The resource persons for the seminars were Dr. AbdufattahAdeyemi of Baynakum Family Centre who counselled on marriages while Madam Ruth Haruna and Mrs Opeyemi Elijah of 4 Chidren counseled on parenting/child management. A total number of 277 benefited from the seminars within 3 months.

2. Life-skills Training for the Deaf Community

There were five (5) life-skills trainings for different Deaf groups.

1. The first training was organized on 5^th of August 2017 for both men and women deaf people while the second training was also held in Abuja on 22^nd August 2017 and it was mainly for deaf women. Both trainings were on the skills for surviving the challenges of life. The objective of the trainings was to provide skills about life that could make living a lot easier for people by especially working on mindset. At both training events, there were video clips on causes of deafness, its symptoms, deafness management and deaf daily activities. There were also power-point presentations on sex education, marriage counseling and parenting in deaf families. A total number of 192 deaf attended the trainings.
2. MESH held a 2-day training for the Muslim Deaf in Ilorin on 4^th and 5^th of October 2017. A total of ninety (90) participants attended the training. The objective of the training was to teach the deaf about survival strategy and coping with life challenges.

• On the 6^th and 7^th of December, 2017 MESH organized a similar training at the ETF Education Resource Centre, Station Dukku in Gombe. There were 130 participants some dignitaries such as the National President for the deaf in Nigeria, MallamIshiakuAdamu and the Gombe State chapter of Joint Association of Person Living with Disability (JONAPWD) that was represented by Hon Aligoro.

The last training was held in Lafia on 1^st and 2^nd February 2018. It was also for the deaf community in Nasarawa State. There were 60 students mobilized from the Secondary School for Special Needs Education and 46 non-students in the training. The Special Adviser to the Governor on Gender and Disability Matters, Dr. (Hon) HajaratDanyaro Ibrahim, gave a goodwill message and formally opened the training. Soon after the training, a proposal was prepared on behalf of the Nasarawa State Deaf Association and submitted to the Nasarawa Government with the hope of getting funds to organize more training in the State, offer vocational training and increase access to healthcare information by engaging sign interpreters at the government health facilities.

3. Provision of School Uniforms to IDP Primary Schools

The Internal Displaced Persons (IDPs) are part of the target group of MESH, because they constitute part of the less privileged in the society.

In November 2017, MESH designed and donated school uniforms for all the pupils of IDP Primary School, Durumi, Abuja. The objective of the project was to increase the enrolment and retention of the IDP school pupils. A total of 213 uniforms were donated to the school pupils (boys and girls) of the IDP camp. MESH also provided uniform ‘hijabs’ to the girls.

4. Provision of Assistance to Two Nomadic Schools

In March 2018, MESH assisted an L.E.A. Nomadic School in Apo Dutse by renovating a one-classroom building for the pre-nursery pupils. Similarly, a 3-classroom school building was constructed for a Nomadic community school in Anguwar Fulani, Lugbe, FCT.

5. Equipping Nomadic School with Desks and Chairs

One of the projects implemented by MESH was the construction of a 3-classroom building for the Nomadic school in Angwan Fulani community in Lugbe, Abuja. The project was initiated by IbnRaji Educational Foundation who sought the assistance of MESH.

After Donation of three classrooms for Nomadic Community

Having conducted the ‘needs assessment’ of the school, a 3-classroom building was constructed for the school in March 2018. In addition to the support for building construction, MESH supplied 50 wooden desks and 50 benches to the school in April 2018 and labelled them as being donations from Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA).The handing-over ceremony was held on 22^ndJune 2018. This was to commission the building and officially hand over the school to IbnRaji Educational Foundation who in turn hands over to the Nomadic community. The commissioning was done by HajiaHalimahJubril, the National Amirah of FOMWAN. She represented the NSCIA. The program was attended by the Chairman and officials of IbnRaji Educational Foundation, MESH officials, the community and the pupils

6. Sensitization of Commercial Drivers on Drug Abuse in 6 motor parksin FCT, Abuja

As part of its social program, MESH organized a drug abuse sensitization to commercial motor drivers in 6 motor parks in Abuja namely Jabi, Karu, Nyanya, Maraba 1 &2, and New Nyanya from May 2018 through July 2018. The sensitization is to create awareness about drug abuse and its effects on the users and other members of the society. It is also to change the mindset of the drivers about drugs and to live positive lives. Stickers were prepared by MESH and professionally printed as IEC materials on drug abuse.

