In the autumn of 2008, AAII entered into a strategic partnership with Children’s Chance for the purpose of obtaining free medical care for African children in need of treatment that is not available in their countries. Thus far, we have been able to obtain commitments for free medical care and covered hospital expenses for three patients from Senegal.  The first was from the  Yale University Hand and Comprehensive Microsurgery Center in New Haven, Connecticut to provide multiple surgeries to correct congental bilateral hand deformities. The next was from the  Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, New York to operate on a boy diagnosed with Frontal Nasal Encephalocele. The most recent is from Pediatric Specialty Care/Orthopedics of the Shriners Hospitals for Children to perform surgery on a girl with bilateral upper extremity deformities.

As the opportunity for medical care in the United States became known, requests for care for children from numerous African nations began to arrive, making it clear that AAII would have to expand its efforts to develop relationships with medical facilities and physicians willing to provide pro bono services. At the same time, other human and financial resources would have to be developed in order to meet the need.

AAII is working to expand its roster of physicans and medical institutions throughout the United States to provide free medical care to African children who would not otherwise have a chance for a normal life.  At the same time, we are developing alliances with other organizations to support this vital work.  In addtion to financial support to cover the cost of air fare and visa applications for the child and an accompanying parent, AAII is working to develop a network of host organizations and families to house the children and their parents during their stay in the U.S.

On February 7, 2009, AAII’s Founder/Chairman was honored for his spiritual leadership and humanitarian work during the Nasrul Ilm America, Inc. First Annual Shaykh Hassan Cisse (RA) Honoring Banquet.  The banquet was held at Windows Over Harlem Restaurant in the Adam Clayton Powell State Office Building in the Village of Harlem in New York City.

The Keynote Address was delivered by Shaykh Mouhammadou Mahy Cisse, Director of AAII’s international Islamic Schools Program, beloved brother of Shaykh Hassan Cisse(RA) and one of his closest companions, during which he spoke about Shaykh Hassan’s (RA) love of Islam and generosity.

An Awards Ceremony was held to honor individuals who served Shaykh Hassan Cisse (RA) for the Sake of Allah by helping him to establish the Tariqa Tijaniyya in America as  far back as 1976 and for working to fulfill AAII’s mission. Recipients of a Certificate of Appreciation for Pioneering Service that reads, ” In recognition of your devotion, dedication and service to Shaykh Hassan Cisse (RA)” include: Alhajji Ahmad Dimson (RA), Imam Yusuf Imam (RA), Imam Sayed Abdus-Sallaam, Alh. Abdul Azeem Shabazz, Alh. Abdul Majid Muhammad, Alh. Amin Sharif, Alh. Mustafa Abdul-Azeem, Alh. Babacar Konte, Alh. Aboubacar Cisse, Hajja Kareema Abdul-Kareem and Hajja Ashaki Taha-Cisse.

Shaykh Hassan Cisse’s (RA) humanitarian work as the Founder/Chairman of AAII was presented by Hajja Ashaki Taha-Cisse in a speech that reviewed the organization’s accomplishment under his (RA) leadership in the twenty two years since it was founded. AAII’s commitment to universal education, access to health care, empowerment of women, protection of children, alleviation and extreme hunger and poverty and promotion of peace, and its successful initiatives in each aspect of its mission and the pivotol role Shaykh Hassan Cisse (RA) played in them were recounted.

Many of Shaykh Hassan Cisse’s (RA) American students from New York, Detroit, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Chicago, Memphis, Colorado, as well as those originally from Ghana, Senegal, the Gambia and Mauritania now living in the U.S., and the well wishes of those who were unable to attend from the United States, Trinidad and various countries in Africa, bore witness to the extraordinary life and great work of this extraordinary man.

*(RA) indicates a person is deceased and means, “May God be pleased with him.”