By Nur Kose
In November 2011, a group of kids, including myself, decided to work together to raise funds for building a well. When we heard that the Zakat Foundation of America would be able to build a well in Somalia if we could raise $2,500, we couldn't wait to get started. It was tremendously exciting to think that we could help out in providing clean water for people halfway across the world.
Despite our excitement and eagerness, however, we had no clue how we would be able to raise so much money. 'After all, we're only kids,' we thought to ourselves. We didn't realize at the time that the fact that we are kids would help us a lot.
Our main team consisted of about seven to eight kids and our parents who helped us get started. We put our brains together and came up with ways to raise money. One tactic we used was to ask our friends, family members, and classmates for money. We had pretty pashminas to give to people who donated. Pretty soon, we had given away most of the pashminas to our friends at the masjid, classmates and teachers at school, and our neighbors. Many wanted more than one color.
Each of us had our own circle of friends and family who helped us raise money. We went to different schools so we could reach out to different people. There was an 'Īd party and a friend raised a lot there. I sent out an email to different email lists and that brought a lot of money. Facebook friends helped us in our last $500.
Then we had our bake sale in which we baked many treats to sell at the Zakat Foundation Delaware Center. The bake sale was lots of fun – even for me who does not not like to cook. Each member of our well team came up with something to bake including brownies, cupcakes, cheese breads, and lots more. When we counted the money after the bake sale was over, we were so surprised to see how much we had raised. We got over $250 in the bake sale.
After our bake sale, my mother gave us the good news. Our goal was to raise $2,500 but we had raised more than $4,000 – and in such little time! With Allāh's help, we were able to reach our goal and get more than was necessary. This inspired and encouraged us to continue raising money to build more wells in Somalia.My mother gave us the good news… we had raised more than $4000!
We have already finished raising money for our second well and have started our third well. We feel great to be able to help others and hope others will join us in our efforts to help people around the world.
If you would like to help us out in our project, please visit www.usayouthwellproject.blogspot.com
Update from Nur Kose:
alḥamdulillāh, we are on our 6th well right now! :) Our goal is 100 wells by the end of 2012 inshā'Allāh. The Delaware Youth Well Project Team would love for youth in other states to join in. You can find us on our website/blog at www.usayouthwellproject.blogspot.com.
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