Dubai : A 14-year-old social worker in Dubai says he won’t rest until he has raised $30,000 (around Dh110,000) for digging wells for Afghan villagers.
Pakistani student Aqil Rashid said he started off last year with Dh1,000 of his Eid money gift and has since collected $10,000 (almost Dh37,000) that will be used to bankroll some of the targeted 15 or so wells in small towns in Afghanistan.
Besides going door-to-door, Rashid has also signed up on online social networking site Twitter (twitter.com/aqilrashid) to keep residents updated and interested in donating.
“I feel thirsty when I’m fasting, which is only for a part of a day. For the poor, it’s like that every day, all day, for their whole life,” said Rashid.
He hands over the funds to a Dubai representative of Roshan, an Afghan telecom company leading the aid project.
“It’s an easy life in Dubai, but lots of people out there are doing really bad. Each well can give water to around 1,000 people on average and costs about $2,000 (Dh7,340) to build. That’s only $2 (Dh7.34) per person.”
Rashid has also worked on several other humanitarian projects like Dubai Cares, Clean Up Dubai, Terry Fox Run, Médecins Sans Frontières and Make a Wish Foundation, said his father Safdar.
Rashid is also interested in raising funds for a project to help provide free open heart surgery to needy children.
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/hope-for-parched-afghans-1.514597
Ismailimail 
Bravo , I am really proud of you , keep up the good work, May Allah give you lots of strength (Amin)
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Keep up the great work Aqil
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We all are so proud of you, may Allah gives you more strength to continue this good work.
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Congratulations dear..Good work…keep it up…. MAy Allah bless u…
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Aqil, not only what you’re doing is impressive, but it’s refreshing to know that your compassion is having a tangible impact on the lives of people. Great work!
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