Charity distributes aid to Moroccan earthquake survivors

  • Published
Islamic HelpImage source, Islamic Help
Image caption,

More workers from Islamic Help will be arriving in Morocco this week

Charity workers from Birmingham said they had been supporting people who have "lost their entire families" amid the earthquake in Morocco.

The country was hit by a 6.8 magnitude earthquake on 8 September, killing almost 3,000 people.

Less than 48 hours later, volunteers from Islamic Help, based in Balsall Heath, flew out to provide aid.

They are appealing for donations to help set up a "tent village" to house displaced families.

Nazim TasadiqImage source, Islamic Help
Image caption,

Nazim Tasadiq said the charity is now looking to set up a "tent village" to provide housing

Nazim Tasadiq, the charity's director of international programmes and partnerships, said: "As a lot of the people we're seeing have been left homeless, we're doing all we can to distribute food, hygiene kits, blankets, clothing to help them during this extremely difficult period.

"Our work has been in rural areas where entire villages have been destroyed."

Also among those helping was Yaseen Sheikh, the charity's donor care manager, from Nuneaton in Warwickshire.

"We were helping people who had nothing but the clothes they were wearing, who had lost their entire families and whose homes were nothing but rubble," he said.

"What was astounding was their resilience and the dignity they displayed in the face of such a calamity

"Despite having nothing except the clothes they were wearing, some of them were even apologising to us, saying 'we're sorry you've had to come here'."

YaseenImage source, Islamic Help
Image caption,

Yaseen Sheikh said the charity has been working with people who have "nothing"

The charity said it would be sending more people out to help this week.

"What has been really uplifting is the way everyone has come together to help the people of Morocco, especially donors in Birmingham and the UK who have been supporting the emergency relief efforts," Mr Sheikh added.

"We cannot thank them enough."

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