Cii News | 10 October 2012

The Bariqal Amal organisation has designed a recipe book that will be sold with the funds generated from it being used for the establishment of a container library at a rural school just outside Polokwane in the Limpopo Province.

In Pietermaritzburg, Sister Farzana Essa, has volunteered to assist by making her home a drop off point for books and has also started a number of fund raising programmes. Delicious portions of biryani and sojee will be on sale on Friday prepared by Gora Manjra.

The initiatives form part of Cii’s Educating the Future project that aims to see two such containers developed at schools desperately in need of support and infrastructure.

Research conducted by NGO Equal Education has shown that only 7.7% of the country’s schools have functional libraries, while 3600 schools do not have electricity supply, 22000 schools lack sufficient computer facilities and 23552 schools are in need of science laboratories. There are also almost 400 schools in the Eastern Cape that are made out of mud.

The Educating the Future aims to assist in alleviating this crisis in South Africa.

Rabia Ismail, a spokesperson for Bariqal Amal, on Wednesday morning told Cii that they will be launching the recipe book on the 3 November 2012.

“This is a collective effort from the community of Polokwane who have opened up their hearts and have given their old family recipes which we have compiled. We hope to sell a thousand copies and all proceeds will go to the library,” she said.

They have already had requests for the book coming in from Botswana and other neighbouring countries and have called on other South African communities interested in selling the book in aid of the project to contact them.

The book includes recipes for mass cooking at weddings or other functions that were used by some of the leading cooks of yesteryear.

“For us in Polokwane it’s very exciting. It’s a very personal recipe book filled with lots of messages. The book will be sold at R120,” Ismail added.

Cii senior presenter, Ebrahim Gangat, praised the Bariqal Amal group for latching on to the campaign and showing such enthusiasm towards it. “I want to place my order for five books and I challenge Cii staff to better that number,” he declared during the Sabahul Khair programme.

They have also launched a fundraising Readathon campaign at the Northern Muslim School with the preschool class alone managing to raise R10 000!

Anyone interested in selling the recipe books and assisting in the Educating the Future campaign should call Bariqal Amal on 0726087866.

If you are living in and around Pietermaritzburg, you could be treated to a tantalizing dish even if you don’t have the recipe book. A personally prepared dheg of biryani and soji by Gora Manjra will be sold. Contact Farzana Essa on 083 394 2495, 033 3871694.