Hello, my name is Wesley Blake, better known to my family and friends as Daawood. Two years after embracing Islaam, I followed the advice of many brothers in my community and travelled abroad, with the intention of studying Islaamic disciplines for a year. That was in 2002 and Mauritania has been my home ever since. I began my studies at Intafasheet,  a small village devoted to the memorization of Quran, located 50 kilometers outside the capital. Later I relocated to Umm ul-Qura to study various texts i.e. Aqeedah, Arabic, etc. Since 2009, after the passing away of our beloved sheikh, my family and I have resided here in Nouakchott, the capital of Mauritania. I’ve been supporting myself working as an ESL instructor, author and coordinator. I am occasionally contracted for IT projects, as well.

I used to spend my Ramadaan vacations outside of the city, in mahdharahs (traditional Islaamic schools), revising Quran. It was during one of these trips that I began questioning myself about young children back in the States. What were they doing? Why weren’t they in places like this? I know that the living conditions here were harsher than what many Americans are accustomed to; but, you see, at that time, it was still very common to find young African children living and studying in mahdharahs hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away from their fathers and mothers. Left in the care of older students who spoke their native tongues. 

Upon returning to the city, going back to work, I began taking steps towards putting together a place where American families could potentially send their children to study. We did enroll some American students, five or six brothers and sisters, who were living here with their parents, and a few older students who travelled from abroad. A few local Mauritanian neighbors also entrusted us with their children. The number of participants were growing, however I saw our efforts being used as a preschool and after school program. That wasn’t my objective. My intent was for the Darul Arqam to substitute the contemporary model of education not supplement it. So, I moved the project and some of our students to an area I envisioned would realize my goals.

The move was fatal. Our older students moved on and so did we. My family and I tried again in 2015. We moved closer to the neighborhoods where the students I’d taught at the English center lived. I’d often speak to them about my project and they’d show much interest in joining. But in the end, they were more interested in their children being in an English learning environment than learning anything Islamic from a foreigner from New York.

Feeling a bit doubtful about continually investing so much of my strength, time and wealth in this project, I sought the counsel of  one my teachers. I informed him that the people around me are advising me to focus on buying lands and building residences for my family but I feel more passionate about building an educational center. He said “How many children are living in homes that their fathers hadn’t built? Focus on building your children because you only get one chance.”  

In 2019, we launched a LaunchGood campaign, Keep Our Youth Off The Streets, to raise money to build an Islamic recreational after school center. We received less than 3% of the total project budget. With it, I bought furniture and rented an apartment.  We began lessons late December, early January 2020. It worked our quite nice for some of the neighboring families because it was during the same time the plandemic was being executed. The children were attending morning Quran lessons at a neighbor’s home and afternoon and evening lessons at our AfterSkool program. It worked out really well, al hamdu lillaah.

Now the goal is to continue adding to the AfterSkool program and building the core morning program and with Allah is our tawfeeq. 

Thank you for taking the time out to listen.

Do your part! Be a part of the solution and not the problem.