ZCSS Chairman talks to the Samachar Editor

During his visit to Dar es Salaam from 4^th July to 6^th July, 2003 for the launch of MAMAS in Dar es Salaam, the Chairman of the Zainabia Child Sponsorship Scheme (ZCSS), Mohamedbhai Visram talked to the Federation Samachar Editor, Munir Daya outlining the activities of the scheme which today sponsors more than 11,700 students around the world.

 The interview follows:

 Q1- Please give a brief background of the ZCSS.

 A1- In 1981 Mullah Asgar Saheb together with other members of the Executive Council of the World Federation visited Gujarat in India, and whilst they were there they witnessed members of our community sleeping in open graves due to poverty. This they found very disturbing and on meeting with them and talking to them, there were two basic things that these people asked for: a shelter for their families and education for their children.  

On returning to London, Mullah Saheb established this scheme and made Br Muhsin Dharamsi the chairman of Zainabia Scheme. The name ‘Zainabia’ was inspired by the original children of Zainabia, who Bibi Zainab looked after on the journey from Kerbala to Kufa and then from Kufa to Sham. The way the scheme works is by way of sponsorships. As the message of Zainabia spread over a period of time, the scheme started to grow and spread. Now there are 11,700 children being sponsored at any one time, and so far roughly 50,000 thousand children have passed through the scheme. To-date ZCSS has constructed six schools and many Zainabia institutes, that are a refuge for students wanting study and receive the best possible education that is available in their locality. 

Q2- Does the scheme cover only secular education or does it also cover religious education including madressas? 

A2- In ZCSS we believe that a child's character is incomplete as long as that child does not receive both secular as well as religious education. We insist that the child attends madressa as well as Quran classes. If the child’s school report shows that the child is not performing well at religious education although he is doing well at school, then we actually warn the child that if the situation does not alter in the next academic year, then we would consider stopping the sponsorship. In our own schools, religious education forms a very important part of the syllabus and we actually promote an Islamic environment in our schools. In those areas where there is not an established madressa, Zainabia provides religious education in tuition classes.  

Q3- I am given to understand that the scheme essentially operates in India, which has over 10,000 of the 11,700 children now being sponsored under the scheme. Why is the scheme so lopsided to India? 

A3- It is true that the majority of the students that are being sponsored are in India, but this is as a response to need, rather than by design. Zainabia answers the call of any Shia population that needs help with the funds for educating children. It has so happened that the need in India has been greater than anywhere else. India, by its shear size and history, has one of the highest populations of Shia Muslims and because of its history especially pertaining to Shia Muslims, the majority of the Shia population is extremely poor. Whereas places like Pakistan have organised themselves better and are able to largely look after their own poor members, in India such organisation is very local and therefore the distribution of funds from the well off to the very poor is haphazard. Having said that, ZCSS responds to calls for help from every quarter of the Shia world. In recent years, a lot of work has been done in places like Iran, Northern Pakistan, Bosnia, Kenya and now in Tanzania. Alhumdullilah!

Q4- Many of our children cannot afford basic education in Tanzania and Kenya, and the Mullah Asgar Memorial Academic scheme (MAMAS) was launched to address this plight. Could not the function of MAMAS be included in the operations of the ZCSS, or is MAMAS an affiliated organisation of the ZCSS? 

A4- MAMAS is a sister organisation of the ZCSS. Due to confidentiality that is required, when working amongst our own people, and to encourage the parents who need help with educating their children by maintaining their dignity, a different format had to be worked out for MAMAS. In ZCSS we try and tailor make the scheme to the population that we are working with. In East Africa, the formation of MAMAS was the best solution. We understand in ZCSS that an organisation in Africa would have to have a degree of independence, and also would have to come within the folds of the Africa Federation and World Federation working protocols.

We feel that MAMAS encompasses all this. We are extremely lucky to have the team that is working with compassion and devotion to MAMAS, and the success of the launch in itself is a testimony that the equation that was worked out during the formation of MAMAS was right. Lastly, we are extremely satisfied with the fact that; by calling it MULLA ASGAR MEMORIAL ACADEMIC SCHEME, the name of Mull Saheb will remain alive for many decades to come, inshallah. That is the least we could do to pay homage to the contribution that Marhum has made for our Khoja Shia Ithna-ashery community. 

Q5- Prior to the launching of MAMAS, you operated in Tanzania through your coordinator, Bashirbhai Tejani. What was his role and will MAMAS now assume the responsibilities that were handled by him? 

