I work in the sixth most dangerous country in the world, and even though I face danger every single day, I’m very passionate about my job because it allows me to help my community, save lives and preserve dignity.
I often go to the displacement camps that Human Appeal works in. I’m here to help people to tell their stories and raise awareness about the struggles they’re experiencing. But it’s also work that makes a concrete difference in their lives. With the help of these stories, we’ve managed to help over 200,000 people, through sponsorship, improved sanitation facilities, healthcare, and food security.
In the last two years, I’ve helped to register 1,250 orphaned children across Mogadishu. It was challenging as we had to go to every home and assess their individual situation in a short space of time. However, it was worth it when I saw one orphan after another getting sponsored and seeing their lives change for the better. I’m glad I was able to help make this happen.
It’s also my job to train and support colleagues and volunteers, ensuring efficient and transparent communication, while protecting the dignity, privacy and safety of those we help.
A lot of my work involves field visits. But working in Mogadishu, my job can be very risky, and I never know when I might face danger. Often people working to deliver aid to vulnerable people are targeted, so I’m very afraid and wary of the kidnapping threat. Somalia is also very exposed to bombings and attacks, so, while I love my job, I do feel that I risk my life to tell these stories.
Our admin fee is not about taking part of your donation for ourselves; it’s about ensuring that expert hands safely deliver your donation to where you intended.
It keeps us accountable, safe, and ethical, and it allows us to find the most vulnerable people in an emergency, delivering life-saving aid to them quickly and efficiently, without cutting corners.
In Somalia, our admin fee helps us to provide dedicated security plans, training, and, when necessary, security staff and emergency evacuation protocols so that we can protect Fatima when she’s working in the most dangerous situations.
Without our admin fee, we’d be unable to hire Fatima to report how your donations have changed lives, to keep an accountable, rigorous record of how many people we’ve supported, or to help keep Fatima safe while she visits the most dangerous areas.
When you donate £1, only 11p goes into keeping Human Appeal running. Another 11p goes back into raising funds – that allows us to be ready to raise awareness at a moment’s notice when tragedy strikes.
Finally, and most importantly, 78p out of every £1 you donate, goes straight to helping the vulnerable people who need it most.
Sadaqah Jariyah – or ongoing charity – is a voluntary donation that benefits the community for years to come. Our admin fee qualifies as Sadaqah Jariyah because it helps to sustain our charitable work, guaranteeing that we can continue to help vulnerable people in the future.
“An admin fee that is a proven necessity for processing charity is included under the general proceed of Sadaqah Jariyah, because without it the charity wouldn’t be a sustainable model.
Allah clearly says that Sadaqah is for people who are poor, in need, and those working to distribute it.”
These figures are taken from Human Appeal’s Financial Statements for the year ending 31 December 2019, which have yet to be audited.
Admin costs shown reflect net expenditure after taking Gift Aid into account.
