I was about to go bananas when I came across a World Assembly of Muslim Youth statement saying WAMY was to sponsor 400 orphaned Somali children.

The newspaper that published the statement ran an interview in the same issue with Abdullah Al-Anzi, a young Saudi security guard badly injured in the May 12 terrorists bombings in Riyadh, telling of his suffering after he lost his job because he is disabled.

Al-Anzi and the 13 members of his family members were living on his meager salary of SR1,900 a month.

Doctors advised against extracting a bullet that was still lying in his right leg for fear it may result in partial paralysis.

They had to amputate a toe from his left foot. Out of a job, he was forced to work as street vendor selling vegetables to support his family.

He said since leaving hospital he had not received any financial support from any philanthropic body, including WAMY, which draws its funds from money paid by the people of this country.

A number of questions struck my mind while reading the two reports. Isn’t Al-Anzi a Muslim youth? If yes, why did WAMY bypass him to go to far places like Somalia? Doesn’t charity start at home?

If yes, why is our money being spent abroad while thousands of our own people continue to suffer in unemployment and poverty?

I am not against helping our Muslim brethren anywhere, but this should come after ensuring our own house has been put in order.

No sane person would like to see their fellow countrymen suffering under poverty. How many orphaned, widowed, divorced, unemployed, sick and disabled people in the Kingdom are in dire need of help but receive nothing from WAMY or other organizations?

These bodies should be keen on helping the poor and helpless inside the country instead of focusing on faraway places. It is shameful to see this happening while our poor are being ignored. I have in my hand thousands of letters from people describing the miserable conditions under which they live and all asking for help.

I will see to it that these messages reach officials at our charity organizations and wait for the response. I will continue to oppose charity work abroad as long as there are poor and needy in this country.

Arab News From the Local Press 21 July 2003