Since 120 years there has been a yearly Maulid (celebration of the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad*) on the island Lamu, off the coast of Kenya. It was started by the great Saint Habib Salih from Hadramaut in Yemen. He was also a healer, so the tradition started that people would come from all over East Africa, attend the Maulid and have medical treatment at the same time.
In 2008 the Free Medical Camp was able to treat more than 5000 people in 3 days. Healing Hearts brought 100 kgs of medicine to the camp in a joint venture with the IHPUK (International Health Partners UK).
It was wonderful in which way the spiritual and the physical needs of people were combined and also how so many different Tariqats (Sufi groups) were united for this great event. Our group, which was lead by Naqshbandi Sheikh Abdul Hamid, had 62 people: from the United Kingdom, Holland, Sri Lanka, Sweden and Tanzania. As a result of this participation we are intending build up a medical centre in Lamu for people to have access to treatment all year long and to balance the western medicine with traditional healing methods.
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