Old boys’ sports club reaches out
WHAT started off as a social and sporting club to keep former classmates of Orient Islamic High School connected, has evolved into a mainstream charity organisation geared towards uplifting communities.
The Orient Islamic High School Old Boys’ Club, which will celebrate its 51st anniversary on Sunday, has, among other initiatives, held weekly soup kitchens for 20 years, offered emergency relief and provided more than 500 sandwiches daily for disadvantaged schoolchildren.
Their annual Ramadaan hamper distribution to 25 organisations – enough food to feed 1 million people – has become a much-anticipated event in Durban.
Founding member and inaugural president Ismail Patel said the club was initiated by a former schoolmate and friend, Mohammed “Bhai” Dhai, who died at the age of 70 last month.
“Bhai was passionate about soccer and started the old boys’ first sporting code, soccer. He had in fact sponsored the complete soccer outfit,” said Patel. “After much discussion between Bhai, founding member Mehmood Dhai and myself, Bhai had approached his grandfather, AM Moolla, the chairman of Orient Islamic Institute, about our plan. He had given us full permission to use the school premises and school boardroom for all our meetings, which we still make use of to date.
“During his time with us, Bhai, together with the old boys and various donors, raised funds to build the Phoenix Muslim School in Spine Road, Phoenix in 1998, which currently caters for over 600 children from underprivileged homes.”
Describing the early days of the club, Patel said there were limited amenities and one of the club’s first projects was raising funds to build a tennis court for the school.
“In order to maintain contact with former and the present students at the time, we would meet to play soccer, cricket and table tennis. However, around 1974 with televisions introduced, members would be unable to attend Saturday table tennis meetings. It was decided then that we would get involved in charity work. We also opened the club to non-former students of the school.”
Patel continued: “I remember in 1980 we started our first Ramadaan grocery hamper drive. We collected about 200 hampers which was then collected by a welfare organisation and distributed to needy families. Today we proudly collect and distribute close to 2 000 hampers,” he said.
The club chairman for the past 15 years, Imran Bobat said the organisation had spent more than 50 years in charitable work in keeping with their motto, “seek and serve”.
“We have a dedicated band of helpers who are volunteers with no remuneration. All money that is collected is either donated or used towards our programmes.
“We have already given out in excess of 100000 bunny chows to impoverished job-seekers at our soup kitchen, held at Old Fort Road every Thursday,” said Bobat.
“We are also consistently involved in extensive general work and psychological empowerment counselling work deep in disadvantaged communities like Phoenix, Blackburn Village and Waterloo.
“The aim of the Old Boys organisation is to encourage and foster closer relationships between and among former and present students of the school, the trustees, principal and teachers in order to promote, encourage, organise and advance social, sporting and humanitarian work.
“We want to uplift those that are destitute, aged, oppressed and needy.”