Birr Society says its resources are insufficientMAKKAH – More than 500 families in poor villages south of Makkah – some of which have the highest poverty rates in the Kingdom, according to a study – are facing the worry of not being able to provide their children with new clothes to celebrate Eid Al-Fitr. A charitable organization working to help the people is far short of its goal and its director on Saturday requested members of the general assembly to send text messages in support of the effort. According to specialists in charitable work, some of the villages are the poorest in area, maybe in the whole Kingdom. Families there have almost 2,000 children and women. Abed Bin Saleem Al-Hasani, Director General of Al-Birr Charitable Society in the villages of southern Makkah, said his group strives to provide what it can to help these families. He urged officials to send text messages in support for its project. Al-Hasani said the Al-Birr Charitable Society has set up a project to provide Eid clothes with a goal of raising SR600,000 for those registered according to social research, but the charity has only been able to raise SR30,000. A study has shown that 544 families in 16 villages have a 31 percent unemployment rate, the highest percentage in the region, due to their limited education, lack of professional experience and physical and mental disabilities. The study showed that 32 percent of the families have incomes between SR700 and SR1,500 per month and charity and social insurance is their main source of income. Al-Baidha Center has the lowest income of the centers. The villages of Tufail, Sa'ya, Al-Sa'diyah, and Wadi Dhaim have the largest number of poor families; most residents earn money by making charcoal and working as shepherds and woodcutters, according to the study. The study, which assessed demographic, environmental and domestic characteristics, found that 52 percent of the people live in ramshackle houses, 18 percent in tents, 17 percent in stone houses and 11 percent in corrugated iron houses.
