You may have not believed the story that we carried in this website about the plight of the Malawian Muslim students who are studying Sudan. Some thought the issues said here were exaggerated or were just mere attacks on IZF as a responsible organisation.
But Malawi Muslims Official Website has tried to get photos from well reliable sources which bear testimony that indeed your son, daughter or ward is sailing through untold miseries.
The pictures you saw above were taken yesterday around 8pm when the students were taking their supper. Parents, guardian, when you are taking your full breakfast you should know that your son, daughter or ward in Sudan is sipping a 200ml cup of tea with a small ban. When you take your yummy meals, the child you are happy is studying in Sudan is gulping down a mixture of sweet potatoes and pumpkins.
However, there could be some light at the end of the tunnel and a sigh of relief if what Muslim Association of Malawi (MAM) chairman Sheikh Idrissa Muhammad said is anything to go by.
Having learnt about this pathetic situation through this website, the MAM Chair expressed shock and sadness so much that he promised to do something to help the struggling students.
The Chairman said this in an interview with Malawi Muslims Official Website yesterday.
He said his organisation did not know anything about the issue until the website broke the story. He therefore promised to do anything possible to save the students from the bondage of the financial constraints they are going through.
“You mean they want to come back? What about their studies? No, that is pathetic indeed. Of course, MAM has no money but will try to get in touch with some donors whom I hope will be in a position to help urgently,” said the chairman.
Since last year, the students claim that they have been complaining to Islamic Zakaat Fund that it should increase their monthly upkeep allowances but the officials maintain their stand that they cannot anything which they cannot afford – apparently due to low collection of zakah, its main source of income.
Meanwhile, the Sudan students through their union have asked the organisation to send them air tickets so that they should get back home if IZF cannot afford to increase their allocations.
As of now, the students get 100 Sudanese pounds, equivalent to MK3, 000 the amount they say it is not enough as prices of the most commodities have skyrocketed.
“…the money is not fulfilling one quarter of our needs here. People before us were receiving a 50 Sudanese pounds and that time it was 1:1 with a dollar, it changed to 1:2, they were receiving 100 pounds, they didn’t increase the money, right now the pound is 5:5…we are still receiving the same hundred pound.
“Life now in Sudan to us Malawians is very hard indeed. We cry everyday but no one can hear… We have been crying for a long time [but] nothing seems to change. Wallah! we are crying louder and
louder. 100 pounds per month, bathing soap is at 10 pounds. How many bathing soap do we need per month?
“Sudan is a very heavy windy and dusty country. The temperature is always running to 57 60, we need to take a bath atleast every 2-3 hours. We are dying,” cried one of the students who sought condition of anonymity.
The MAM Chair has therefore called upon the students not to panic as his organisation will try to come in and hunt for the much needed financial support.
Alhamdullah that MAM is planning to assist us. IZF has failed and is not even willing to meet us, We hope they have betrayed us
as am speaking one of our friend(student) has left today back home and three others left a months ago.so indeed we are dying ,we thank u for the help,as of now we are just hoping for you since you at least held our cries.go on MAM give us a hand please
IZF Director has been here for almost three weeks now but he has never visit us. He is enjoying wherever he is, so self! ALLAH AKBAR
It never rains but pours for IZF as we can witness here. Now it is time for the truth to be brought to light and wallah Allah will do something for us.
No wonder w@ Kumbombwe is saying .u cnnt bite a hand which feed u.dont treat him with kid gloves.he know something.dont allow to be cheated there dat he is working hand in hand with us.even the director himself,t just rumoured dat he z within the countries 3 wks ago bt up to nw no where to be sin.kumbombwe is saving his job.im stammering not kowing what to say with agony. Allah knows.
To begin wt, let me gv thanks to the malawimuslimweb jounalist 4 tryn hard to get the exact info abt the haunt situation we are caged in. And also thanks to the mam chief 4 gvn' us a hope of change.indeed the food on the pic is not just there tpo exaggarate the issue, but the poison in form of food that even me i take vry day.wallah having been fed up wt this ,i feel like i was hijacked frm malawi.so far the Izf director has been here in sdn 4 three wks now and he has waxed us wt a lie to meet our union.right now his 3wk stay is almost over,a question is:is he gonna meet the union?anyway lets jst wait and see! Wassalam.
Its an insult indeed and this is issue which i think IZF must sort out because most of the students parents are poor and cant afford to send a package for their son/daughter neither can they afford to have their children back home interms of high cost of travel expense.
But understand that IZF sponsors students in ZANZIBA {TANZANIA} and [IUIU in UGANDA],and IUA IN SUDAN, now why is it that the IZF fulfills all the needs of the students in tanzania and uganda and also give them money during holidays to go for holiday but we students here in sudan are only being given the equivalent of MK3000 per month which the IZF say we must use for medical services yet the medical services in sudan are very expensive,buying books,and all groceries,and as if that is not enough not given holiday allowance to go for a holliday even once in 5years in an environment where the kind of food is not good at all,what kind of leaders do you think these students are going to be!. am very proud the president of MAM who has promised to help,that is a very good development in as far as ISLAM is concerned.
