Uganda plans to send 750 of its citizens – including 415 women – to the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this year.
« I can’t wait to get to Mecca, see the tomb of the Prophet Muhammad and Mount Arafat and drink Zamzam water, » said Kasifah Nankumba, 58.
The sheikhs explained what to expect. I’m really excited. I’m afraid I’m going to faint.
Over the past decade, Kasifah has saved small amounts of money from her modest smoked fish business, which she has run for 28 years in the Kalerwe market near Kampala.
In 2006, Kasifah recalled, while sitting in the market, she suddenly felt compelled to make the pilgrimage.
« But I didn’t have a penny to my name, so I dismissed the idea, » she said.
However, shortly afterwards, she contacted a man known for helping Muslim pilgrims travel to Mecca.
The man, known as Haji Musa, introduced her to the director of the Mityana Hijja and Umrah tour agency, who advised her to start saving.
With his modest savings, they began buying him US dollars, for which they provided him with receipts.
From 2007 to 2009, she recalls, « I managed to save small amounts of about $4 to $5 each. »
In 2009, she heard about a man who sponsored Hajj pilgrims and immediately began searching for him.
Two days later, she knocked on Hajji Kajumbi’s door.
I explained my dilemma to this stranger, but unfortunately, he was unable to help me.
With her dollar receipts in her bag, she showed him what she had managed to save over the past three years.
« He prayed for me and said I should start saving more, telling me to give the travel agency amounts between $100 and $200, » she said.
From then on, she began making payments every four or five months.
On June 15, 2015, she remembers receiving a call from the head of the Hijja office, who told her: « Hajjati Kasifah, the money you have saved is now sufficient for the Hajj (pilgrimage). »
« I was at the market at the time, sitting on the ground, » Kasifah said. « He said my name four times, but I was too shocked to speak. »
Now rejoicing at the Wandegeya Masjid, where she attended a final travel briefing, she declared: « When I return from Mecca, Insha Allah, I will continue with my Ibadah; I am not going back to sit on the ground and sell fish. »
Regarding the Hajj, Ugandan pilgrims often face difficulties, as do pilgrims from most other African countries in the region. For one thing, almost all expenses must be covered in US dollars rather than their national currency, meaning pilgrims lose a significant portion of their savings to transaction and currency conversion fees.
The current lack of a national airline in Uganda is also a challenge. Since there is no national airline serving Hajj pilgrims, negotiations must be made with foreign airlines, which further increases prices.
At the time, nearly 6,000 Ugandan pilgrims performed the Hajj each year. Now, Saudi Arabia has reduced the number of places allocated to Ugandan nationals to a maximum of 1,200, so the number has decreased. Last year, Ugandan pilgrims paid $2,178 (for the pilgrimage); this year, the amount has increased to $4,150 per person.
Anadolu Agency | Photo by Hajj1433