7. Marriage Education Project in Adamawa, Kano, Niger, Sokoto and Osun States

The Project “Mitigating the Problems of Marriage Instability and Divorce in Nigeria” is   collaboration between Future Assured Initiative and Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). The project kicks start on the 10^th of September 2018. MESH as an implementing entity of NSCIA has implemented the project through Marriage Education seminars in Adamawa, Kano, Niger, Sokoto and Osun States. The project is aimed at bringing Marriage Education information to the community to improve and strengthen our marriages and reduce the increasing social menace of divorce in the society.

8. Marriage Counseling Project Flag Off

Following the successful implementation of the marriage education project in 5 states in Nigeria, Future Assured Initiative, the NGO of the First Lady of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Hajia Aisha Muhammadu Buhari and the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) through its NGO Mission for Education, Social and Health (MESH) conceived the idea to bring all concerned stakeholders together to discuss the way forward towards repositioning and reducing the increased divorce within the Muslim family.

Thus, a National Conference on Marriage and Alamajiri Scourge was organised on the theme ‘Repositioning the Muslim Family towards National Development’. The National Conference was used as an avenue to bring all stakeholders together to discuss the high rate of Divorce in the country and Almaijiri especially in Northern Nigeria.

The conference was attended by dignitaries such as President Federal Republic of Nigeria his Excellency General Muhammadu Buhari, her Excellency wife of the president Hajia Aisha Muhammadu Buhari and traditional and religious leaders led by the President General of NSCIA and Sultan of SokotoAlh Sa’ad Abubakar. Other dignitaries at the conference include senate president, senators, honourable members, ministers, governors, wives of governors, diplomatic corps, ministries and departments and Islamic organizations.

9. Renovation of Almajiri School in Mararaba, Nasarawa State

In July 2019, the fundraiser Consultant, Amrah Integrated Services Limited delivered 375,000 Naira to MESH as the fund raised within the one-year contractual year, after deducting its 25% commission. MESH expended the money for Almajiri School building where at least 65 young boys-‘almajiris sleep. The school is in Unguwan Katsinawa, Mararaba, Nasarawa State. The total money was spent for replacement of their leaking roof, reconstruction of a small room containing 30 ‘almajiris’ and amending the cement floor of one small room. The renovation exercise started from 7^th August to 4^th of September 2019 after needs assessment visit of 1^st August 2019.

10. Donation of Food Items

During the Ramadan of 2019, in the month of May 2019, there was a food donation from Ramatu Ibironke Babalakin Foundation to Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA). As part of its social program, MESH donated 20 buckets of the food items (rice, beans, gari, sugar, milk and vegetable oil) to Halal Children Ophanage Home in Lugbe and Al-Ansaar Homes Ophanage Kuje in Federal Capital City.

12. Welfare Palliative by NSCIA

During the Covid-19 lockdown in the country, the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) mobilized fund to provide food palliative for about 100 less privilege families within the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). The food palliative package consisted 10kg of rice, 5k of beans, 5kg of garri, 5kg of semo, salt, sugar, groundnut oil and soap. MESH in collaboration with NSCIA distributed the palliative in Mpape area of FCT. The food was distributed to disabled family, widow and other less privilege families.

13. Ramadan Palliative

Ramadan fasting started in April 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. The effect was devastating on the fasting Muslims in the country. Based on this, the NSCIA released fund for Ramadan Food Palliative consisting of cooked for ‘iftar’ and raw food. The palliative was distributed among some Muslims in the FCT.More than 5,000 persons were fed with cooked food for ‘Iftar’ and 350 families were given raw food which consisted 10kg of rice, 5k of beans, 5kg of semo and 5kg of garri. NSCIA and MESH distributed the food in 5 communities in FCT, which wereCentral Area, Dei-Dei, Kubwa, Lugbe, and Nyanya. It was distributed among Muslims through religious leaders and Islamic Organizations.