A5- No, MAMAS will not now assume the responsibilities that were handled by Br. Bashir Tejani. Bashirbhai is an agent for the ZCSS and he remains so. Besides MAMAS, ZCSS is still active in Tanzania. There are many sponsor parents currently in Dar es Salaam who sponsor children in other parts of the world and all of these sponsor parents will be given a choice to move to MAMAS if they so wish. However there will be some who will want to carry on sponsoring children that they have been doing for many years. We will respect the wishes of the sponsor parents in every case. In addition to MAMAS, ZCSS has also agreed to sponsor children in the Bilal Mission Tanzania, and these children will fall under the ZCSS and not MAMAS, and therefore Bashirbhai will also be directly responsible for looking after these children’s educational needs. At this juncture, I feel I ought to thank Bashirbhai and his family members, who have been ardent supporters of ZCSS for many years. In fact his son Sajjad Tejani is the assistant chairman of ZCSS, and has travelled to Tanzania with me, for the launch of MAMAS. I pray to ALLAH (SWT) to accept their efforts and reward them. 

Q6- Considering that the ZCSS network is spread far and wide, how is this scheme managed efficiently considering that the majority of the workers in the World Federation are voluntary workers? 

A6- The only answer I can give to your question is, that it is an unfolding miracle! We are blessed with two very dedicated full time workers: Zainabbai Kassam and Masoomabai Kasaam, who work beyond the call of their duties for ZCSS. On top of this we have 8 to 10 volunteers who put in over 300 man-hours a month to keep the scheme on course. These are just the staff in the WF head office. We have a network of 33 agents around the world who scout for sponsor parents and spread the word of ZCSS around the world. All these agents are volunteers. Bashirbhai Tejani is your volunteer agent in Dar. Without the help and support of dedicated members of our community around the world, the work of ZCSS would have been impossible. 

Q7- What is the cost of sponsoring a child today and do sponsors receive any reports on the academic progress of the children? 

A7- the cost of sponsoring a child is £10 per month for children going to primary and secondary level up to A levels. The cost of sponsoring a University graduate in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Bangkok is £500 per year. The cost of sponsoring a Yatim (orphaned) or children of Asir (Captives) is £14 per month.

We are very particular about school reports. We insist that the child sends us at least one school report per year. We manage to get about 80% of the reports, and these are all then processed at the ZCSS office and are then sent to the sponsor parents. As there are 11700 children at the moment, you can imagine the amount of work this entails!

 Q8- If one wants to sponsor a child, what is the easiest way of doing so? 

A8- The easiest way to sponsor a child is by filling in one of our application forms. These forms are available from our agents, from the WF office, and also on the web. We try and make ourselves as user friendly as possible and therefore if none of the above sources were available then a simple request by letter, fax, phone or e-mail would be adequate.

 Q9- Considering that the scheme involves support for one to five years, what happens to the student if this support is abruptly withdrawn by the sponsor? 

A9- If the sponsorship is withdrawn for whatever reason, we just place the child with a new sponsor parent. The child’s education is never interrupted. If there are no sponsor parents available at that time then the child is sponsored by the ZCSS until a sponsor parent can be found. One point I must clarify at this juncture is; that we never enquire to the sponsor parent as to why they wish to stop the sponsorship, nor do we ever put pressure on any parent to continue with the sponsorship. We are thankful to the sponsor parent for what ever they could do to help the cause of ZCSS, and we never make any judgements.  

Q10- Does the World Federation have any statistics showing the success rate of students under the ZCSS? If the student fails to perform well, is there any provision to allow academically poorer students to repeat or receive coaching classes? 

A10- No the World Federation does not keep any statistics with regard to the success of individual students. The aim of the ZCSS is to educate and make literate the whole community and therefore the number of pupils who are literate as opposed to the individuals measures the success of the scheme. What I can say with certainty is that; the communities in which ZCSS has been active for at least 5 years, the illiteracy has virtually disappeared.                

In those areas, where a student attends a government school, ZCSS has made provisions for good and well known teachers to come and teach in tuition classes that are run by the ZCSS in the evenings. Where the students attend the Zainabia schools, the teachers are encouraged to attend teachers training classes. This policy has worked well and in fact, the Zainabia school in Alipur had a 100% pass rate last year at the GCSE level, with 17 girls out of 30 scoring at an A grade standard. However, if students fail to perform at the level required, they are given an opportunity to receive extra tuition and if need be are allowed to repeat their exams until they achieve the desired grades. 

Q11- Does the ZCSS cover University education? 

A11- Those children who have gone through the Zainabia scheme are encouraged to further their education whether it is by attending a university, technical college, or undertaking a vocational training course. If a student manages to secure a placement in any of the above institutions, the Zainabia scheme will sponsor them to complete a degree or course in their desired field and thereafter will encourage them to undertake any further education if they wish to but will not sponsor education that exceeds one degree due to limited resources.  

Q12- Has there been in feasibility study undertaken by the ZCSS to find out how students practically benefit from the scheme and if students can be easily absorbed in the local work market? After spending millions by way of student support, is the ZCSS happy with the way students blend into the working environment after their studies? 

