When 19-year-old Egyptian native Moustafa Moustafa sets his mind to something, he gets it done. That’s how the Ann Arbor chapter of the Children of Abraham began. Moustafa, who moved with his parents to Grand Rapids when he was 8, decided that he wanted to expand the interfaith service organization that a mosque and a Methodist church had started in Indiana. This month, the Ann Arbor group of nearly 30 volunteers shipped its first 40-foot container of medical supplies to Tanzania. “The biggest challenge to seeing this effort through has really been the bureaucracy. Every step is an application and every bit of progress has its paperwork. From insurance to grant money to finances to forms, you really get exposed to a lot of fields you’d never expect to encounter,” says Moustafa, the oldest of four siblings. Yet rather than be discouraged or overwhelmed, Moustafa digs in his heels, channels his natural charm and accomplishes what he sets out to do. Sherif Metwally, a junior at the University of Michigan, says Moustafa is one of the most dedicated people he knows. “It is not uncommon to find him sending e-mails late at night or making phone calls throughout the day to make sure that Children of Abraham is on the right track,” says Metwally, who is studying Arabic and biology. “Through his outgoing personality, he has brought in interested members from the Muslim Student Association, Hillel and St. Mary’s Student Parish, three groups that have been essential in solidifying the interfaith character of our organization.” For Albert George, an 18-year-old U-M sophomore, the appeal of Children of Abraham was twofold. “I was looking for a service organization, and the interfaith aspect appealed to me,” says the Novi native, who attends St. Mary’s Student Parish. So far he’s helped with sorting donated medical supplies, and says the most interesting aspect of the interfaith discussions is identifying the similarities between n the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faiths. The group meets bi-weekly, though members are also welcome to just show up when they can for sorting and packing. Jacob Smith, a junior in business at U-M, says what he likes most about the group is that you can choose your level of involvement. “Children of Abraham has taught me that a relatively small group of people can achieve a lot towards a great cause. Fortunately, the program is also interfaith,” says Smith, who is Jewish, “which shows the need for all people to come together and help others who are struggling in other parts of the world.” Children of Abraham collects surplus medical supplies and ships them to countries in need. The group has already sent some supplies to Peru and Ghana, and the shipment to Tanzania contained more than $1 million in medical supplies that will be distributed to two or three hospitals. The group in Indiana is able to ship a 40-foot container every few weeks, and Moustafa wants to at least match that rate over the next few years. In addition, he hopes to establish a base for Children of Abraham in an in-need area. “We are looking into building a school in Tanzania as a base from which we hope to build clinics. Our long-term goal is to send students and professionals there on a regular basis and perhaps even get the university interested in creating some kind of program around it,” says Moustafa, who plans to take a year off after college to do some work in Africa and then go to medical school. “There’s a lot to be done, but it’s doable. Why not think big?” the immediate goals for the group are to find a permanent warehouse where supplies can be stored and sorted by volunteers. Warehouse space that Smith was able to secure through a friend has to be vacated by July 1. Moustafa says 4,000 to 12,000 square feet would be ideal. He’s also hoping to find a connection with shipping or trucking company to help get the supplies to the warehouse and distributed from there. Sister Dorothy Ederer of St. Mary’s was so impressed by Moustafa when he came to talk about the group that she helped him find a trucking company for the first shipment. “What he is doing is so impressive. He has such a passion for it,” she says. And though Ederer says she’s more of a cheerleader for COA, Moustafa says she has been “priceless in her support and in helping us connect with people with services to offer us.” Moustafa says his motivations have been his parents, both physicians, and his duty to help the less privileged that is a foundation of Islam. “I believe that all my resources, from physical to intellectual to societal to financial, are not a product of my doing but blessings from God,” he says. “There is so much to be done and much of it is very doable. All it takes is breaking free of the monotonous structure with which we run our lives and asking, what can I do to help others? And then, what resources do I have access to and what are practical next steps? We are only a handful of dedicated students and yet have been able to do so much.”