Sat, 13th Aug 2011  9am- On our way to Griftu Hospital, Wajir West- I am getting use to travelling now on these sandy road tracks, a lot bumpy but what is scary and equally surprising for me is the great speed at which my driver Edin is shifting this 4 x 4. The whole route once again is very dusty and extremely hot. There is very little shelter from the sun. All the tree leaves have dried up hence no tree shadows. It won’t take much time for my body to dehydrate out there.

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Today my plan is to visit one of Islamic Relief’s water programme site here in the Northern Kenya. After early morning briefings at our regional office in Wajir I am setting off on our land rover 4 x 4 with a translator and driver towards Hadado, a severely drought-hit area approximately 90km west of Wajir. On the outskirts of Wajir Abdul, my translator points out the location of ‘Wajir Animal livestock market’ located in Barwako in the actual Wajir town and with sadness he e

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Thursday 5am- It is an early morning start, heading to Wilson airport, Nairobi flying to Wajir on ECHO flight. I am the first passenger to arrive in the car park of the airport. Apart from the security people no one else is here. Even the single check-in office is locked. Zabloon, Jessay and Elvis, our staff from Wajir office are also travelling with me on this 40 seater plane. The landscape looks beautiful, green fields, forest, can see movement of vehicles on the dusty roads. 10am-

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Well I was hoping to hear some good news this morning about my departure to Wajir, North Kenya but no luck. I am told due to heavy air passenger load I am added on a waiting list. The frustrating thing is that there is only one flight to wajir per day and a long waiting list. I needed a local mobile sim so heading out to safaricom office, the main mobile network provider. Orange is also here. Back in my office, time to edit and upload a video blog I made of Islamic Relief's CEO Saleh Saeed

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Once again Africa has called me. This time it is East Africa which is suffering droughts, famine and hunger. I have been monitoring the media reports and was expecting a call from my Islamic Relief UK office requesting me to head out to Kenya and Somalia, witness the painful and grave situation, speak to refugees in the north Kenya and internally displaced people in Mogadishu, Somalia. It is said to be worst droughts since 1950. The UN estimates that some 12 million people are already faced wi

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Our Scotland branch of Islamic Relief will be marking the anniversary of the devastating Pakistan floods with an event in the Glasgow city council on July 25, where I will be thanking the Scottish public for their generous response to the devastating floods disaster. I have just returned from Pakistan where I saw amazing examples of how the Scottish public’s support has been used. A young girl named Khatija who was born into the horror of homelessness in the middle of the floods now has a

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Our Scottish Government is funding Islamic Relief’s microfinance programme in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. I am personally monitoring the programme and have met a number of programme beneficiaries during my past few visits to Rawalpindi.  I am very pleased to see that Islamic Relief has introduced a new technological mechanism to take pictures and make photocopies for borrowers applying for microfinance services. For this purpose, webcams are being used to take pictures of MF borrowers

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There is no doubt that the youth have been at the centre of the political change taking place in the Arab world. The youth are serving as the catalyst for the eruption in the streets and squares. What has been called a generation empowered by new technology used Internet, Facebook, Twitter to create awareness, bridge the communication gap, mobilise the masses and deliver a unified message to the rulers that enough is enough; It’s time for change, a democratic era where voices are heard, hu

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With the Scottish elections now over, I would like to take this opportunity to warm heartedly congratulate Humza Yousaf (SNP) and Hanzala Malik (Labour) the 2 new members of the Scottish Parliament. I have known both since 2003 and recognise their own personal achievements and contributions in overseas relief and development work for those in most need of it around the world. Using their skills, knowledge and experience both have offered a great deal of generosity and support and put into a

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Having spent 2 weeks in Pakistan I am on the PIA flight PK 785 today heading back to UK. I had 2 main reasons to visit Pakistan this time; to show BBC (look East) Islamic Relief’s floods related rehabilitation and reconstruction work funded by Luton community in Khyber Pakhtoonkhawa and secondly to participate in Islamic Relief Pakistan’s next 5 years strategy workshops. I can happily confirm that BBC team along with 2 other prominanent Luton community members were much pleased t

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Last friday just before I left Glasgow for Pakistan, I collected the keys for two fire brigade engines which were kindly donated to Islamic Relief from the Strathclyde Fire and Rescue services. The two engines will be given to Rescue 1122 in Lahore and will be vital in preventing fires but most of all saving valuable lives in Lahore and the surrounding rural areas, which is a top priority for Islamic Relief. I must mention that one of the engines is going to be very effective to help reach t

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Our Prime Minister David Cameron is on a ‘mission’. His mission is to make the Big Society idea succeed. Charities and voluntary organisations are invited to become part of the Big Society. He would like to see charities and voluntary groups and their volunteers come forward and take more responsibilities and solve society’s problems. Mr Cameron would like the local bodies to transfer some of the statutory provided services to charities and voluntary community organisations.

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I was in Pakistan about 2 weeks ago. This was my 4th visit to the Pakistan flood zone since the devastating floods hit 1/5 of Pakistani land and affected incredibly 21 million people. One of my reasons to visit the flood affected areas and people was to witness the reconstruction work carried out by my Islamic Relief team. Islamic Relief was one of the first organisations to immediately respond and establish a relief and development operation in the flood zones. I was present on the ground in

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I was sleeping in my hotel room in Islamabad when a major earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 struck various parts of Pakistan this morning. The epicentre of the quake was 150 kilometres northwest of Kharan and 300 kilometres from Quetta. This earthquake took nearly everyone by surprise. It was around 1.20am when I first felt the earthquake; it felt in the dark as if I was on a boat, sailing in rough. My room shook easily; the shaking was like nothing I have ever experienced before. I thou

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I am a proud Scot and love taking my Saltire with me whenever I travel abroad. Today I am travelling to Pakistan and have also packed my “Heritage of Scotland” kilt and Prince Charlie Jacket. This is going to be my fourth visit to the country of my childhood within 6 months and also my fourth visit to Pakistan flood areas. This is not unusual. What began as, I suppose, a nine-to-five job has become a way of life – to the point of taking precedence over my leisure time: I was

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