14. Medical Outreach in Shetuko Community of FCT.

MESH implemented its first health program tagged Shetuko Medical Outreach. The Medical Outreach was organized in collaboration with Islamic Medical Association of Nigeria (IMAN) to provide and contribute to the improved healthcare of people in Shetuko Community of Kuje Area Council in FCT. IMAN is the medical organization under the NSCIA which is founded to render and enhance health care service delivery by organizing outreach medical services in communities. IMAN acquired a building with about 6 rooms in Shetuko community, an old rural settlement in Kuje area council, where there is no clinic or dispensary to serve the community on medical issues.

The Organisation intends to use the building as health care facility to provide health care services to the residents. It therefore submitted a Medical Outreach request for funding to MESH. After critical analysis of the request and needs assessment to the community, MESH approved the proposal and wrote for the release of the fund to implement the project in March 2020. The program was postponed due to COVID-19 lockdown in the country.

The project provided fund for medical fixed assets in the building such as Glucometre, Adult weighing scale, Sphygomomanometer, Infrared thermometer, Examination couch, plastic chairs and tables, drugs and consumables, designed medical stationery and allowances to medical volunteers. The first outreach was held on the 28^thSeptember, 2020. More than 700 beneficiaries including children and aging people have benefitted from the outreach. Medical personnel such as doctors, nurses, pharmacies and lab scientist provided services to the people while MESH staff provided financial and logistics support.

15. Women Empowerment Initiative (WEI)

Base on partly the lessons learnt on marriage education project implemented by MESH in FCT and 6 States, and partly of its efforts to elevate the status of Muslim women and reducing their rate of dependency on their husbands,MESH initiated a project called 16. 16. Women Empowerment Initiative in AMAC, FCT. The project was aimed at empowering the Muslim women economically by providing revolving loan as start-up capital for small scale businesses in their community. The criteria for selecting the beneficiaries are jobless, single mothers, widows and physically challenged. The target for the project was 100 women, that is, 20 selected from each of the five (5) communities (Azhata, Akanpe, Iddo, Kabusa and Garki Dutse in Abuja Municipal Area Council) of FCT.

17. Mapping of Muslim Health Facilities

In September 2020, MESH started the mapping of all Muslim health facilities across the country. The purpose of the mapping was to have a comprehensive database of Muslim health facilities in Nigeria. The data generated will be used to coordinate the responsesto reduce the scourge of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious disease in Nigeria. From the responses, a total of 15 Muslim health facilities are in existence and are put in the database. There are 8 facilities in FCT. In addition, Adamawa, Kaduna, Oyo, Sokoto and Kwara States have 1 facility each and 2 in Taraba State.

18. Medical Outtreach in Abuja National Mosque

15 The World AIDS Day              

MESH joined other NGOs around the globe to mark the 2021 World AIDS Day on Friday, 26^th of November 2021. The Muslim Faith-Based Organization under the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) commemorated the 2021 World AIDS Day with the theme “End Inequalities, End AIDS.” Ten mosques were scheduled for HIV/AIDS testing services and five mosques were used due to logistics challenges. The testing in FOMWAN and Nyanyan Mosques was carried out on the 3^rd of December, 2021. NACA and Health and Human Services Secretariat department of FCT provided HIV test kits, consumables and counselors. The total number of three hundred and thirty five (335) persons were tested and all are HIV negative. The report is the Muslim block activities were added to the national HIV testing in the country as the contribution of the Muslim FBOs in the country. The following activities were carried out to mark the day:

• Special Jumah Services and prayers at five different Mosques which are; Abuja National Mosque, MSSN Abdulateef Adegbite Jumah Mosque Gwarimpa, FOMWAN National Mosque Utako, Ansarudeen Mosque Maitama and Nyanya Central Mosque.
• Sensitization talk to create awareness about HIV and other health related diseases.

Testing and Cancelling of Interested Muslims on HIV/AIDS

MESH PARTNERS

1. Baynakum Family Counseling Centre, Abuja
2. 4Children Nigeria (NGO)
3. Fathiu-L-Arifina Islamic Organization (FAISMAT)
4. IbnRaji Educational Foundation
5. FOMWAN in Adamawa, Niger States, Sokoto and Osun States
6. A1 Family Counseling Centre, Kano
7. Future Assured Initiative, Abuja
8. CCM Nigeria
9. National Action for the Control Aids (NACA)
10. Islamic Medical Association of Nigeria (IMAN)