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People from across the kingdom have been baking up a storm and whipping up tasty delights to raise funds to support impoverished, orphaned and special needs children living in Tanzania.
Mahin Al-Wazzan, the founder of local crowd-funding platform on Instagram called Rays of Hope (@roh_bahrain), has rallied big-hearted supporters to participate in a virtual bake sale aimed at raising donations for one of Share Tanzania’s projects.
Share Tanzania, which operates in rural parts of the African country in the foot hills of Mount Kilimanjaro, is a charity that helps cover monthly living costs for more than 1,000 children in need.
Mahin has been collecting funds for its 1,000 Strong Army Project. Its aim is to make Share Tanzania a self-sustainable organisation that is financially-independent and will cease to require donations or charitable efforts to help it achieve its objectives.
Mahin heard about the fundraising project on social media posted by Salman Farooq Ahmed who is a full-time volunteer and trustee of the charity. Salman, a 31-year-old part-time freelance tutor from Sanad, said: “The concept was completely Mahin’s idea. I simply happened to be a representative/trustee of the organisation she selected to fundraise for and support.
“The total amount fundraised through the 1,000 Strong Army campaign will be the capital needed to establish social enterprises of which Share Tanzania will incur profits from.
“The first is a food forest agricultural business which will provide food for everyone in the charity’s care, in addition to making a return from the sales of the produce of fruits and vegetables. The second business is a one-of-a kind safari tours company that will accommodate people with special needs and give tourists a special insight of the Maasai tribes and their way of life.”
Mahin asked people to donate cakes, cookies, desserts and all sorts of foods of which she would sell online and have delivered to customers. The bake sale started in mid-June and as of last week, a total of BD655, combined of sales and donations, was raised.
Salman, who also is a full-time volunteer and trustee of the Bahrain Animal Rescue Centre and co-founded CleanUp Bahrain, is thankful to Mahin and everyone who participated in the charitable endeavour.
He added: “I would also like to ask everyone to look at this cause as a human cause, a global cause, not a foreign cause, not African and not Tanzanian. Our board of trustees is made up of individuals from around the globe and we aim to spread the success of Share Tanzania worldwide!
“In a nutshell, it helps children out of poverty, those with special needs or that have lost their parents. It also welcomes and employs single mothers as carers, as well as young people who have been forced to live on the streets, all of whom are under our direct care.”
Salman’s community service involvement started in 2015 after watching a video of the charity’s founder, John St Julien. The Gulf University Bahrain Bachelor of Law graduate, said: “I was going through a difficult period in my life back then and it was the perfect sign and push I needed that changed my life.
“This is a chance to make a real difference in people’s lives. As our founder always says, the cost of a cup of coffee a week from a worldwide chain gets a child in Tanzania off the streets and out of child labour. It’s enough to provide them with food, clothes, schooling and a real chance for a better future that breaks the cycle of poverty they were born into.
“Imagine, all that for BD1.500 a week. Sharing can and does make a difference!”
For more details, email salman@sharetanzania.com, visit www.sharetanzania.com or follow @share_tanzania on Instagram.
