We at Roshan Safar Waqf aim at the socio economic and educational upliftment of our fellow brothers and sisters. There is a need of technological and scientific awareness in our society and we should accept the advancements which are occurring in the field of science and technology with open minds and extended arms. There should be no hesitation in gathering knowledge and acquiring skills amongst the people of any age, class or gender.
We all know the root cause of various social and financial miseries lies in our inability to impart modern knowledge to our population. Unless the aim of easy availability and open access to the flow of knowledge is not achieved, the darkness of the backwardness will not die down. Hence we set our objective to generalize the modern education, skill development and financial assistance to our more susceptible classes like women, unemployed youth and growing Children.
Roshan Safar is a nonprofit organization that aims to provide relief to the underprivileged in India in many ways. Roshan Safar focuses on helping children in India that cannot afford to receive an education. The organization helps those who have been affected by natural disasters. It has given food to the less fortunate and teaches women and men different ways to be able to have a source of income. The nonprofit has done this and so much more. Education, providing sustainability, and skill development for those who do not have it in India for all ages, classes, and genders are the main objectives.
Our Journey started way back in 2005; though the seeds of our charitable organization were sown in 1997. So, it all began with a small town named Dahod. It is a small town in the Panchmahals district of Gujarat. This particular place has relatively low economic resources and a low standard of living. The bridges between different economic classes have made living for the poor more difficult.The actual condition of people living in nearby places is far worse. So, it all began with me. I am a Structural (civil) Engineering Graduate with a great passion for it. Having worked in my field and intent to do so, I share the same passion for many other things; doing them is an entirely different question. However, Urdu being one of my Soul passions despite not being my mother tongue, Icherish it with all my Heart. I regularly practice it and do some literature chores in the language derived from the famous work of Ghalib.
Other than Urdu, I am well versed in Arabic and Farsi. I also have sufficient proficiency in Marathi and Spanish as Well. Not just passion I studied to be Graduate in Human behavior (psychology & Sociology). Though a later educational degree turns out to be the main motivation behind our Organizational set up.
History
The condition of people living in Dahod has always been worse. However, this particular trip in 1996 fromUS started to make all the difference. The condition of People living was deteriorating and there was nothing better in the life of those people. This is not just mere exaggeration to seek to sympathy, it’s how they lived.
So, this all trip where I saw actual downside of poverty, made a huge impact on me. I returned to US and made a donation of $700. This is the first point in the timeline where it started our journey. Since, then I Have made huge leapt in getting donors on board, to restore some sense of pride in these people; to push them out of anonymity on par with world.Initially I struggled but with the help of generous people and my friends, especially my cousin Abid Vasanwala, who is branch manager at State bank, I got on a fast track. So, it is how I started. I managed to get some contacts, who was willing and wanted to work for the betterment of the Muslims. Through this initial gathering we collected several thousand dollars, which we disbursed to people to pay their basic needs like Medicine and educational cost. Education of people including and more importantly women is our main objective. We have devised a proper channel to scrutinize the disbursement of funds, in order to insure against misappropriation.
As the time went by we entered into our golden period. The shining moment came in 2005 when we registered our trust under Gujarat Waqf board by the name Roshan Safar.
My grandfather Asghar Vasenwala, started this organization in 2005. He was influenced by the awful living conditions in Dahod, a city in India. Asghar grew up in extreme poverty himself but with hard work managed to get him and his family out and to America and create a better life; this includes giving my mom a better life. He managed to get donors and get contracts and to have Roshan safar backed up by the American Federation of Muslims. Sadly, due to his passing in 2019, it died down. Now we are working to make Roshan Safar stronger and more well known.
A glimpse into the Working
All financial help that Roshan Safar has gotten is only through word of mouth from the staff and just going around and asking people to donate. The organization is very underfunded and has the potential to do so much. The nonprofit is now in the process of improving and bringing more awareness to the cause. To get tax benefits from the US government, Roshan Safar has joined hands with AFMI (American Federation of Muslims from India). It is a US registered charity and has Indian Government permission to collect donations from foreign nations, for charitable works in India. We also encourage people during holy holidays such as Ramadan,Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. Charity is very important to islamic religion.
Looking ahead
Apart, from it we have done commendable work in riot hit areas of Godhra in 2002. Through our campaign and philanthropist program, we provided ad-hoc sum of Rs 500 to each Refugee Family. The loss of life and wealth were massive. The lone estimate of loss is about Rs 72 Crores in nearby areas of Dahod. The condition of people mainly Muslim is shattered; owing to lack of education and communal complexity adding to inactiveness of government towards a particular community. However, educational awareness can be the single beacon of hope in betterment.
Islam teaches charity as one of most noble work. We are making efforts in making life of these people a little easier. During, the time of crisis government aid takes more time, which is sometimes reason for loss of many lives. We are striving out to make such times little easier. We would love if people come forward in making their lives better. We, at Roshan Safar takes pride in small steps that we are taking in bettering lives of people. We request you to do the same. No amount is small, for you all know that little amount can provide timely help to save single life.
Take pride in what you have but make sure in helping people. We cannot achieve divinity through the act of volunteer services, but it will at least give us right to call ourselves Human.
Islam teaches charity as one of most noble work. We are making efforts in making life of these people a little easier. During, the time of crisis government aid takes more time, which is sometimes reason for loss of many lives. We are striving out to make such times little easier. We would love if people come forward in making their lives better. We, at Roshan Safar takes pride in small steps that we are taking in bettering lives of people. We request you to do the same. No amount is small, for you all know that little amount can provide timely help to save single life.