Mulla Asgharali M M Jaffer 25/11/1937 – 21/03/2000

Launching

We have pleasure in announcing the launching of a Scheme for sponsoring students for secular education in Tanzania. The students eligible for financial support will be those who come from the Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri families with limited or uncertain means. The Scheme will be known as Mulla Asghar Memorial Academic Scheme – Tanzania, in short, MAMAS. 

Background 

The Scheme is almost like The Zainabiya Child Sponsorship Scheme (ZCSS) which came into existence in 1982 as one among the multifarious services established by the World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities in London. The main activity of the ZCSS is also to support secular education through sponsorship of the students in the poor families of our community. Presently, there are nearly 12,000 students benefiting from the ZCSS and the number of sponsorship keeps rising.  

ZCSS has in the past focussed their attention mainly in the Indian sub continent where poverty is predominant among our community, and consequently, many children suffer exploitation due to lack of basic education. The ZCSS is headed by Alhaj Mohamed Visram of London with a team of dedicated young volunteers. 

The MAMAS has been initiated by the World Federation of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri Muslim Communities as a tribute to the great personality and a leader of our time Mulla Asgharali M. M. Jaffer who passed away on 21st March 2000 in London. Marhum Mulla Saheb was a great enthusiast and visionary for the development of religious and secular education. Under his Presidency, the World Federation through the Scheme (ZCSS) made great strides in assisting thousands of students who otherwise would have entered into the main streams of adults without adequate education for having lacked the necessary financial means.   

In the same spirit, MAMAS – Tanzania has been established under the ZCSS of the World Federation to serve the same purpose for the students in Tanzania, With the blessing of the Africa Federation and the Executive Committee of the Dar es Salaam Jamaat, Alhaj Aunali Khalfan was appointed in August 2002 as the Chairman of MAMAS in Tanzania whose office is based in Dar es Salaam.  

MAMAS – Tanzania is therefore an autonomous sister organization of the ZCSS. MAMAS Board will later appoint representatives (Agents) in each Jamaat in Tanzania who will work closely with the Jamaats in order to fulfill its aims and objectives. 

MAMAS will promote its vision – “Strong2gether” by a cohesive and focused approach to enroll sponsor-parents and solicit donations from philanthropists. 

The MAMAS’ first initiatives are to bring about in the Tanzanian community the awareness and understanding of the plight of those children whose parents cannot afford to pay school fees and ascertain the extent of the eligibility of such students. 

MAMAS – Breaking New Ground

The Aims and Objectives of the MAMAS – Tanzania: 

1. To manage and operate the Organization in a transparent and professional manner in order to fulfil the aims and objectives of the Scheme.
2. By working closely with the Jamaats in Tanzania, to identify the needs for the secular education from the Nursery to Advance Level Secondary Education of Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri boys and girls whose parents or guardians genuinely cannot afford school fees.
3. To work closely with the Jamaats in Tanzania in order to bring awareness of the Scheme in our community and collectively to raise funds and source sponsors for the Scheme.
4. To maintain the confidentiality of the applicants to the Scheme.
5. To establish effective network and good working relationship with the ZCSS for a long term development of organizational and financial capacity of the MAMAS – Tanzania.
6. To ensure that our Khoja Shia Ithna-Asheri boys and girls who are eligible for the benefits available under the Scheme are not denied education due to financial constraints.
7. To streamline the processes of application and mobilization of income for a maximum results in the attainment of the objectives of the Scheme.
8. To produce annually report of the activities, statistics and accounts.

MAMAS – Tanzania Organization: 

Following are the Executive Members of MAMAS – Tanzania:- 

1. Br. Aunali Khalfan                    -           Chairman
2. Br. Nazir Haji                           -           Hon. Secretary
3. Br. Mohamed Lalji                   -           Hon. Treasurer
4. Si. Khudaija Fazal                    -           Asst. Secretary
5. Br. Bashir Tejani                       -           Member
6. Br. Razahussein Manji              -           Member
7. Br. Mushtak Damji                   -           Member
8. Br. Raza Chandoo                    -           Member
9. Br. Safderali Jaffer                    -           Member
10. Br. Shiraz Rashid                      -           Member
11. Dr. Jamil Merali                        -           Member
12. Dr. Kamal Sheriff                     -           Member
13. Br. Aqil Hirji                             -           Member
14. Si. Samiha Alloo                       -           Member

Administration: 

The MAMAS – Tanzania will shortly advertise a vacancy for a post of a male Administrator. The candidate must have successfully completed minimum ‘A’ level education with good results. He should be a reliable and performance oriented person with strong analytical and computer knowledge for the office whose duties will include the following:- 

1. To carry out day to day activities of the office and administration, i.e. attend to telephones, letters, queries, petty cash, payments to service providers etc.
2. Issuing application forms and receiving completed ones from the aspiring students.
3. Keeping up-to-date records of all applications.
4. To maintain a database of the applications.
5. To maintain a database of the sponsors/donors to the Scheme.
6.  To keep up-to-date accounts receivable and payables of the organization.
7. To issue receipts/statements of the accounts to the sponsors and donors.
8. To reconcile daily the Cash & Bank accounts.
9. To follow-up on the collections of pledges and sponsors payments.
10. To liaise closely with the Jamaats’ administrative & welfare officers in respect of the applications processes.
11. To attend the MAMAS Executive Committee meetings as and when required.
12. To maintain close working relationship with the ZCSS office administrator in Stanmore, London.
13. To maintain confidentiality of the applicants and other office matters of the Organization.
14. To ensure prompt banking of the cash and cheques received for the Scheme.
15. To ensure the good maintenance, cleanliness, safety and security of the office and assets of the organization.
16. To carry out any other duties assigned by the Hon. Secretary or the Hon. Treasurer of MAMAS – Tanzania.

The post holder immediate supervisor will be the Hon. Secretary of MAMAS. 

Office and Address:

MAMAS – Tanzania has yet to find a suitable office accommodation. Those who wish to correspond or seek more information about MAMAS and application procedures are requested to contact the following:

The Hon. Secretary (For male members of the community only)

Br. Nazir Haji
P. O. Box: 5510
Dar Es Salaam.
Tel: 2111868/Mobile: 0744 000 643
Email: haji@raha.com

The Asst. Secretary (For female members of the community only) 

Si. Khudaija Fazal
P. O. Box. 20774
Dar Es Salaam.
Tel: 2114106/0741 603 786
Email: kfazal@hotmail.com

We shall soon be inviting our members to visit our website which we hope to host very shortly. In future, application forms will be available electronically for those who have access to the internet. They will be able to down load and fill in the application.  

Any suggestions for MAMAS, may be communicated to our webmaster, Br. Aqil Hirji by emailing him on:  akil@emsllies.co.tz and aliya@raha.com

Organigram of the MAMAS: