Parents are naturally the main source of love, support and care for a child, but in case of an orphaned one, who becomes the source?
On the first Friday of April each year, aka “Orphans’ Day”, each and every one of us is supposed to help orphans feel remembered, taken care of, and not alone, but how did it all start out?
Orphans’ Day Backstory
Just in case you didn’t know, Orphans’ Day is actually an Egyptian idea! Back in 2004, the idea came up to a volunteer at “Dar Al-Orman Association”, it caught people’s attention and Ministry of Social
Solidarity started supporting it.
The goal behind this volunteer’s idea was to raise awareness about orphans’ emotional needs in Egypt. He didn’t expect different countries around the world to follow Egypt’s footsteps, and he didn’t expect that
later on, his idea would turn into a global one!
Orphans’ Day and Covid 19
In normal circumstances, on this day, celebrations and parties are held, and people tend to visit orphanages to spend the day with children. Unfortunately, because of Covid 19, and for the second year in a row, celebrations are paused, and orphanages closed their doors. No doubt that these changes might cause children to question: “Why nobody is there anymore?” Don’t let them feel forgotten, you can still send gifts or even provide some financial support.
What “Kafala” actually is?
Since we’re talking about orphan children and ways to provide a much better life for them, we thought it’s the right time to discuss kafala. Every child deserves to feel the warmth of home and the tenderness of parents, and no matter what we did, it’s hard to provide these feelings at orphanages, however, kafala can do! Even though kafala is encouraged in Islam, people still confuse it with adoption, which is totally misleading. Kafala doesn’t transfer inheritance rights to the new family, it doesn’t even change the child’s full name as in adoption, that’s why it isn’t prohibited. Recently, several organizations have been trying to raise awareness about the value of Kafala, and to correct myths about it, with a long-run goal that orphanages would no longer exist, which is also a goal for Ministry of Social Solidarity.
For more information regarding kafala, we recommend you to follow
“Yalla Kafala” page, which is a non-profit organization spreading
awareness about kafala and helping families take such a step.
YOU Can Make a Change!
At the end of the day, in this world, we’re all here to help, love and lift each other up, and by the simplest act of kindness you do, you can literally, change the world.
Written by: Fairouz ahmed