MAKKAH: A Makkah charity has provided a Saudi woman divorcee and her young daughter with a home after their landlord kicked them out onto the streets.
The Al-Bir Welfare Society acted in response to a Jan. 6 article in Arab News about the pair’s plight. They have now been accommodated in an apartment at one of the organization’s buildings in the Sahat Islam quarters in Makkah, chairman Tariq Saleh Jamal announced on Thursday.
The divorcee in her 40s, Ghaneemah, and her daughter moved to a makeshift tent in the open near a residential area at the mountains of Al-Faiyha after their landlord kicked them out of their house rented to them by the Ministry of Social Affairs. He refused to renew the tenancy despite the fact that the rent was being paid to him on time.
Some philanthropists donated cash to Ghaneemah after reading about her plight in Arab News. Jamal said the organization also provided accommodation for two other Saudi women in similar circumstances. He said one of the women was living with her four children in a public park while the other was sleeping in the Grand Mosque. “In addition to the apartments, the society provided the three women and their children with food baskets, school necessities, free medication and a monthly payment to enable them to meet the cost of living,” he said.
The chairman said Al-Bir would also give them a good sum of money each year to buy whatever they might need. He said the society has six housing complexes in Makkah where 200 families are accommodated free of charge and supplied with financial assistance.
“Our response to these humanitarian cases emanates from the noble objectives of the society and its commitment toward the poor and needy in the Holy City,” he said, adding that the society has a special division for social research that studies cases of people in need. Jamal lauded the support Al-Bir receives from the Saudi government and other philanthropists in the Kingdom. “Thanks to this tangible support we are able to help others and relieve their suffering,” he said.
