Helping Hand

The Muslim Student Association is one of the newer clubs at High School West, having only been created last year. Yet it has already begun to make an impact. With the club’s most recent book drive, they were able to get students at school involved to donate to the Afghani refugees in the U.S.

The president of the club, Hadeeqa Malik, shared that “in order to understand the situation, you gotta know the deep history of events in Afghanistan. So, it’s hard to summarize all of it into a single sentence, but in short, there’s a lot of extremism, so people’s liberties are in jeopardy and in the process of being violated. Things just aren’t going too well over there, and on top of it, there isn’t much media coverage on it. Therefore, we tend to be in the dark about what’s actually happening.”

In November, MSA hosted a book drive for those refugees. All of the books that students have donated are being passed out to these refugees through the US military with the help of a local non-profit organization called ‘Helping Hand’.

Hadeeqa feels strongly about helping out society and making a difference. She explained that “we see so much going on in our world and all of us really want to make a positive change but because of our age we tend to not have too many options to do so. We aren’t able to make donations or vote, so I feel like this [the book drive] is a great way for us to do our part.” 

She feels as though this book drive will help a lot to the refugees. “I think that reading and any type of education are very helpful. Additionally, not only is it something to gain from, but it’s an outlet as well. We’re just trying to be there for friends in need, and we hope to be serving as a catalyst by providing some tools and resources for them.”

Azaan Bilal, a senior member of the club, feels as though this book drive will help the education of those refugees significantly. He said, “I feel like the book drive was a great idea for the members of our MSA club and we will continue to find ways to help those in need.” 

MSA is a club that “brings students of all backgrounds together while promoting inclusivity and diversity” according to Azaan. For many people, this club is a safe place that will continue to educate, accept, and communicate. And with the MSA’s book drive being over, they’d like to extend their gratitude to everybody who donated!