Global development challenges, ranging from hunger and poverty to climate crisis and education, cannot be addressed in isolation. Collective and collaborative efforts are required to ensure improved socio-economic conditions for children and families the world over.
About Project Rise
Project Rise is a Dawoodi Bohra initiative dedicated to uplifting the lives of individuals and communities around the world. Its vision is to help create a resilient, sustainable, and prospering global society, where no one is neglected or marginalised.
Inspired by the teachings of Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin, the Dawoodi Bohras launched Project Rise in 2018 with the aim of alleviating hunger in some of the most poverty-stricken parts of India, with a particular focus on aiding children suffering from severe malnutrition.
Since then, Project Rise has expanded in scope and area, in accordance with Syedna’s guidance. Volunteers from Dawoodi Bohra communities across the globe are partnering with local governments, organisations, and activists to integrate their programs with local needs to support vulnerable communities and foster sustainability and development.
Today, Project Rise deals with a wide spectrum of initiatives across five major focus areas: food and nutrition, education, healthcare, water and sanitation, and environmental conservation, in solidarity with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. Project Rise volunteers are hopeful that, with the support of their collaborators and partners, their efforts stand as small yet meaningful steps on the road to addressing pressing global challenges and making the world a better place for all its inhabitants.
Our Philosophy
The inspiration for Project Rise is rooted in Islamic teachings. Islam enjoins love for all Creation, because true love for the Creator necessitates love for His Creation. The Prophet Mohammed has stated: ‘All of Creation is a family dependent upon Allah. Therefore the most beloved of Creation to Him is the one who benefits His family the most.’
Syedna Mufaddal Saifuddin teaches that benefiting others is at the heart of Islamic teachings and that it is the essence of knowledge and education. Helping others and spreading goodwill, Syedna states, fulfills the purpose of the creation of humankind.
Empowered by this philosophy, Dawoodi Bohras embrace the obligation to uplift their societies by helping those in need and preserving the natural environment. Under the banner of Project Rise, Bohra communities have established programmes to foster positive and sustained change wherever the community is present across the globe.
As a faith community, the Dawoodi Bohras have long recognised their role and responsibility in fulfilling their duty towards their human family and safeguarding the natural world. Today, especially, they stand in unity with communities around the world with a common commitment to address the global climate crisis and promote sustainable development.
‘Prefer for others what you prefer for yourself.’ – The Prophet Mohammed
Environment
A fundamental shift in humanity’s relationship with nature is essential, especially as the earth faces the triple-fold crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss. Crucial goals for Project Rise include environmental conservation, combating pollution and mitigating climate change and its effects, and especially their impact on vulnerable communities. The Dawoodi Bohras have long been an advocate for environmental responsibility and conservation; the community’s environmental awareness arm, Burhani Foundation, has worked towards a greener, cleaner world since its inception in 1992.
From planting thousands of trees, cleaning up water bodies, conserving wildlife and supporting climate activists, Project Rise volunteers are making an effort to help save our earth. Through sustained programmes and partnerships, such as Turning the Tide Against Plastic Pollution and Happy Nests, community members are working to reduce waste, eliminate single-use plastics and educate communities on the importance of sustainability.
Food and Nutrition
Food is one of the most basic human necessities. A core priority for Project Rise is working to eliminate hunger and tackle malnutrition, especially in children and mothers. Along with conducting regular food drives and sustained programmes across the globe with the aim of zero hunger, the community also endeavours to eliminate food wastage. Project Rise volunteers also provide food to victims of natural calamities as part of disaster relief efforts worldwide.
Project Rise has partnered with government organisations and charities in India to provide nutritional supplements to malnourished children and pregnant and lactating mothers in impoverished areas. Supported by the groundbreaking FMB community kitchen initiative, which aims to deliver one freshly prepared, wholesome meal to every Bohra household each day, food drives for vulnerable sections of the broader society are regularly conducted around the world.
Healthcare
The Dawoodi Bohra community is a firm advocate of healthcare for all, as reflected in the numerous community-run hospitals that provide high-quality, affordable health facilities, such as Saifee Hospital in Mumbai.
To further address inequalities in healthcare and provide access to basic medical facilities in underdeveloped areas, Project Rise volunteers have mobilised to organise health camps in both rural and urban areas, providing free medication and healthcare services and promoting awareness and action against disease. Specialist doctors and medical professionals from the community volunteer their time and services to the cause, travelling to remote destinations so that more people can receive proper diagnosis and treatment.
In the aftermath of natural calamities, such as the devastating floods in Pakistan 2022, doctors and volunteers mobilised to provide medical assistance to victims in disaster-affected areas. Project Rise efforts also include donating state-of-the-art medical equipment and infrastructure to hospitals and healthcare facilities around the world.
Water & Sanitation
Ensuring clean water for all is a major aim of Project Rise. Community members and volunteers are committed to conserving water while exploring innovative avenues of utilising Earth’s water supply.
Project Rise undertakes various projects to bring fresh water to rural areas in India such as installing hand pumps, practising rainwater harvesting and water reclamation practices. Volunteers have worked to build sanitation facilities as well as raise awareness of water conservation and sanitation practices in rural villages.
The Project Rise Water Security and Farmer Upliftment programme strives to tackle climate-related effects such as monsoon failure, aggressive evaporation due to high temperatures and depleting rainfall levels in rural India, which have greatly impacted agriculture. The project has introduced watershed management and water storage measures such as farm ponds and check dams to maximise existing water sources and provide water security to farmers.
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