturday 5 May 2012. We request that you all note this date in your diaries and register your interest now to avoid disappointment. The Key note speaker for the event will be Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, MD, MPH, a Palestinian medical doctor who was born and raised in the Jabalia refugee Camp. Before his three daughters were killed in January 2009 during the Israeli incursion into Gaza, Dr. Abuelaish worked as a researcher at the Gertner Institute at the Sheba Hospital in Tel Aviv.. Author of I SHALL NOT HATE. The Gaza doctor’s journey.

For more details visit our website

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Bismillahi rahmaani raheem

Dear readers,

Assalamu Alaykum and welcome to this month’s newsletter. As always, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to you for your support and generosity.

Without it, we would be unable to continue the work that we do.  We pray that all your efforts are accepted and that your kindness is rewarded. Ameen.

The Holy Prophet (pbuh) has said:

“ .... Blessed is the wealth of a Muslim from which he gives to the poor, the orphans and to needy travellers....”

Sad demise of Salima Padhani

It is with the heaviest of hearts that we inform you of the recent death of trustee and invaluable LFT volunteer, Salima Padhani. Throughout her time at the LFT, she was passionately dedicated to the organisation’s work, and has left behind an outstanding legacy. She successfully organised the first five LFT gala dinners, and in spite of her illness, she guided the organisation through its sixth and seventh subsequently. Over the last seven years, she also meticulously wrote the LFT’s monthly newsletter.

In order to honour her service and dedication to the Trust, the Trustees have established a project in her name. The Salima Memorial Medical Education Project will provide bursaries for impoverished students in developing countries who wish to undertake medical education, including nursing, dentistry, general practice and other medical professions. The first beneficiaries will be students in Lebanon who are orphans and hope to train as nurses. The Salima Memorial Medical Education Project will be a definitive way in which Salima’s short but inspiring life can live on through many others.

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­­­­­­­­­Dear readers,

Assalamu Alaykum and welcome to this month’s newsletter. As always, we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to you for your support and generosity.

Without it, we would be unable to continue the work that we do.  We pray that all your efforts are accepted and that your kindness is rewarded. Ameen.

The Holy Prophet (pbuh) has said:

“ .... Blessed is the wealth of a Muslim from which he gives to the poor, the orphans and to needy travellers....”

Donate to LFT online

The LFT is now registered with a number of online providers including JustGiving and JustTextGiving.

Iran

All over Iran, Iraqi refugees face a dilemma this year; due to a steep rise in the extension fee for refugee documents, they are unable to renew them. Refugees without valid documentation cannot gain protection or assistance from the UNHCR or from NGOs whose programs are funded by UNHCR. Their children are unable to register in Iranian public schools and they have difficulties finding accommodation, as most landlords and housing agencies are fearful of the legal repercussions of renting to people deemed to be in the country illegally.

The situation has reached proportions where even officials from the government refugee agency are applying to charitable organizations in the local area, asking them to assist the most vulnerable families with part of the fee. IRAC has received such an appeal from the province of Ilam, located in western Iran, as well as numerous appeals for assistance from individual families, some of whom have been assisted from Sadaqah and Sehme Sadah funds.

Therefore, IRAC is appealing to the LFT to help 1000 particularly vulnerable refugee families (5000 people) with half of their extension fee. The total cost of the programme is just over £31,000 and IRAC asks LFT donors to donate generously.

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Iran

As part of IRAC’s medical referral programme, 59 patients received assistance with the cost of their treatment in July 2011. This brings the total number of patients aided to 5761, of which 1587 are under the age of 18.

One such patient is Moussa Mohammedawi, a 35-year-old Iraqi refugee who came to Iran in the 1990s. When Saddam’s regime was toppled in 2003, like many Iraqi refugees, he made use of the newly opened borders to visit his family. While in Iraq, he was shot in the spine during a terrorist incident, and the doctors were unable to remove the bullet. It was left in place, but increasingly began to cause trouble, and later resulted in him being unable to walk. Married and with a 10-year old son, Moussa was left in a precarious financial position.

While friends and charitable individuals provided $5000 to cover the cost of surgery to rectify his condition, his hospital bill amounted to $6545. In addition to offering translation and facilitation services, IRAC decided to cover the shortfall. Since his operation, Moussa has already been able to move his left leg slightly, but doctors have advised that he will need a second operation before significant improvement will set in.

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