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Stories of change

These days, every other person is tired of  the constant bad news coming through the media and other sources. Stories like these in the media can discourage people and make them feel helpless. A climate of distrust is created by a steady stream of negative news. People who want to do something to make the world a better place may become immobile as a result of it making any effort to improve the situation appear pointless. Here are the stories of change brought about by your kindness and support as the year 2022 came to an end. These are real-life accounts of people cooperating tirelessly, day in and day out, to ensure that everyone has a roof over their heads, a warm bed to sleep in, and food for their families to eat. These are accounts of people banding together, gaining access to rights, or advocating for a new law. We hope that these stories will give you new ideas for dealing with extreme poverty.

In an effort to help people overcome obstacles, charitable organizations like ours have typically focused for decades on addressing the issues that millions of people living in disadvantaged communities face. However, a growing number of organizations are shifting their attention to addressing the root causes of problems in order to alter the odds for those who are most susceptible to their consequences. Supporting cross-sector collaboration to address upstream conditions that cause complex community issues is what this means to us. Since 2020, our community services have been on a journey to implement this method of operation in order to implement a systems change approach by raising awareness to address the root cause. 

All of the stories told here are our own, and they all revolve around the pleasure of helping those in need. We have recently launched a few new causes that aim to address the root causes of complex community issues. Our stories provide a one-of-a-kind look at what can be accomplished when a large number of individuals, groups, and initiatives adopt a collective strategy for bringing about positive change and coordinate their efforts to address the root causes of our most challenging community issues. The case studies are a useful illustration of purpose-driven collaboration and a source of hope in a world that is unpredictable and changing quickly. They are full of insights that can be put into action for more individuals in need.

Providing aid to a cancer patient with your support

Sadly, almost everyone on the planet is susceptible to cancer, either directly or indirectly, and the number of people affected continues to rise. An estimate states that there were approximately 1.7 million new cases of cancer in 2019. Patients and their loved ones experience a great deal of psychological stress when they are diagnosed with cancer, and for many, the financial burden of paying for cancer treatment can be just as difficult as the diagnosis itself. In light of this, we are here to provide you with resources regarding cancer patients’ access to financial assistance. Patients must also consider secondary costs and treatment logistics in addition to the immediate costs of medical care. Consider travel, food, lodging, and other living costs, for instance.

Colon cancer struck a 70-year-old woman serving others in Ankara, Turkey, who led a modest life. She was unable to collect sufficient funds for her treatment as an elderly widow. She tried contacting charitable organizations all over the world, but she was unable to obtain financial assistance to treat her terminal illness. She finally contacted us, full of optimism. We began a fundraising campaign for her chemotherapy sessions after recognizing her condition. We were able to give her a new lease on life thanks to your support.

Sponsored a Mother of 3 Children in need of Heart Valve Replacement

Because they are so preoccupied with taking care of other people that they put themselves last, women don’t have time to recognize that they have heart disease or that they are having an event. A heart attack or stroke occurs somewhere in the world every forty seconds. We assisted in raising funds to assist Mrs. Aklima. She lives in Bangladesh with her three young children. At the age of 22, she received her first diagnosis of mitral regurgitation in 2017. Recently, her symptoms got worse and started affecting her quality of life. Every day, it was getting harder for her to do her household chores, supervise her children, and go about her day. Her husband was barely making ends meet as a teacher in a private school. A visit to the doctor in September 2020 revealed that she required an immediate replacement of her mitral valve. At the time, this surgery set me back $2,700 USD. We helped this family and eased the financial burden of her treatment with your support.

Emergency food baskets to Gaza families suffering from the Israel war

Israeli authorities intensified their efforts to oppress Palestinians and give preference to Jewish Israelis during two governments that ruled for roughly half of 2021. Apartheid and persecution are crimes against humanity when the government’s policy of maintaining the dominance of Jewish Israelis over Palestinians throughout Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) is combined with the particularly severe repression of Palestinians living in the OPT. Thousands of Palestinians, including children, were killed in the Mclashes, and many more were wounded or left with long-term disabilities that required rehabilitation.

Numerous Gazan families have faced difficult circumstances since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza conflict. Due to the war, many homes have been damaged or destroyed, left without clean water or electricity, and many more face severe food shortages. As a response, ZamZam established emergency food baskets for families in greatest need. Food, water, blankets, and medical supplies, including vitamin and mineral capsules, were all in the baskets to help with any nutritional deficiencies that might have been present. In order to assist the Gaza families involved in this project in improving their circumstances and gaining access to essential resources, we raised $6,500.

Helped the families of Fire Victims rebuild their lives

Imagine being present as a fire consumes your home and all of your memories and possessions. Nine families in Chittagong, Bangladesh, lost their homes and everything they owned within twenty minutes on December 6, 2020. Thankfully, everyone in the family was able to escape the fire, but they quickly became homeless. These needy families became even more in need after the fire destroyed everything. These families received financial assistance, clothing, food, and comforters from our organization.

We are delighted to contribute our collective learning to the broader field of systems change, in addition to sharing these stories to empower new forms of change-making locally. Even for those of us who are deeply engaged in the work, a systems approach can be challenging to comprehend, let alone implement, despite its growing popularity. There appears to be a significant gap between the number of stories of system change in action and the amount of innovative work that is currently being done in the field. We hope to fill that void and satisfy the requirements of practitioners seeking examples of people applying theory.

The purpose of sharing stories like these helps the affected people regain their dignity and find a place in the community. Moreover, these stories inspire many others to spread kindness and somehow lend a hand to those in need. If our stories have inspired you in any way we have more causes for you to help us with.  

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