Founded in 1734 in the West of the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, the Khojali Khalwa/Mosque is home now to over 300 students.The majority of the students come from low-income families from the Western part of Sudan, particularly from the Darfur area. They come at 6 years of age to learn Arabic, Tafsir, Shari'ah, Hadith, Mantiq, and history, and eventually to become Hafiz. At Khojali Khalwa, they also learn vocational skills as carpenters, electricians, and technicians. More recently, the Khojali Khalwa opened a computer lab composed of 6 computers connected to the internet.
"The only way out of the misery is education, and education helps you to believe in God, and eventually helps you believe in people and their abilities to improve themselves", Al-Khalifa Moustafa Ahmad, the Khalwa supervisor and descendant of the founder, commented while welcoming us to his humble office at the Khalwa.
"We don't have income, but we survive on occasional assistance and in-kind support from fellow citizens as well as from organizations such as yours", Al-Khalifa Moustafa added while he toured us around the Khalwa, showed us the newly opened mosque and the expanded health center associated with the Khalwa.
My colleagues and I visited the crowded dormitories and met and chatted with the students, which many of them were busy washing their clothes and their new uniforms provided by HCI.
Earlier this summer, with a generous donation from a long-term donor, HCI provided the Khalwa and the students with one-year supply of dates, "Durra Dabar" food, washing soap, bath soap, and uniforms for all the students. Monthly prizes for one year for becoming a Hafiz were also provided by HCI.
We concluded our visit to the Khalwa by passing by the untenable kitchen which lack basic amenities where the slaughtered sheep was prepared for the dinner. HCI has provided the Khalwa with sheep, averaging two sheep per month for one year.
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