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Young Ismaili Muslim volunteers on Saturday distributed, milk, soft drinks and a hearty meal to orphaned and vulnerable Muslim children living at the Kasangati Orphan Fans Society in Kawanda, Wakiso District.

“This work is part of the civil society support and engagement which we carry out in different parts of the country to promote the spirit of humanity as propagated by Islam. Today, we are distributing Iftar dinner for this orphanage, which houses 700 children.

“In Islam what is important is brotherhood; looking after the needy and under-privileged and the act of giving back to community in which you live. Enhancing continuity in volunteering and making it a part of the volunteer’s life is also one of our community’s goals. Each year we have different activities including health camps and at Idd we are planning another activity along similar lines,” Nadim Lalani, the Outreach chairperson for the Shia Imami Ismaili National Council, said on Saturday.
Sheikh Sulaiman Kiberu, the executive director of the orphanage, said more than 800 children are part of the orphanage which receives orphans from all parts of the country and as far as Sudan.

He said they need about Shs500m every term to run the orphanage. Sheikh kiberu received cooked rice, boxes of milk and cartons of sodas for the orphanage.

“We survive on such donations of good-willed and generous communities such as the Ismaili Muslims, who occasionally also make contributions towards maintenance of the orphanage,” Sheikh Kiberu said.

The Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, often known as the Ismailis, belong to the Shia branch of Islam. The Shia form one of the two major branches of Islam, the Sunni being the other.

The Ismailis live in more than 25 different countries (mainly in Central and South Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, North America and Australia, and number approximately 20 million) and are the followers of His Highness the Aga Khan, who works for poverty alleviation and promotion of global peace through the principles of pluralism and unity in diversity.

The Ismailis have a strong sense of volunteerism and engage in a number of social and economic initiatives for common good.