Saudi Arabian charity sponsors over 225,000 orphans

Riyadh: The International Islamic Relief Organisation-Saudi Arabia (IIROSA) sponsors more than 133,000 orphans in Saudi Arabia and 92,000 in other countries around the world and now it’s trying to increase that number.

Secretary General of the organisation Dr Adnan Khalil Basha, in an exclusive interview with Gulf News, said on Friday: “We’re undergoing efforts to raise this number to a quarter of a million.”

He added that the charity has established 23 homes for orphans, with 12 in Asia and 13 in Africa. It provides food, health care, education, entertainment and financial support.

“Teams from IIROSA have travelled to remote and unsafe areas to rescue orphans, many of whom are victims of civil war, racial and sectarian conflict and natural disasters, in order to salvage them and provide them with all the services they require," explained Dr Basha, describing the achievements of the organisation as "spectacular”.

“We’ve provided these orphans with schooling and university education. Some of them are extremely talented and have obtained Master’s and PhDs," he said.
Basha added that the organisation encourages solid values."We educate and prepare [the orphans] in every possible way to become good citizens. We provide them with healthcare and educational opportunities. We’re doing our utmost to inculcate social ‘Takafol’ (Islamic insurance) and spread the spirit of cordiality and tolerance, which are basic pillars of Islam.”

The IIROSA not only provides for homeless children, but gives financial support to orphans who have lost one parent, but are still living with the other.

The organisation is currently working with a number of licensed welfare groups in African and Asian. “We have initiated family programmes in order to provide families accommodating orphans with production skills,” said Dr Basha.

He praised some of the very generous people assisting IIROSA and said one of them was sponsoring as many as 70 orphans alone.