Updated 23 November 2011
“Give a man a fish feed him for a day, teach a man to fish feed him for life”
The Zainabiyya Child Sponsorship Scheme epitomises the wisdom in this well known Chinese proverb as it continues to work to empower impoverished communities to become self-sufficient through education.
It believes educating the next generation is the long term strategy to tackle the serious problems of poverty. Several thousand lives have been transformed since the launch of the scheme back in 1981. Many of the students go onto higher education and now support not only themselves, but their families and communities as well. Currently the scheme sponsors 5,882 students across a wide range of countries including India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya and Tanzania.
Examples of such individuals includes the inspirational story of Ammar Ndoro Nyawa,
from the Kwale district of Mombasa, Kenya. After primary school he sadly could not join any secondary schools for the simple fact that his parents could not afford the school fees.
In his own words he describes this as being one of the greatest challenges of his life and how ZCCS came to his rescue, as without the sponsorship his education would surely have ground to a halt. After doing well at school, Ammar continued to receive sponsorship to study ICT and Mass Communication at Mombasa Polytechnic University College. He now aims to study for a PhD with a long term goal to use electronic media to spread to message of Shia Islam.
Bahati Nyamawi from the Kinango district used to support her parents, who struggled
to pay her school fees, by cooking and selling mandazis and samosas. A time came when unfortunately, as is the case for many students, they were unable to meet the payments and she had an outstanding balance of school fees. ZCCS were able to sponsor her and she later went on to successfully study a Bio-Medical Engineering course at the Kenya Medical Training College. She now looks forward to using these skills and knowledge to support her family.
These stories reflect the true potential of ZCCS in fighting against poverty. When many of us give our hard earned money to charity for the pleasure of Allah (S.W.T.) we feel a sense of responsibility to ensure we give it to a worthwhile cause. ZCSS is somewhere we know has the potential to not only turn lives individuals’ lives around, but that of the communities they reside in.
To request a booklet about the Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme or to sponsor children, please email zcss@world-federation.org or donate online.