R172 000 Sewing Machines Donation Affords Disadvantaged Lenasia South Learners The Ability To Learn Entrepreneurial Skills
For Immediate Release:
23 August 2022
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Severely disadvantaged learners attending a Lenasia, Johannesburg, educational institution are
benefitting from a new sewing centre, equipping them with entrepreneurial skills for a future
beyond school, thanks to a R172 000 donation of sewing machines by the South African Muslim
Charitable Trust (SAMCT).
The financially-strapped Al Iman Foundation, located in Lenasia South, caters for severely
disadvantaged children, including a number of orphans, and is intent on delivering academic
excellence and arming its charges with practical skills to assist them to escape the poverty trap.
Speaking at the official hand-over of the new sewing machines, SAMCT representative, Mr Farouk
Bayat said: “I believe that such a sewing centre will make an appreciable difference to the lives of
the Foundation’s learners, teaching them skills to take into the working world and enabling them to
become young entrepreneurs – the ideal way in which to escape the poverty trap in which so many
of our young people remain mired following their school years.”
A sound and proper education is the right of every child in South Africa and provides the foundation
for the future lives of the country’s young people. However, many learners come from impoverished
backgrounds and do not yet enjoy the fair and equal educational opportunities they deserve.
“Such situations set them up for failure and organisations which recognise this and dedicate
themselves to improving the lives of disadvantaged children are to be roundly applauded,” said Mr
Bayat.
Established in 2010, the Al-Iman Foundation is a progressive and highly active social welfare and
educational organisation and Mr Bayat stressed that it was ‘working feverishly to help correct this
imbalance’ by facilitating the empowerment of economically disadvantaged youngsters.
Its disenfranchised learners come from as far afield as Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West Province
and even Lesotho, as well as Gauteng.
Mr Bayat added: “This is an institution wholly-committed to servicing the growing needs of the
poorest of the poor; young people who are sorely disadvantaged, who are vulnerable and
disenfranchised. They rely on the Foundation for their education, daily upkeep and shelter. The
academic institution currently caters for some 250 children.”
“In spite of flagging finances and operating on a shoe-string budget, the staff of the Al-Iman
Foundation remain totally focused on ensuring academic excellence amongst their charges. They
work stoically in the quest to ensure their learners achieve the highest level of academic excellence
possible and don’t allow the massive challenges – financial and infrastructural – to deter them.”
He indicated that the Foundation was determined to expand its educational offering, instilling in its
learners socially acceptable norms and how best to live in and contribute to society in this country.
Initiatives it has identified include sewing, computer and baking classes.
“Recognising the importance of teaching young people basic skills which could serve them well in
later life, the SAMCT was pleased to be in a position to assist the Al-Iman Foundation to achieve one
of its goals, providing sewing machines valued at R172 000 for the establishment of a sewing centre
for the benefit of learners here.
The SAMCT was created in 2008, the result of a partnership between Old Mutual Unit Trusts and Al
Baraka Bank, for the creation, marketing and distribution of a suite of Shariah Funds. This has
ensured that the SAMCT is the beneficiary of this Shariah suite of funds, enabling it to provide
funding, services and other resources for the improvement of the lives of the vulnerable, deprived
and disadvantaged. It has been singularly successful in delivering sizeable assistance solutions
throughout South Africa – irrespective of race or religion – and continues to work to support needy
organisations in the fields of social development, poverty alleviation, education and healthcare.
Mr Bayat said: “In essence, our goal is to help educationists ensure the best possible learning
environment, teaching techniques and equipment provision if our children are to become capable of
taking on and overcoming the challenges of life in the future.”
“Knowledge gained through education unlocks entrepreneurial and employment opportunities,
which provide the financial wherewithal to enjoy an improved quality of life. It is against this
background that we were pleased to intercede at the Al-Iman Foundation, providing the equipment
necessary for members of staff to introduce the sewing centre activities it craved. This, we believe,
will remove one of the major financial difficulties faced by the Foundation and, additionally, will
most certainly benefit the learners taking sewing courses here into the future.”
ends
For more information about SAMCT and its Al Iman Foundation sewing machines donation, please contact:
Rasheeda Motala
Social Responsibility Officer
Tel: 084 506 2280
Email: samct@samct.co.za