Al-Qalam 
By Nabeelah Shaikh
The Muslim Youth Movement of SA’s “Ambassadors for Change Programme” has transformed the lives of those involved and has helped participants uplift their communities in a meaningful way.
Participants of the programme say it has been an eventful six months for them, as they got to experience the true meaning of community empowerment while bringing about real change in society. The programme aimed at transforming future generations and turning them into great leaders, has trained youth to become active participants in their communities.
Over the last six months, participants of the programme have been involved in multiple community initiatives. They were grateful that the MYMSA created such a platform for them. Some of the thing’s participants have been involved in include volunteering their time at Gaza mass rallies, hosting a Gender Based Violence workshop for 55 young women at the Islamic Guidance Centre in Sydenham, and fundraising for various charitable initiatives. They’ve also been able to host awareness campaigns at their schools, such as a breast cancer awareness programme to educate young women on the topic.
One of the participants, Qassim Allie of the Islamic Dawah Movement, said he has personally been participating in a lot of community initiatives thanks to the programme.
Hasina Lockat from Al Falaah College said she held an assembly to inform other pupils at her school about the programme and about some of the things she had learnt.
“The one thing that has been in motion has been the World Map Initiative at my school. We have this big board where every week, the MYM learners would keep the rest of the school up to date with what is currently happening in the world. The World Map Initiative is one of the projects I’m especially proud of because the younger students were benefiting from it, and they would go up every day to learn something new about the world. We have been involved in other initiatives too. We had the opportunity to make gift bags for an old age home after fundraising. The extra face towels from this initiative were paired with chocolates and were given to some of the cleaning staff on behalf of the MYM learners,” said Lockat.
Lockat said she felt a great sense of fulfilment being part of the programme and participating in such community projects.
“It made me realize that I really enjoy giving back to the community and I would love to make a difference in more people’s lives. I would love to see more Muslim youth benefiting from this programme in the future. By listening to other people’s personal experiences and opinions, it made me realize that we are really living in a bubble. I have become more aware of the problems that are occurring in my country and my community and because of MYM and this programme, I have a passion to make a difference now. Even if it’s one small step at a time,” said Lockat.
Suhail Shubrati from Orient Islamic School said that being a part of the programme has been an eye-opener for him.
“We raised money to buy socks for three schools in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. Another project I was successful in leading was a visit to an old age home. We managed to get sponsors for goodie bags and we visited the old age home to distribute them. More recently, we have been raising funds for Palestine,” said Shubrati.
He said doing these community projects has made him become more grateful for everything he has.
“You get to experience how different people live and it made me a better person. It was so heartwarming to see how something like socks could make such a big difference to people’s lives,” said Shubrati.
