Summer Camp Souq at Masjid Al-Qur’an raises money for Gaza

Photos by Kamal Moon

Mariam Abubaker and her daughter in traditional Palestinian attire at Masjid Al-Qu’ran’s summer camp souq.

Masjid Al-Qur’an on Milwaukee’s northwest side has been nourishing kids’ imaginations and creative spirits with both indoor and outdoor projects through the organization’s summer camp program. Last Friday children created a mini-market, called a souq, (an open-air marketplace or commercial quarter in an Arab, or Berber city) hand-crafting the products sold to raise money for Gaza.

Inside the souq, decorated and built to look like an actual Arab open-air marketplace, the children displayed their handmade wares to sell to the public.

Camp coordinator Seniha Kraina took charge of the summer camp program at Masjid Al-Qur’an this year. “When my kids got involved with the mosque, I decided to be involved with them, and it’s been a blessing,” she says.

The camp is designed with hands-on activities so that kids learn practical skills while incorporating Islamic principles into each. Woodworking, soap making, beekeeping, pottery and animal care are just some of the classes the camp offers.

This year the program added two additional classes, cooking and sewing. “These were super successful classes,” Kraina affirms. “The kids really enjoyed them and asked us to continue them next year.”

Planning the camp took about three months. Hafiz Muhammad Shafique, imam of Masjid Al-Qur’an, believes that the program’s biggest strengths are its teachers and volunteers. “A lot of dedication is needed,” he contends. “It’s not where they come up with an idea, teach it and then go. It takes months to prepare and implement everyone’s ideas, and you need a dedicated team to do that.”

Her first year as summer camp coordinator, Sister Seniha Kraina volunteered to give the children, including her own, the best summer they could have before school starts.

Sisters Faiza Hashim and Mariam Abubaker conceived the idea for a summer camp souq in 2023. The event adorns the room like a traditional Arab market complete with lights, plants and textiles. Items such as soaps, candles, honey, paintings and coffee mugs decorated with Palestinian symbols were for sale.

“It looked magical,” Kraina reflects. “You really had the feel like you’re in old times walking and shopping, but the people who greet you and sell everything are kids, and everything is made by kids.”

While last year’s souq proceeds all went back to the kids, this year’s proceeds are “for children, from children,” as Kraina describes.

Masjid Al Qur’an imam and religious director Hafiz Muhammad Shafique is a beekeeper and educator, using the bee hives as a learning opportunity for Al Qur’an Academy students and the community.

Masjid Al-Qur’an is enlisting the Islamic Society of Milwaukee (ISM) to host a second souq featuring the kids’ items. Their goal is to cumulatively raise about ten thousand dollars for Gaza. ISM will also help make sure the money goes to the right place. “It’s important to keep talking about what’s happening in Gaza so that people don’t forget about it,” Shafique maintains.

According to Kraina, the kids have absolutely loved camp – so much to the point that they do not want to leave when it is time to go home. “They were so eager to come every single morning. Parents would have a hard time getting them to leave their stations at the end of the day. Seeing all their happy faces was definitely the highlight.”