“…if anyone saved a life, it would be as if he saved the life of all mankind…” Al – Quran (5:32)
Given the nature of the problems
Sri-Lanka has to grapple with, the challenges for the humanitarian agencies are
many. The ethno-religious, tropical, socio -political conditions of
Sri Lanka
in
particular warrants that a variety of approaches needs to be utilised in
implementing projects. However, not all
the agencies are able to work freely amongst the different communities across
the country.
Muslim Aid has approached these
challenges with its open policy of serving humanity and filling the gap, in
particular providing a facilitation role for relief and rehabilitation efforts
particularly in areas with multi-ethnic compositions. Muslim Aid has also quickly realised that
Sri-Lanka provides an opportunity and hope for rebuilding an embattled country
in the path of peace and human respect, and experience thus gained may help to
develop an early warning system for other countries that might in the future
slip into problems similar to that of Sri-Lanka.
Hence Muslim Aid Sri-Lanka Field
Office (MASL) has developed its programs aimed at:-
- Providing humanitarian assistance where assistance is needed
- Providing long term development and community empowerment
- Facilitating logistics for other agencies wanting to reach out to
people in need
- Encouraging cross cultural dialogue and understanding that will
contribute to rekindling human values of equality, justice and fair play
in everyday life
- Serving as a field laboratory to train Muslim Aid field staff for
worldwide assignments (as Sri-Lanka presents all possible hazardous
situations) and staff of other agencies.