Al-Imdaad Foundation hands over a new house to a widow
When asked how she felt, Mrs Shaik-Imam said that she had received "the biggest gift of her life"
Estcourt’s Al-Imdaad Foundation joined hands with local officials in the Alfred Duma Municipality on September 9 to hand over a new house for 55-year old widow from Ladysmith, Mrs Rehana Shaik-Imam.
The foundation’s Local Projects Co-ordinator Mr Ahmad Karrim said the Shaik-Imam family were originally from Colenso, but arrived in Ladysmith in 2005 to seek work opportunities. Between 2005 and 2015 Mr Shaik-Imam worked hard to support his family before succumbing to a debilitating illness in November 2015.
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Before his passing away, the Al-Imdaad Foundation had provided a wheelchair to Mr Shaik-Imam in response to a request in a local newspaper.
The Shaik-Imam family was also put on the Al-Imdaad Foundation’s welfare programme and were receiving assistance with rental and monthly vouchers.
Mrs Shaik-Imam’s new house followed a long process of waiting, after her husband, Yaseen Shaik-Imam, had first applied for an RDP house with the Department of Human Settlements in late 2005.
But unfortunately, by the time he passed away, Mr Shaik-Imam was still struggling. Mr Ahmad Karrim explained that the Al-Imdaad Foundation got involved after the MEC for Housing Ravi Pillay, contacted the foundation via its National Projects Co-ordinator Abed Karrim. MEC Pillay visited Mrs Shaik Imam and heard her story and request for a house during a door-to-door walk about programme on October 26, 2016.
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After the request for a house was put forward through the office of MEC Ravi Pillay, the Alfred Duma Local Municipality, which covers the Ladysmith area, proceeded to secure land for construction. The municipality was also able to get a local contractor, Ayona Construction, to offer its services at no cost.
Al-Imdaad Foundation’s Ahmad Karrim explained that the foundation had covered the costs of building materials and furnishing of the new home.
Work on the new house began on July 4, 2018 and it was complete by August 9, with the handover date set for September 9. Local officials as well as the KwaZulu-Natal Premier Willies Mchunu were in attendance for the handover ceremony.
Senior Al-Imdaad Foundation representatives were also part of the touching programme, where Mrs Shaik-Imam shed tears of gratitude for her new home.
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When asked how she felt, Mrs Shaik-Imam said that she had received “the biggest gift of her life”.
She explained that after her late husband had passed away, she did not think she would get a house, but “the Almighty had made the impossible, possible” and “her wish had come true”.
During the hand-over ceremony, the KZN Premier Mr Mchunu called the Al-Imdaad Foundation a friend that had stood together with government in addressing social ills, “through thick and thin”.
He went on to say that many people had been helped by the Al-Imdaad Foundation and that the current house handover was just one example of what it had been able to achieve working together with government. The Al-Imdaad Foundation is proud to be part of this uplifting story of a joint effort to address the needs of a struggling widow. For more information on the Al-Imdaad Foundation’s local projects please call 0861 786 243.
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