The Small Kindness story (a registered charity founded
by Yusuf Islam) began in 1999 towards the end of the
cessation of fighting in the Balkans. No one could fail
to be moved by the pictures of the endless columns of
children, women and men, most of them on foot, carrying
bare minimum possessions as they fled from brutal violence.
The conflict scattered refuges into neighbouring countries
and across Europe and many families lost bread winners
including husbands, fathers, sons and brothers.
Small Kindness was one of the first aid charities to
start offering practical support in the Balkans (Bosnia,
Albania, Montenegro, Kosova and areas. Funds were hastily
collected and sent immediately in the form of food and
provisions, mostly bought from Turkey and transported
in by trucks. Camps were established and many of the
refugees were taken in by Albanian families even though
they themselves were poor and had very little to eat
– reminiscent of the historical bonds of brotherhood
that arose between the Muhajirun fleeing persecution
in Makkah and their Ansar helpers willingly receiving
them in Madinah. The refugees told stories of husbands
slaughtered before their wives and children, of desecrated
places of prayer, and of the most unspeakable acts of
inhumanity. Although news channels have turned their
camera lenses to other hotspots, the charity remains
as committed as ever to the region, continuing to assist
those that have found help and solace with small kindnesses.
In any emergency, children are always the most vulnerable.
They are orphaned or separated from their families,
are the most susceptible to hunger and illness, and
their future prospects diminish considerably. For this
reason the goal of Small Kindness is not only to provide
emergency relief but also long-term solutions involving
educational programs, community development and cultural
initiatives. In this way the charity has established
a number of European Management Training and Education
Centres (
EMTECs)
which provide vocational training to young ladies, enabling
them to better their career prospects and earn a living
given that in many cases daughters, mothers and wives
are a family’s only income generators. For younger
children there are European Recreation & Educational
Centres (EREC) providing computer lessons, sports, games
and entertainment.
As the chaos continues in Iraq, Small Kindness is one
of only a brave handful of organisations concentrating
its efforts amidst the skirmishes and terrible conditions
of this war-torn country.
The lives of ordinary Iraqis have been turned upside
down. What they need now more than ever is stability
and real hope for the future. As fighting rages all
around, children are having to dodge bullets to get
to and from school. Small Kindness is supporting some
three hundred orphans in the region with regular payments
plus scholarships to over a hundred university students.
In 2004 the charity opened the first
EMTEC
in the heart of Baghdad University under the auspices
of Iraq’s Ministry of Education. The Centre has
over three hundred Iraqi girls on roll, providing free
tuition in information technology, management studies,
language, and accountancy skills.
No amount of pictures or media footage could prepare
anyone for the sheer enormity of the destruction and
loss of life caused by the devastating tsunami in South
Asia last December. Small Kindness's Chairman, Yusuf
Islam, personally visited the region a few weeks after
the waves struck to open a regional office for Small
Kindness and to head a galaxy bill of local artists
at a fundraising concert in Jakarta where he premiered
a new song, Indian Ocean, especially written about the
disaster. The Small Kindness delegation travelled to
various villages and camps where displaced families
were housed, including a school building run by the
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in which
over a thousand children had taken shelter. Hundreds
of orphans' names were taken who are now receiving monthly
payments for essential living expenses. The charity
is also trying to reunite children with families and
relatives and intends to establish self-sustained economic
projects for victims whose livelihoods have been shattered.
June 2005 saw a United Nations chartered flight carry
Small Kindness representatives, including Yusuf Islam
and members of his family, into Darfur to evaluate the
humanitarian needs of the region. There are millions
of displaced families in an area where the conflicts
have widely been described as ‘ethnic cleansing’
and frequently as ‘genocide’. Prior to the
2004 tsunami the United Nations called the Darfur conflict
the world's worst current humanitarian crisis. The Abu
Shouk camp visited by Small Kindness is the largest
of its kind with over 70,000 being sheltered. Now that
peace talks have begun, one of the main goals will be
to encourage families to return to their own homes and
villages. But many villages will need to be rebuilt
entirely. Only sustained charity and encouragement will
help relieve the Darfurian peoples’ need for housing
and better education. That's what Small Kindness hopes
to do if given the funds.
Again we have seen tragedy hit the people of South Asia
with the colossal earthquake, which took the lives of
over 50,000 people, many of them children who were studying
in their fragile school buildings when the earth shook.
Small Kindness sent help immediately to set up camps
for families remaining. The work to rebuild is enormous
and many areas were inaccessible making it harder to
get assistance to some towns and villages.
Small Kindness has earned the respect and admiration
of local communities in all its major countries of operation.
In recognition of this Yusuf Islam was awarded the World
Social Award by the World Awards Committee for the important
work Small Kindness is doing and in 2004 the charity
earned the WANGO Humanitarian Award from the World Association
of NGOs. You too can be part of this success with your
financial support.
Please take some time to explore our website and donate
online today. Many thousands of children and families
will be glad you did! With an annual budget spend in
excess of $1.2 million it goes without saying that much
of the charity’s work would not be possible without
the kind donations received from you.
“By no means shall you attain to righteousness
until you spend out of what you love; and whatever thing
you spend, Allah surely knows it.” (Qur’an
3:92)
