|
DAYAH
SUBUSSALAM PROJECT OR "DAYAH" PROJECT
Trip to Dayah Subussalam
In August 2005, Hope 4 Our
Children sent a team to conduct assessment and teacher trainings in Dayah
Subulussalam. Member of the delegations:
- Faizah Badeges – Founder and Board
Member, Hope 4 Our Children
- Afeefa Syeed – Board Member, Hope 4
Our Children & Director, Al Fatih Academy
- Fatima Salaam – Teacher, Al Fatih
Academy
- Nia Seale – Teacher, Al Fatih
AcademyThe team was successful
Assessments of Dayah
The delegation concluded that based on numerous interviews
and neighborhood visits, the children attending the orphanage boarding school
come from highly impoverished families who are not able to afford easily the
children’s basic needs. The Dayah serves these low income families who are
striving to maintain their cultural identity in the midst of many pressures that
would have them compromise their values, heritage, and culture.
The objective of the visiting delegation was also to find
out how orphans surviving the tsunami could be served at the Dayah. The
surrounding area around Subulusalaam has a great many survivors of the tsunami,
many of who did come to the Dayah for education and shelter. But because the
structural facilities could not support so many more students, some of the
tsunami affected children had to be transferred to other places, leaving only 12
tsunami victims. The delegation found that if the basic needs of water, housing,
and staffing are met, the school can accommodate and serve more orphans from the
surrounding area. As the infrastructure is improved, those children who
otherwise would have to be placed in farther locations can be brought to Dayah
Subulusalam.
The physical condition of Dayah
1. No
toilets or running water. At present, the dorms do not have running water,
toilets. Children and teachers must walk to the river twice a day to fetch water
with buckets. The toilets are shared outdoor facilities that also are accessible
only by walking. The students have to go to the nearest river to bath.
2. Bunk
beds. The bunk beds are only the frames, and children sleep on straw mats
instead of mattresses.
3. Electricity.
The dorms do not have electricity. The electricity bill is very high, and since
the Dayah cannot afford to pay the total amount, the lights are dim in all
places. Staff told delegation members that some children graduate the Dayah with
worsened eyesight because of this.
4. No
ceilings. The buildings that do exist are in need of repair for continued use.
In the dorms as well as the classroom buildings, the ceilings are not finished.
In the cafeteria,
neither the ceilings nor the kitchen is completed.
5. Classrooms
and mosque - under construction.
Construction
Hope 4 Our Children refurbished and painted of the four existing dorms,
and installed water system to provide necessary water in the dorms. The project
benefited
the total of 223 children (existing disadvantaged students/orphans as well as
tsunami victims). Construction is scheduled to begin by mid December of 2005.
The current condition of the Dayah, both physically and
financially, makes it almost impossible to accept more children. Therefore, Hope
4 Our Children is supporting Dayah to be self sufficient and disbursed a capital
to start small business of crafting and mixed farming.
During the course of this year, Hope 4 Our Children has
also allocated:
- funds to cover food for children for
eight months
- books, towels and
sarong and hygienic supplies for the children
|
