26 August 2010 / HASAN KARALI, TODAY’S ZAMAN, İSTANBUL
Still active in relief efforts in the wake of the Jan. 12 earthquake that ravaged the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, Kimse Yok Mu (Is Anybody There), a Turkey-based charity, has added the provision of pre-dawn and evening meals for 27,000 fasters at nine local mosques to its array of aid activities.
Normally, Kimse Yok Mu has focused upon sustainable, long-term projects having to do with hospitals, schools, dorms and orphanages but this Ramadan has provided some immediate relief to the locals. The foundation is serving meals to 100 people a day at nine mosques this Ramadan, for a total of about 27,000 meals by the time the month draws to a close. The meals have been accepted with many thanks from locals -- both Muslim and non-Muslim, fasting and not -- in Haiti, where the road to recovery from the disastrous earthquake remains long and winding. Pollas Carl Rodney, the imam of the At-Tawheed Mosque in Port-au-Prince, explained to the Cihan news agency in an interview: “God has brought us a lot of support this Ramadan. We’re thankful to God for sending Kimse Yok Mu to us, and we’re very happy that Kimse Yok Mu is helping Muslims and earthquake victims here in Haiti. A tradition from the Prophet Muhammad says that Ramadan is a month of mercy -- if we had been left alone this Ramadan, we wouldn’t have been able to do anything on our own. But thankfully Kimse Yok Mu was sent from Turkey to our aid.” Rodney emphasized that the aid, while taking place during a month of fasting, provided a critical two meals a day to destitute locals.
