TOWARDS UNDERSTANDING THE NEEDS OF THE CHINESE MUSLIMS

 

(A testimony of the work I witnessed being carried out by Sister Mariah Mah on my visit to China from 6^th December 2008- 28^th December 2008)

 

The significance of the work of Sister Mariah cannot be given justice to in a few pages. Her endless effort and contribution towards the plight of the Chinese muslims cannot be expressed in words. However, I endeavour to give you a glimpse of her contributions by giving an account of the brief time I spent with her.

 

I was fortunate enough to have the liberty of travelling alongside Mariah on her Qurban tour to visit Kunming, Zhaotong, Lijiang and Shangrila. After the tour we spent the next eleven days travelling to Lanzhou, Linxia and Ninxia. We began by our visit to the poor villages in Kunming and then in Zhaotong. In each case, the entire village that came out to welcome us greeted us. Lined up in the cold weather each face bore evidence of poverty and need.

 

But the excitement and emotion driven by the joy of being visited by international friends overtook them. They expressed this by informing us that our visit was welcomed above the need for donations. They were humble and hospitable beyond recognition.

 

Other than having our lunches and dinners at the mosques we were able to witness our Qurbani’s taking place. I can recall about 50 sheep being taken before my eyes and slaughtered one by one. The reciting of the Qurban takbeer by our Chinese brothers still echoes in my ears.

 

To see the qurban meat being cut up and cooked and served was amazing. Added with the knowledge that these people seldom see meat on their tables. I played with the poor children of the village and felt the sense of belonging to the much forgotten muslim community.

 

Shangri-La is one of the most beautiful locations I have ever seen. The scenery was breathtaking. The high altitude and lack of resources means that life is full of simplicity. The houses have roofs with stones on them to keep the tiles down, there is corn drying everywhere, pipes are made of logs cut horizontally to carry the water from the streams etc. We went to visit the preschool where we greeted by the simultaneous ‘salaam’ of the children on the balcony. We went to the mosque and saw how our donations have helped to build cleaner toilet facilities.

 

Lanzhou was one of the most heartbreaking locations. We were greeted on arrival by the principal of the ‘Chongde women and children’s centre’ who is deeply concerned by the fear of her centre being closed due to lack of funding. She took us to see the classrooms to witness how crucial the work of the centre is for the community. 

 

Foreign workers from the Tong Se tribe came to Lanzhou for work. We visited their homes, which were basically tiny rooms alongside a railway track in use. I watched toddlers crossing the tracks alone or going through rubbish heaps. The rooms house an entire family and contain little else than a slab of concrete with bed sheets. It has a kettle, which is used to keep the room warm. One example is of grandparents, parents, and four children in one room. Eight to a room is the norm. One family had to take shelter with others as their room had burnt down. One of them had fallen pieces of ceiling on the bed.

 

The women and children from these families are given a free education in Sister Aisha’s school. The objective is to combat illiteracy and to restore Islamic teachings into the community. The classes we went to had elderly women reciting the Quran. Before they came to her school they had been illiterate. The children were also taught Chinese and how to recite the Quran and given a sound Islamic education. They are taught how to read and write Chinese so that they can read the translation of the Quran. 

 

As a qualified teacher who has taught in muslims schools in London and across the Middle East including Egypt. I can guarantee that the work that was produced at this school was of high standard.

 

So it’s understandable that Sister Aisha is in dire need of financial support to keep the school running. Mariah decided that she should come with us to Ninxia to seek support from the committee that overlooks the orphanage. Thanks to Mariah she is now a member of the committee, which is made up of government representatives. Sister Mariah on request can give the long-term benefits of this link to you.

 

Furthermore, we were about to leave our hotel in Lanzhou to travel to Linxia. We were halted in the lobby by a couple that had brought along an orphan namely ‘Wahab’. As mentioned the community are so poor, they cannot even feed their own family. So Wahab was being moved from home to home and had come to point of being homeless. Mariah took him along with us to Linxia. It was entirely through her influence that the principal of Yasin preschool took Wahab in immediately. That preschool will serve as his home until he grows up. 

 

Currently, it costs 5000 yuan a year to keep him there, which Mariah will arrange. Again, as a teacher who has worked in all sectors I can guarantee that the Yasin preschool is the best preschool in the world known to me. The facilities are state of the art for China and the children have memorised surah’s from the quran by the age of five.

 

I could go on, but will stop there and urge you to take the opportunity of donating or travelling to China through Mariah. The following is an outline of the current projects I witnessed while I was out there:

 

1.      Lanzhou: Funds for Aisha’s Islamic women and Children’s centre.

2.      Ninxia:     Orphanage: No water supply. Need funds to build well.

3.      Ninxia: Building an Islamic Primary school.

4.      Ninxia: A mosque made previously of sticks has fallen; they have the bricks now but need funds to build.

5.      Linxia: Yasin preschool collecting for new premises.

6.      Zhaotong: Need funds for madrasah where girls are currently housed in underground premises. Some girls have contracted TB as a result.

7.      Zhaotong: Funding for Dawah project to enable Islam to be retained in the villages.

8.      Zhaotong: Mosque damaged by earthquake. Needs repair.

9.      Orphan sponsorships.

 

I’m sure I have not covered everything here. Please contact Sister Mariah if you are interested in any of the above.

 

Finally, a huge Jazakallah Khair to Sister Mariah for arranging for me to visit these places and for raising my awareness to the needs of the Chinese muslims.

 

Walaikumasalaam,

 

T.Ali (Science teacher, London)