The Story of Birnin Rafi, and the Stranger Who Brought Hope
Birnin Rafi used to be a very lively village filled with happy people who were always smiling regardless of their heart wrenching living conditions, but something unusual had hit them.
Birnin Rafi was silent the day we arrived.
It wasn’t the usual kind of quiet.
It was heavy — the kind of silence that wraps around a place when a family member dies.
The children who once played beneath the trees were now curled up indoors with high fevers. The elders spoke quietly. Women walked back and forth outside their houses, feeling worried and powerless.
Something was wrong.
That week alone, twelve children had died from the same illness. The symptoms were the same: vomiting, diarrhea, weakness. The village health worker — the only one they had — believed it was a waterborne disease. Probably cholera. He had no lab, no medication, no support. Just suspicion… and fear.
The people of Birnin Rafi were drinking from a stagnant shallow stream shared with livestock and other wandering animals — the only water source within five kilometers. They knew it wasn’t clean. But what choice did they have?
And then — Allah sent help.
An online campaign we had launched weeks prior reached someone miles away.
A young woman. Anonymous. She didn’t know the village. She had never visited the country. But her heart responded to the call.
She donated enough to fund one borehole.
Within days, we began drilling. Time was running out.
But, before then, we had sent out our medical team to the village to treat those who had already been affected, and then, halt the spreading of the disease.
When the water finally broke through — pure, clear, and cold — the entire village gathered. Tears flowed before the water did.
The stream was finally abandoned.
Within a week, the number of sick children dropped drastically. The symptoms stopped spreading. A disease that could’ve wiped out a village had been halted in its tracks — not by a vaccine, not by government intervention…
…but by one act of kindness.
One donation.
One decision.
One unseen woman — now etched forever into the heart of Birnin Rafi.
They still pray for her.
Every time a child drinks safely.
Every time someone performs ablution before prayer.
Every time someone lives… instead of dies.
This is the power of giving.
You may never meet them — but your mercy lives with them, even unto the next generations