Father-of-eight Omar Bwanausi, 83, lives in Epworth, a settlement outside Zimbabwe’s capital city. A widower, he lives with his children, grand-children and great grand-children. The family, which is made up of 16 people, rely on a single breadwinner.
“I live with my children, who take care of me,” said the retired farm labourer. “My son-in-law supports the household. He works as a security guard.
Relieving the burden of finding food
“It is very difficult because I live from hand to mouth. I don’t have any pocket money and we all have bills to pay. We need money to pay rent to the local authorities, we need to buy firewood to cook food. We often go for days without any food or water.
“I can’t remember when last I ate meat. We usually eat sadza (maize meal), potatoes and rice.”
But in 2013, Omar and his family were amongst over 70,000 poor people in Zimbabwe to benefit from Qurbani meat distributed by Islamic Relief. For Omar, the three kilogram meat pack meant relief from the burden of finding food.
“Thank you to the donors and Islamic Relief for bringing some relief today. I am very happy because tonight my family can eat a nice meal, for the first time in a very long time.”
Over 2.1 million vulnerable people in 29 countries benefitted from our Qurbani programme last year.
Eid is often the only time that poor families like Omar’s will taste meat. Give blessings. Give joy. Give Qurbani with Islamic Relief.
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