Roshan Safar Waqf - Projects

When Asghar Vasanwala went to India in 1996, and saw the condition of poor people in His hometown Dohad and other towns around it, he decided to help them achieve dignity in their lives. Dahod belongs to a backward and poor district called Panchmahals, which is in Gujarat . Especially Muslims of this area are without economic resources and have little economic and educational opportunities.
When Mr. Vasanwala came back to US that year, he started this program with $700. Since then, he has reached many donors and has achieved a great success. Since 1996, he collects donations from many generous-caring people, who want to make a difference in lives of the poor. He initially sent the funds to his cousin Mr. Abid Vasanwala. Mr. Abid distributed these donations among needy people who needed to pay their small medical bills, Collage/school tuition fees, or school uniforms.
In Dahod, in 2004, under leadership of Abdul Wahab Pathan, a chartered Accountant in Dahod, we formed a Trust called “Talim Trust. Later on, Mr. Sayeed Lohar, Dr. Usman Pathan, and Miss Tabassum Shaikh took the charge. This team did an excellent job in providing help, worth several lack Rupees, to the poor and the needy. They distributed School Uniforms, school fees, schoolbooks, and school bags to about 1,000 needy children. They provided shoes to needy children. They have also helped small business, sick, widows, poor and orphans for their daily and medical needs. Committee members went door to door to door in poor neighborhood to assess their needs. During Ramadan, they distributed grain and clothing from our Fitra donation. They also performed 62 Qurbani from individual donations received.
However, this year (May 2005) we had to establish this present trust called Roshan Charitable Trust as the Talim Trust constitution did not allow us to do religious work such as Qurbani. We have selected highly devoted individuals for this job. We have now our own office in a rented place close to Poor Muslim neighborhood.
Roshan Charitable Trust’s constitution in is posted on this site for your perusal. It is in Gujarati, the State language of Gujarat . We have translated it in English also.
Our Project limits itself mostly to small needs, as we want to distribute the donation widely. Our project volunteers spend lot of time scrutinizing applicants and their needs before distributing the donations to them. We ask the recipient of project help, to write a letter of thanks, addressed to the donors, stating his/her circumstances and predicaments. We get a receipt from the recipient in form of a letter where in he or she writes the purpose for which the donation amount would be used along with “Thanks-Dua” and appreciation for getting donation. The recipient is urged to make a pledge that they also will help other poor and needy. These letters are mailed to US from where they are mailed to individual donors.
So far, this is an all-volunteer work, and therefore, we have incurred very little overhead. However, our work is expanding; so, we are in process of renting a place with classrooms, playground, library, computer room. We have just rented an office space.
In every Ramadan, we approach managements and worshippers in different mosques during Jum'a and Taravi prayers, for help; and, collect good amount in donation to help the poor and the needy. To get tax befits from US Government we have joined hands with IMRC (Indian Muslim Relief Committee) and AFMI (American Federation of Muslims from India ) . Mr. Vasanwala is an IMRC Volunteer since 1997 and AFMI since 2003. Both charities are USA registered and both have Indian Government permission to collect donations from foreign nations, for charitable works in India .
During Ramadan, we distribute Fitra money, by way of food and clothing to many needy Muslim families. During last Eid-al-Adha, 46 US families offered 61 goat-Qurbanis, $50 per Qurbani. We distributed meat among poor people in Dahod and its villages. We collected about $14,000 for Tsunami victims in India . This fund was given to IMRC for distribution.
We have two other programs:
1. Recognizing bright children in poor neighborhoods and train them for IAS officer position.
2. Start some sports activity for children in poor neighbor hood along with a library type reading room. During Gujarat riot, we helped riot-refugees. We gave ad-hoc sums of Rs.500 to each refugee family. We also received help from some philanthropists in India . There was a total loss of more than Rs. 72 Crore in villages and towns around Dahod. There is still a great need to resettle the above refugees so that they can earn their livelihood and their children can go to school