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Islamic Relief raises more than $100K for Egypt's needy |
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By Angie El Sherif, IFN Staff Reporter
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Tuesday, 12 January 2010 |
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Page 1 of 2 As Hossam Ibrahim, played beautiful music from his oud, a Middle Eastern musical instrument, about 500 guests filled the grand ballroom at the Anaheim Hyatt Regency Hotel on Saturday Dec. 19 for Islamic Relief’s first fundraising dinner for Egypt, raising over $122,000 for it’s needy.
Playing a song by Om Kalthoum, a famous Egyptian singer from the early 1900’s, Ibrahim’s music sparked conversations about old Egyptian culture. Guests were heard murmuring about the high-class music concerts, the elegant clothing worn by men including the traditional Egyptian hat, the tarboosh, and how rich, clean and safe Egypt’s streets were in the past, unlike today.
Today, according to evidence collected by Islamic Relief staff, millions of orphans, unemployed men, impoverished single mothers and sick children flood the streets and towns of the once beloved Egypt.
Guest speaker, Dr. Maher Hathout, retired physician and leading spokesperson for the Egyptian Muslim community here in America, said that as Muslims “we should not compete for distress,” but thanked Islamic Relief for sympathizing with Egyptian poverty.
The event, titled A Night of Hope: Shedding Light on Egypt's Needy, which attracted guests from all over California, included a 3-course dinner and celebrity guest speaker Hanan Turk, a famous Egyptian actress who in the past five years has dedicated her life to serving Islam using her celebrity status, through charity work and Dawah.
Turk has been an ambassador for Islamic Relief for four years. With them she has traveled to different parts of world including Sudan and now the United States in order to help the needy.
During her speech she explained that she does not like to fundraise for a country unless she has visited and seen the people she is helping.
“But with Egypt,” she said, “I am helping people who I have lived amongst my whole life.”
She said that in Egypt, there is a large group of people who are not just poor, “they are below that level.”
Turk said that the Egyptian poor do not just need food and water; they need people to ask about them and to acknowledge their struggle. That is the first step, Turk said, to helping these people.
“Some areas of Egypt have no running or drinking water,” she said. “Kids do not even know what chocolate is.”
Master of ceremonies, Maisa Ali, said that while there are no current natural disasters or sudden catastrophes in that region, “Egypt’s crisis lies within the poor, distressed people especially the children.”
She said that there are many incurable diseases in our world, “ but poverty is one we can cure.”
Turk believes that Egyptians living in America who are disappointed with Egypt need to differentiate between its people and its government in order to regain hope for their country.
“I have faith that Egyptians from all over the world will help fix Egypt’s problems,” she said. “Even from all the way over here you can help. I hope that you will always keep Egypt in your hearts.”
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 29 April 2010 )
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