| Aw-Sabri Foundation The Aw-Sabri Foundation was inspired by the work of the late Ezer Ahmed Omar Yosuf Ali-Fataah (1935 – 2007) In May 2005 Ezer Ahmed after returning from an extended trip to Harar, he was overwhelmed by the amount of poverty and despair that exists within Harari population in Harar. He was compelled to act. As the result he launched public awareness campaign among friends and in many various barcha gatherings. Later that year he established a foundation he inspirationally called Aw-Sabri, in memory and honour of the great charitable Harari Awe-Haji Sabri whom he was so fond his charitable deeds. The foundation was established in Melbourne, Australia in February 2005 with the aim of improving the lives of indigenous poor and elderly Hararies in Harar. The foundation created a welfare system in Australia with members contributing monthly to a fund. Money is then remitted almost every quarter to our representatives on the ground in Harar. Mr Kamil Yosuf, small business owner, is our coordinator who oversees all the foundations charitable work. Our representatives do extraordinarily great job of identifying, distributing ration or funds and monitoring our member’s circumstances. They also do reassessments of the situational change of the members to reconsider their eligibly of our support. They replace with new members when and if an elderly member deceases (we had two members’ deaths so far). Finally they prepare a half yearly budget report with full financial transactions. We discuss the contents of the report with our contributing members everywhere. We will post these reports on our website in the near future without compromising the privacy of out members. The privacy of the welfare recipients and their dignity are respected at all times. In mid 2006 The Aw-Sabri Foundation under the direction of Ezer Ahmed has joined the Harar Interest Advocacy Group International (HIAGI). The aim of this strategic alliance was intended to strengthen the financial capability of the foundation and boost its image internationally whilst giving all Hararies around the globe the opportunity to donate to this noble cause. Aw-Sabri is now autonomous charity wing of HAIGI. Inspiring Stories The Mosque restoration This intriguing event occurred at the Asun-barri, Harar. A mussala or small local Mosque was abandoned for over 25yrs due to lack of worshipers and lack of funding. The mosque was over taken and occupied by the homeless and drunken for decades. The neighbourhood start to realise that they lost the serenity and tranquillity of their Barri. The youth gathered their strength in search of faith and the first step in their pursuit was to revive their mosque. Aw-Sabri Foundation has been approached for financial assistance in fully restoring the mosque. The foundation agreed to fully fund the restoration of the mosque. However, the project was jointly carried out by the local youth who volunteered time to do all the plumbing and painting jobs to reduce the restoration expenses. The foundation financed all the materials needed for the refurbishment including the mats, carpets and audio systems (microphones and speakers) required for the mosque. The Harari children Catholic school story This stimulating story developed when the Aw-Sabri representatives were approached by concerned parents in relation to the blight of five Harari orphaned children whose mother could not afford to send them to school. She was approached by a Catholic Missionaries promising her children to join local Catholic School run by the missionaries. The mother struck by extreme poverty weighted the prospect of and importance of her children not getting education and overlooked the potential danger of catholicising her children. She enrolled them at the school. Few years into their education the kids were removed by Aw-Sabri from this Catholic school at the request of their mother and they were placed at Abadir School. The Foundation is committed to covering all the schooling expenses as long as the kids want. The Grand Mosque Mu’adin story This is rather a compassionate story because it is a mirror reflection of the circumstances many hard working and honest Hararis find in modern Harar. The mu’adin or the prayer caller was facing an acute financial hardship after he was penalised by the mosque management by reducing his salary by fifty percent for some un-specified mistakes he made in carrying out his duties. The mu’adin’s was already on low monthly salary of 100 birr, as the result he was severely distressed and his family suffered tremendously. The foundation came to his aide by alleviating him from his distress and enlisted him as a permanent member. He currently receives provisions higher than his monthly salary. He is humbled and feels extremely grateful and he says that all the people who are making this possible are in our prayers everyday. Future Directions The Aw-Sabri Foundation aspirations are firstly continue to alleviate poverty in Harar and carefully expand its charitable work beyond Harar. The organisation is currently looking at ways of working with similar organisations to achieve its goals. We are also exploring an innovative ways of raising funds to finance our projects. This includes establishing profitable businesses locally and overseas and aligning our operations with established charity organisations and NGOs. Our Achievements: - Officaily registered Aw-Sabri Foundation as charitable organisation in Victoria, Australia
- Opened a Bank account for periodic direct debit transactions and general donations (Monthly, Quarterly, Zakatul Maal, Zakatul Fitri etc.)
- Increased our membership (donors and reciepients)
- Incorporated with official HIAGI website.
- We transferred approx. 49,000 Birr over the last financial year.
Contact Details and Donations Aw-Sabri Foundation - Australia Address: PO Box 1310 Werribee Plaza 3030 Vic. Australia Contact: 61- 9931 1401(H) 61-402 768 694(M) Khalid Omar: 61-411 056 380(M) Australia
Aw-Sabri Foundation- Harar
Kamil Warfa: 251-256-669091(W)
251-9157 42163(M)
Nabil Ishak: 251-9117 89660(M) Website: www.hararianforum.com Email:
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Donations: Harar Interest Advocacy Group International (HIAGI) Aw-Sabri Foundation ANZ Bank Australia Branch BSB: 013-365 Acount No: 4879-29662 | 
Aw-Sabri Foundation 
