Why?
A Few Words About the History of the children's Programs
The Children's Lecture Series is a program dedicated to the children at the Harlem Islamic Cultural Center in New York. It is located at 108 East 128th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, in the heart of Harlem, in New York City.
My motivation to create this program came from a recommendation to us, the Dahira Tidiane of New York, by one of our spiritual leaders Mouhamadou Mansour Sy Ibn El Hadji Abdoul Aziz Sy, rta. Last year, in November 2010, he came to the mosque and noticed that the mosque was full of people but there were no children among them. He told us his disappointment to that respect, telling us that the Zawiyya should be a place for children to come to and to spend time in order get used to, as Muslim children, to be in a mosque because later when they grow up they will be the one to lead and take care of the mosque. But if they are not used to be in a mosque at an early age, they won't be able to do that later in their lives, and they will be part of those people who just go to mosque on Friday, pray and leave as fast as they can. After he left that month, I decided to take this matter in hands and without further thinking started to plan and find ways to implement this program.
Even though we have in the HICC agenda plans to establish diverse programs for our youth and younger children we did not initiate any of children's programs until day we received those suggestions from Serigne Mouhamadou Mansour Sy Ibn El Hadj Abdoul Dabakh, rta.
When?
The Lecture Series is being held every Saturday from 5:00 to 8:00pm after the Quranic School. The first Lecture Series took place on January 8th, 2011.
Where?
The Children's Programs take place at the Harlem Islamic Cultural Center (HICC) located at 108 East 128th Street, New York, NY 10035. This is between Park and Lexington Avenues.
The center is accessible by:
Trains # 4, 5, and 6 to 125th Street and Lexington AvenueMetro North at Park and 125th Street
Buses # M100, M101, M102, M103, M60, Bx15 buses to Park Avenue at 125th Street
How?
We asked each family to pay a $50.00 (fifty dollars) membership fees every year to register. But, we need more financial support from believers to keep the program running, to broaden it and to start the after school program. We are doing this work on a voluntary basis and without any funding at all from the HICC who is struggling to make ends meet and trying to collect money to renovate the building. We encourage the parents to attend the events and help with the children's discipline and self-esteem. We plan field trips at the zoo, the museums, monuments, other masjids, and so on. With your support, we will be able to organize summer camps, and science fairs. A pen pal program with children living in California is being set up. A book club is also be in the program. We are in for a lot of things to do for our children to help them grow up brightly, safely and make them outstanding citizens, but we need your financial help to make this happen. Our biggest ambition is to acquire a minibus for the children's transportation needs, since we have plans to take them to field trips around the city, the state and even out of state. Many children want to participate in the Program but their parents have transportation problems to and from the Center. So acquiring a minibus or at 2 vans will be a huge asset to the Programs. We are facing hard times now and it is almost impossible to collect funds to run and implements new programs. This is why we are asking you to help us financially in a generous way. Your help will be immensely appreciated. We thank you in advance to accept to be our sponsor and to contribute to the implementation of the Children's Programs at the HICC in New York, to build a stronger future for our children, future of the world. You can help us raise funds from your brothers and sisters, friends and acquaintances, by organizing fund raising dinners or just use the idea you think fits the purpose. We are counting on you to help us with this. To date, 41 children are enrolled in the Program, compared to 17 when we started in January 2011. We assure you that we appreciate any time and money you put into it. Your rewards now and in the hereafter will come from Allah Who will bless you and your whole family.
