“Our life is difficult,” Umm Mohammed told us from her tent in a refugee camp in 2019.
At that point, it had been three years since she and her family were displaced from their home. One of her children, her son, died. Fighting back tears, she told us “My only wish is to be able to visit his grave.”
She’s done everything she can to provide for her family—she spends her days working in the field, farming. It’s back-breaking work but she does it so that her family can survive.
“I can barely collect the price of bread we need through my farming. I don’t have the ability to buy meat on a regular or [even] monthly basis,” she said.
For families living every single day in hunger, nutritious, fresh meat can be an essential source of vital nutrients that they need to grow healthily. But for families like Umm Mohammed’s, having access to such food is virtually nonexistent.
That’s why Islamic Relief’s Qurbani/Udhiyah program—our largest food aid program of the year—is critical. It provides the opportunity to fulfill the tradition that prophets Ibrahim and Ismail (asws) placed before us, and it is a prime time to deliver essential food to families who desperately need it.
“My children eagerly await the day that our Udhiyah meat will arrive. It’s a very beautiful day to see a smile on the faces of those who are weak and poor,” Umm Mohammed said.
“We have known Islamic Relief for several years, and my thanks and gratitude to all those who contribute to alleviate the suffering of the displaced—those who have lost their homes and villages because of this war!”
“It’s a lot of Qurbani meat [that we receive]. We were very pleased with it. I cooked it for my kids and my family!”
