MAKKAH, 12 May 2008 — A number of philanthropists have offered accommodation to Abdullah, a Saudi veteran of the first Gulf War, who is living destitute with his wife and nine children in a tent in a derelict part of the Al-Azizia district of Makkah.
Having read about the family’s plight in Arab News, a Saudi, who asked his name not be published, offered the family a three-bedroom flat — costing SR15,000 a year — free of charge.
The man told Abdullah, who is a taxi driver, that a local charity, Al-Ihsan wa Takaful Society, had promised to furnish the apartment. The man also bought the family a refrigerator and carpets.
“I never thought that people would be so kind and sensitive to the sufferings of their fellow citizens,” Abdullah, 50, told Arab News with tears of gratitude rolling down his cheeks at the apartment in the Shisha district of the city.
Abdullah said that he had sent his wife to the National Society for Human Rights in Makkah on Saturday to urge officials to take action.
Abdullah Al-Hadrawi, director of the NSHR in Makkah, said that — convinced of the family’s difficulties — he informed the Charity Warehouse, an organization that provides aid to people in the region, about the case.
“An official at the Charity Warehouse called and offered me a two-bedroom house with a courtyard. We shifted there but my children were frightened because rats were running around. So we returned to the tent,” he said.
He added it was then that the philanthropist arrived and offered him a three-bedroom apartment in the Al-Shisha district. “This flat is in good condition and my children like it,” Abdullah said.
Muhammad Al-Lihyani, director of the Makkah office of the General Organization for Social Insurance (GOSI), said that Abdullah was already receiving GOSI assistance. “We give him a monthly pension of SR2,800, although the amount was paid two years ago in a single installment. Now GOSI is studying Abdullah’s situation and are helping him to repair his taxi,” he said.
He added that GOSI would furnish Abdullah’s new home and possibly offer the 50-year-old another lump pension of SR30,000.
Yahya Kinani, director of the Charity Warehouse, told Arab News yesterday that NSHR informed him about the family. “At the same time, Shoura Council member and Vice President of the Al-Ihsan wa Takaful Society Suleiman Al-Zayidi asked us to study the case. We undertook an immediate investigation and found that the case merited quick action. As an initial step, we offered him a two-bedroom house, but he did not accept it saying it was unsuitable.”
Al-Zayidi added that a member of the public offered Abdullah a better apartment and that the Charity Warehouse will supply the family with furniture, food and clothes.
Arab News reported yesterday how Abdullah said he prefers living with his children in a tent to asking for help and relying on handouts. The father of five girls and four boys — who are all of school-going age with the oldest 15 and the youngest two — participated in the war to liberate Kuwait. Speaking about the circumstances that led him to live in the tent, Abdullah said he receives social security benefits totaling SR2,800 a month, half of which goes toward paying for his taxicab. His monthly rent used to be SR1,200. Left with only SR200 and profit from his taxi being very low, Abdullah said he found it difficult to meet expenses, especially as his family grew.
Finally, he was forced leave his rented accommodation and move to a tent.
