Islamic Help, NU continue joint work
Islamic Help, NU continue joint work
Delegates of British Muslim charity group Islamic Help visited
Indonesia recently to continue their work with Nahdlatul Ulama
rebuilding the tsunami-hit Aceh province.
Upon arrival in Jakarta, Help leaders Mohammad Masood Alam
Khan and Sheikh Sultan Niaz Hasan, accompanied by their
Indonesian representatives Muhammad Agus Mulyana and Mabroer MS,
met with NU executives, led by chairman Ahmad Hasyim Muzadi.
The meeting discussed Islamic Help's plans for Aceh, a follow
up of the group's initial humanitarian work in the province that
began in January.
After the meeting, Hasyim Muzadi invited Khan and Sheikh
Sultan Niaz to meet a Thai delegation of ulema, who called on the
NU's headquarters following Hasyim's recent visit to Thailand.
Later the Help team held a coordination meeting with NU before
both went to Aceh to ascertain the extent of the damage on
Islamic boarding schools and a formulate reconstruction program
for the area.
While observing the ruins of buildings leveled by the disaster
the Islamic Help and NU delegates were humbled by the scale of
the disaster and overcome by their empathy for the victims.
Their grief heightened as they were told about the struggles
of several students of the Babul Saadah boarding school, who had
managed to escape from being washed away by the tidal waves. The
delegates also witnessed how surviving students moved a tsunami
victim into a proper grave.
An emotional Khan stressed the organization would do its
utmost to mobilize financial resources from Islamic Help's
partners to help reduce the suffering of the victims.
He directed Help representatives Agus and Mabroer to create an
itemized list of what was needed for the restoration.
During the visit to Aceh, Islamic Help also verified data on
student accomodation in boarding schools. Students' mobile nature
meant, the team needed good estimates of numbers during a four-
month period so as to build adequate accomodation facilities,
Khan said.
On their return from Jakarta, the group made a symbolic
transfer of aid worth US$200,000 to NU, witnessed by British
Ambassador to Indonesia Charles Humfrey at the NU headquarters.
According to Khan, the allocation of the money was meant to
finance student scholarships and boarding school reconstruction
in Aceh.
The rising intensity of cooperation between Islamic Help and
NU had strengthened the ties between the two Islamic
organizations, Hasyim said.
Their influence had meant that during his recent visit to
Pakistan, Hasyim was able to meet with Pakistan President Gen.
Pervez Musharraf and other high-ranking Pakistani officials and
ulema.
Hasyim voiced the hope the two organizations could work
together internationally to promote a civil society that upheld
Islamic values as a foundation of peace.