The solution is to have an Islamic University in Malawi. A large sum of money is being paid to foreign Islamic universities for our brothers and sisters to get higher education. Almost all countries in east and west Africa have Islamic universities why not us. What is the progress of Islamic university in Malawi.
The authorities should know that no any hungry person will understand the lectures, so something should be done to motivate these brothers and sisters
Bisimillah….!,Respect to the chairman of MAM for his matured and implementally remarks of relief…,Respect to the Jornalists of this website for their professional work.Firstly i would like to contradict the remarks made by The Administrator(kumbombwe) in the very first article that they are all fallacious.The issue that the Director has come here inorder to meet with us is a fallacy bcoz him doesn't want to meet us here inorder to hear our concerns.Until now its only speculations the we are hearing because his whereabouts here in sudan remains unknown.Kumbombwe also said that the zakaat collections are not enough,Ok fyn..,If what him said is the truth,why is it that the Organisation continues sending students here while they know that they have financial problems?…Why haz this financial problem targeted I.U.A Students only?..why not those in Zanzibar?..why not those in Uganda?…Why is it that the Director does not want to visit us every time he comes here?…why is it that we are not aware of the terms of this scholarship…? Let me thank God that atleast by now we have a hope that our concerns will soon be implemented…
The stories being told here leaves a lot to be desired. The
million DOLLAR questions are:
1. WHY IS SHEIKH UTHMAN DODGING THE STUDENTS?
2. IS THE MONEY WE GIVE TO IZF BEING ADMINISTERED WELL?
3. WHY INSISTING SENDING STUDENTS TO SUDAN WHEN THERE ARE PROBLEMS, SOMETHING IS REALLY FISHY HERE?
BROTHER KUMBOMBWE AND SHEIKH UTHMAN HAVE TO EXPLAIN TO THE MALAWIAN MUSLIMS, WHY?
salam-let me thank the chairman of mam by taking our problems into consideration. I think mam should go and discus wid izf officials as sooner as posible to find solution 2 our problems bcoz as far as i kno izf has enough money to solve our problems. The problem that we have with our islamic organization z that we superpower one person and we dont we dont employ auditors to trace his moves. Izf director told us that evry asistance that we get here comes from one person and why are we talking of paying zakat here? Izf employed uthman and left all its money in his pocket to decide wat to do with it yet we forget dat he z nt amalawian and he z there to make money. I would like to ask mam to comand izf to produce terms of its scholaship and present them to students before sending them. We need urgent response and that cn only b achieved by forcing izf to raise our monthly allowance bcoz if u start searching for sponsors nw, t wil take time. Uthman wants nothing but to kill inocent malawian muslims and grab our money. My wonder again z that if da money @ izf is from zakat by malawians, why did u employ [please keep this website clean]? Should we say we dont have muslim brothers who are compitent enough to run this organisation besides [please keep this website clean]?
its very difficult to comment really bearing in mind 2thingngs. one is that students are at crossroad, difficult to make their own decision. that in mind, the other side is how IZF has helped malawi muslim youngsters to excel in education. but i think the best way to look into the issue is for IZF to be clear before sending students on what they will provide in reality and dont build false hopes for students. then parents should make sure to provide what their children require. i know most of the parents dont have that ability, but lets share the responsibility. parents show your love to your kids, and IZF be open on the least you can help the students. but thanks for remove illeteracy in our country. as for Muslim community, lets pay our zakat to IZF so that it can work efficiently. as for students in Sudan, tahnks for letting pipo know your plight so that concrete ideas can flock in. however, exercize patience as others will be trying to come into your rescue. but i dont personally like you to drop out. it will not do good to you and your family. we know you are heroes, and heroins, you will be steadfast. May Allah make thing easy for you.
though we do understand that getting educated needs muximum patience…but the condition in sudan is always a misery…lets hope the mam leadership as has pledged do something about the motter…and not only mam,lets also ask our brothers who are manageable tu help the students out there do so…theres a good number of students in sudan who are engaged in various academic grounds..if they graduate it will be a great achievement as far as the muslim umma is concerned in malawi
I believe most of us are being subject on the issue of IZF sponsored students in Sudan. We are focusing only on the negative side but leave the positive ones aside.
Much as we know of IZF source of funds, it will be unfair to blame them for everything. IZF has done its effort to send many needy students who had no hope of getting high education. I know of many who are beneficiaries of IZF.
The issue is IZF has done its part and others must complement their efforts. If those in Sudan want to come back they will only disturb their future. Let us be objective and help if we can rather than biting the only finger feeding us when others are un able to feed us even the tiniest portion.
i remember last year when we met uthman about d same issue of increment… he said IZF doesnt deal with IUA bt d one who sponsers us is the owner of crown fashion…. if what he said was true, then i am sure the sponser give him adequate cash but he sticks it to his pocket,,,,, coz crown fashion sizibwana,,,, guess finding out the truth for us about the crown fashion owner is also one big step for when ever we tell him to give us the contacts, samapeleka
It is difficult to balance sensitive issues from all perspective.
Kindly request your professor/lecture to walk you through their educational routes.
You will be shocked and probably bring you guys to your senses and appreciate.
Good leaders are those that succeed by using limited resources at their disposal.
Excuses is a sign of failure!
let the MAM chair intervine, meet the challenge