A12- Although the Zainabia scheme has not carried out a specific study to measure the benefit the students gain from the sponsorship of their education, the volunteers of the scheme have made several visits to the schools that are funded by the Zainabia scheme and have been able to witness the prosperity that has arisen from the education provided by the scheme. Additionally, illiteracy can be seen to have been replaced by intellectuality and this has been confirmed by the number of graduate pupils that have given their gratuitous feedback and have been enabled to secure a variety of reputable jobs including doctors, dentists, pharmacists, computer analysts and many more. Furthermore, these students have prospered in their fields in their own country as well as abroad.  

Q13-What plans does the ZCSS have for the immediate future? 

A13- Inshallah the ZCSS will be able to sponsor every child who applies and give every child the opportunity to gain knowledge and achieve the highest form of ibadaat as Imam Ali (a.s.) has said that the acquisition of knowledge is the highest form of ibadaat.   We can now say that the availability of education is adequate for the children of Zainabia, and we would therefore now like to concentrate on improving the quality of the education provided. 

Q14- Considering that so much money is spent towards assisting nursery children, would you consider it appropriate if the children are allowed to join school from primary level? 

A14- studies have shown that children’s learning abilities are at their highest prior to the age of 5, and therefore the Zainabia scheme feels that one should take advantage of these young minds and begin moulding their tender brains from a young age. Additionally, many of the Zainabia schools teach in the English language and therefore if the nursery education were abolished, one would have to spend time during the child’s primary years trying to teach them English. There is also a problem whereby children are scouted by traders to become victims of child labour and debt slavery and therefore we feel that by educating them from a young age one can not only prevent this evil scourge but additionally one can prepare the minds of these children and fuel their desire to learn from a young age.   

Q15- I have noted that the ZCSS operates in Kenya already. How does the scheme operate there? 

A15- The scheme in Kenya covers the Bilal children in Mombasa and Nakuru. The Zainabia has now started to sponsor the Bilal children in Dares Salaam as well. 

Q16- Does ZCSS have special provisions for education of orphans or are they included in the normal ZCSS scheme?

A16- The ZCSS covers all children including orphans in all of the countries where it operates with the exception of Iran and Iraq where a separate scheme was launched after the first Gulf War by the name of Zainabia Yatim and Asir sponsorship scheme (ZYASS). This exception was necessary due to the large influx of Iraqi orphans and children of captives in Iran. The ZCSS therefore felt that there was a need to create a separate scheme whereby money could specifically be collected and donated for this group of children. Additionally, by launching a separate scheme, sadqa money that the Zainabia does not usually receive was able to reach these children.  

Q17- Does ZCSS rely on the khums contributions?  

A17- The ZCSS operates independently and receives only funds specifically donated to the cause. However, the sadaat children that are educated under the scheme do receive funds from the sehme sadaat portion of the khums money as we have been guided to do so by our marjah. An individual can however request to the sahibe ijaza, that the portion of their sehme Imam be utilised by the ZCSS and this request can be granted by the sahibe ijaza at his discretion. 

Q18- Any observations on your visit to Dares salaam and did you get a chance to visit the schools in Dar es Salaam? 

A18- Unfortunately my visit to Dar es Salaam fell during a holiday time and therefore I was unable to visit the Al Muntazir School. I was fortunate to gain the opportunity to meet the Central Board of Education and also converse with a couple of teachers who informed me on both the format and success of the school. I have promised myself that I will inshallah visit Dar es Salaam again soon specifically to spend time in the school. My interest in the school has been further enhanced by the fact that the majority of the MAMAS children attend the Al Muntazir School. 

Q19- The book: ‘Light behind the Veil’, is a tribute to the principles upheld by Bibi Zainab A.S. What drew the ZCSS to pay this tribute by way of a book and who actually compiled the book?

 A19- For the past few years, the Zainabia scheme has published an average of six annual leaflets which are sent to prospective sponsors. Although these proved useful and effective, their shelf life was very short. With the influx of new and more youthful volunteers an idea was born that a book should be produced by the scheme which would not only promote the scheme but would also be a tabligh document having a much longer shelf life. As this was the first document of many inshallah to be published by the scheme, there was no question that the book should be based on the principles upheld by Bibi Zainab as it was these principles that inspired this scheme from the day it was established 22 years ago and given the appropriate name of “The Zainabia Child Sponsorship Scheme”. This remarkable personality has indeed been the light behind the veil. 

I would like to commend the two youths, Ali Bachoo and Nisar Visram who spent over a year working towards the compilation of this successful book and I pray to Allah (SWT) to reward them for their hard work in the name of such a personality and for such a worthy cause.  

Q20- Briefly, what is your message to the readers from ZCSS and how can the public at large get involved in helping the scheme and making it even more successful?

 A20- My message to the readers is: as long as you all continue to support us, we will endeavour to do our utmost to eradicate illiteracy amongst the Shia community. We need your prayers and support both in the form of voluntary work and finances. The paramount action that can be taken by the public is to spread the message of the ZCSS and MAMAS at large so as to encourage more people to donate their services in the way of Allah (S.W.T.), particularly towards deserving children who require to be desperately helped.