Hella Kunda Mosque

Dear FoB Members,

With your support, it is with great pleasure and excitement that we announce the completion of the Hella Kunda Mosque Project. About one year ago FoB embarked on building a mosque for Hella Kunda village situated about 20 KM from Basse.  As the FoB theme says “Collectively, we can make a difference”, we should all be proud of this SUCCESS story.

Although initiated by FOB, we did not fun this project.  The donor was introduced to FoB by a few of our members. These members had the opportunity to talk to the donor who agreed to help us build a mosque in our community. After this unique opportunity was communicated to the FOB executive, a committee was tasked to partner and work with the donor to identify an ideal place where the mosque should be constructed.

The committee included members in the diaspora, Kombo area and as well as members on the ground in URR who worked tirelessly with the donor and the community to make this project a reality. After extensive research, consultation, meetings, discussions and collaboration with the donor, Hella Kunda was selected as the ideal place for the mosque. Initially, we had identified Basse, Kaba Kama, Mansajang, Manneh Kunda and Sotuma Samba, but based on the donor's guidelines and terms and the fact that these places already had a mosque, we decided to construct the mosque at Hella Kunda. One of their key rules was that they don’t renovate existing mosques but ONLY construct new mosques in a community that has none. With that said, every FoB member should be proud of this accomplishment.

One of FOB goals is to give back to our community and building a mosque for Hella Kunda is a great way of giving back. Not only will the mosque serve as a place for the community to pray but will also UNITE it as a whole.

Below is a quote from a known and well-respected Muslim scholar about building a mosque:

There is great reward in building a Mosque for Allah’s sake. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “Whoever builds a mosque for Allah, Allah will build for him likewise in Paradise, and the building of a Mosque is a way for a person to continue to earn blessings after death.” [Sahîh al-Bukhârî and Sahîh Muslim].

With this noble cause behind us, let us continue raising the bar. Every FOB member should think about what he/she can bring on board. It can be something from an idea, medical supplies, wheel chair or anything, nothing is small. As an organization, FoB cannot do it alone. As a member, always look for opportunities for FOB, talk to friends, colleagues and anyone out there about what FOB is all about; you never know who can help.

Like any other project, everything did not go as planned. In the spirit of frankness, the mosque was inaugurated without our notification or the donor’s. We are documenting this mishap, will learn from it and will ensure that this will not happen again. But looking at the bigger picture, Hella Kunda now has a mosque where people can congregate and pray. FOB is proud of this milestone!!! At this point, we would like to take this moment to sincerely thank every member, the DONOR and everyone who contributed towards the construction of the Hella Kunda Mosque. We encourage members to visit FoB forum site and submit any question(s) or comments.