Dr Osama Al-Farra, the Mayor of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip, Palestine recently expressed his gratitude for Islamic Relief’s work in the locality.
The Mayor attended the official opening of two recently completed local projects - the extension of Al-Azhar Educational Institute, and the upgrade of the Aya Water Well and Khan Younis water system.
Adel Kadoum, IR’s Palestine Country Director, and Dawud Price, Middle East Programme Officer were joined by the director of Al-Azhar Educational Institute at the opening ceremony for the new extension. The extra floor provides three new classrooms and facilities to accommodate students affected by travel restrictions.
The Mayor and IR staff then visited the Aya water well, where close co-operation with the Khan-Younis Municipality helped to ensure that the water system upgrade went according to plan. The project benefits over 100,000 people, and involved extending the existing water system and installing a larger motorised pump to address water shortages.
The director of Al-Azhar Educational Institute, Sheikh El Da'sowgy with Dawud Price, Middle East Programme Officer, at the opening ceremony
During the tour, the Mayor presented IR staff with a letter of appreciation on behalf of the citizens of Khan Younis. In the letter Dr Al-Farra spoke of the positive benefits that had been achieved.
“The Municipality of Khan Younis would like to extend its thanks, appreciation and gratitude for the tremendous cooperation of Islamic Relief and its staff in developing constructive and beneficial projects,” he stated.
Dr Al-Farra went on to say he looked forward to further cooperation with IR to improve services available to local people.
Other IR projects that have helped the Khan-Younis population include orphan sponsorship programmes, school-bags for pupils, and food distributions.